Legends

This was one of the more fascinating spy novels I have read in some time. A "legend" is a covert agent's back story and the book's main character has more than one incredibly layered and convincing persona. Indeed one of them is compelling enough on its own to warrant reading the novel. The plot takes place largely in the 90's and involves Cold War, oligarch and militant Muslim threats. With many such tales it also illuminates and calls out the clashes that take place between rival intelligence agencies.Sewn throughout are interesting observations and insights:"intelligence services are fatally flawed. They're self-tasking - they define the threats and then try to neutralize them.""Didn't truth provide the spinal column in every legend?""You seem to have a knack for complicating simple things. In my book that beats simplifying complicated things."In hindsight, I rushed my read a bit so encourage that you take it slow. Wrap yourself in the very idea of assuming a completely different personality. The intelligence and courage associated with this is undeniable even when it rings with irony given it is deception pure and simple. A slower read may also help with the book's structure whose timeline bounces around quite a bit.Cheers

I was a big Littell fan back in the days when The Defection of A. J. Lewinter, The Sisters, and The Amateur came out. I've even re-read The Amateur twice, I like it so much. I thought The Company was bloated and a tad too grisly (nipple torture is hard to read about), but overall fascinating as a fictional portrait of the CIA. But I'd lost touch with Littell in recent years, until I found him again here in Amazon. I'm happy to report that Legends is Littell in top form: not only is it a gripping thriller with plenty of action, a realistic love story, and juicy tidbits of spycraft, it's also an intriguing character study of a man with multiple identities—legends, as they're called.As the plot requires that the hero shift back and forth between the different identities, the novel does a great job of exploring nothing less than what it means to be human, to have a given personality and set of attributes. Littell is convincing about his point that many of us have alternate identities: they may not always be as clearly defined under different names as the one that this spy-slash-detective has, but they exist in a small crowd within us, all the same.And the hero is delightfully demure and unprepossessing in his principal identity, the "legend" he's choosing to remain within, at the end of the novel. He's a wonderful character to spend time with, not in the least bit self-aggrandizing or cocky.The only reason I'm not giving this top-notch novel five stars is that it ends a little too abruptly for my taste. I prefer my novels to have denouements. It's also a bit too repetitive in small doses—things that get said over and over that the reader knows very well and doesn't need to be reminded about. But please don't let these cavils discourage you from reading Legends. It's worthy to be in the company of the early Littell classics, and that's saying a lot. I think Littell is every bit as brilliant as LeCarré. Very different, but at the same very high level for spy fiction.

Spoiler! This story is based on an interesting, and fairly novel idea. The protagonist, a deep cover operative, has four carefully constructed artificial personas ("Legends"), each with its own skills and elaborate histories, but can't remember his real identity.The situations are novel and interesting, but It is hard for me to care about the personas or the other characters. They are all cardboard cut-outs. I haven't finished the book and probably won't.

Robert Littell is the master of the spy genre (in the case of Legends, perhaps the correct word is "spies," though as you'll see, perhaps not). In fact, Littell's reach is far greater than the usual story of international intrigue (with, almost always, romance thrown in) and his grasp far exceeds his reach. There is a loud ring of authenticity in his descriptions of the inner workings of both the CIA and the Russian intelligence service. There is also (especially though by no means exclusively in Legends) an amazing ability to create characters whose histories and motives the reader cares about and genuinely hopes to come to understand before each novel ends. Littell's use of language is literary in every sense, yet he does not get would up in extended (and sometimes unnecessary) expositions or linguistic artifice or devices. The characters and the stories move swiftly. I've read all of Littell's novels and will continue to devour them for as long as he keeps writing them. Buy this book! I think it may be his best.

Confusing, not related much to or as good as season 1 of the TV series. "Hero" has multiple personality disorder in the extreme which is hard to wrap my head around. Plot is anti-America and pro-Russia, making the fall of communism a "bad thing." Putin's view of US CIA becomes validated herein. Now in my donations of goods for charity pile.

After reading Littell's epic "The Company", I found his subsequent books seriously lacking in one respect or another. But "Legends" puts him back at the top, as far as I'm concerned. This story, creative yet complex as it is, holds together. Littell doesn't go off on binges of poetry or history (at least not much) as he does in his other books. In this book, Littell makes the reader earn his pleasure, trying to keep the various "legends" straight and figuring out just what is going on at any given moment. Littell's characterizations are sharp and fascinating; his geography is spellbinding and tastes real; his descriptions of the machinations inside the CIA seem authentic. All in all, I think this was a good book and a worthy read. Once again, I can say I am looking forward to more Littell books.