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Body of Lies by David Ignatius (view source)
Revision as of 20:07, 29 August 2020
, 20:07, 29 August 2020no edit summary
The story itself is an intricate one and it's easy to see how Hollywood would have their eye on it. The story delves into the world of CIA espionage and because it's based on something that has been in the news a lot in recent years, he makes things seem real. Whilst the events may be fictional, there is enough truth in the basic idea to make it seem very real. At the same time, very few of us will truly know what exactly is involved in covert operations overseas, so it is difficult to feel otherwise, as what truth there may be here will remain unknown to most of us.
Ignatius mixes the intrigue with a little about Ferris' personal life, in order to flesh out his character and give him a more sympathetic air. Whilst many of the characters seem cold and calculating, Ferris is allowed to feel, which makes him a slightly more likable likeable character. This also adds to the feeling of reality, as whilst I will never be a CIA agent, I could at least relate to some of the emotional and relationship issues that Ferris had to deal with. For some reason, though, he still seemed quite two dimensional to me and maybe it was because of all the characters, only Ferris had a life story and the others were bland in comparison, which may have prevented me from getting as fully involved with Ferris as I suspect Ignatius might have liked.
Unfortunately, this very aspect of the story did give things a rather uneven pace. The plans Ferris were putting into place were quite complicated and devious, but the plan itself wasn't necessarily enough to fill an entire novel. The parts of the novel that fleshed out Ferris' personality were useful to ensure we knew who was the good guy here, but they seemed to slow things down and some parts, noticeably the sub-plot where Ferris' soon-to-be ex-wife was causing trouble, did seem a little like padding.