Strong start

It’s hard for me to keep my mouth shut when I begin to read something I love. (I’m sorry to all my friends for my repeated Bullet in the Brain proclamations.) There is nothing more exciting than starting a new novel or short story and knowing pretty quickly that you will enjoy the ride.

I began Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré last week because I love action and espionage films and wanted to know if that would translate to novels. I’ve never specifically read a book for of its genre. If the plot sounds half-way decent, I’ll give anything a shot. But I’ve heard a lot of good things about le Carré so off I went.

The first line is fantastic:

“The truth is, if old Major Dover hadn’t dropped dead at Taunton races Jim would never have come to Thursgood’s at all.”

Great details and questions all in one shot. Obviously Major Dover doesn’t matter much – he’s dead. At the Taunton races, no less! I have no idea what that detail means but the specificity draws me in to the as yet unknown narrative voice. Someone – the voice telling the aforementioned truth – is gossiping or confiding in me, making me want to listen.

So now who’s this Jim? And where or what is Thursgood’s? And where would he be if Major Dover hadn’t dropped dead? I’m rubbing my hands with glee over all the questions waiting to be answered. I don’t want all my information upfront; a little mystery can be enjoyable. (I’m talking to you, Larry.)

I was hooked by the bottom on page 2.

So much information is provided in the three long paragraphs that end at the bottom of the second page. Some is scene setting – the teachers at Thursgood’s who debate over opening the trunk of the late piano instructor, Mr. Maltby – and some are prescient – a child observes that Jim’s arrival indicates he knows the layout of the school. The bombardment of information forces the reader to sort through and decide which details are important and will arise later, and which can be enjoyed and immediately discarded. I like the confusion of swirling information that must be sifted through since that is what the various agents in the novel do as they seek out a mole.

In my novel, I tried to create an active beginning that provided enough information to keep the reader interested but raised more questions to force follow-through. So I chose a moment in the story that is an immediate threat and must be handled before moving forward. This seems to be working so far.

I am trying to balance a driving plot with the emotional journeys of the two main characters so maintaining the action and forward motion of the story can be difficult. When I allow my characters to stop and sit and think and talk for a while, I fear they are becoming boring. When I am running them through shooting sprees, I worry that I haven’t conveyed their fears or emotions enough. Hopefully the back and forth between the active and the passive will even the flow.

(And as a side note, so far, le Carré has maintained his pacing while providing excellent inner workings of characters. His omniscient narrator that jumps from focusing on one character to the next was a great choice. Makes me rethink my POV choice. I originally thought my novel would be omniscient instead of third person. Sigh. I can’t go there right now.)