Če bi dr. House v roke prijel orožje in se namesto s tumorji začel spopadati z mednarodnim kriminalom, bi dobili ekranizacijo knjige The Gun Seller, ki jo je napisal multitalentirani Hugh Laurie. Ker smo ravno pred dopustom, je to moje prvo priporočilo za poletno branje.

Predstavljajte si zelo sarkastičnega James Bonda, ki ga na začetku zgodbe kraljevsko nategnejo mednarodni preprodajalci orožja, na koncu pa po mnogih peripetijah ugotovijo, da je…hm…konica tiča na drugi strani.

To bi bil najkrajši povzetek zgodbe o agentu, vohunu in sarkastičnemu optimistu Thomasu Langu, ki si svoj ljubi kruhek služi s opravljanjem nalog, ki se jih ponavadi lotevajo ljudje z meglenimi preteklostmi in izkušnjami v rokovanju z orožjem.

Na začetku knjige vse skupaj izgleda kot še ena klasičen vohunski roman, vendar jo Laurie z vlogo Langa popestri z jezikovnimi sprehodi in sarkastičnim humorjem, ki celotno zadevo dela zelo zabavno in precej bolj na nivoju kot večina vohunskih romanov.

Za okus odlomek iz druge polovice knjige:

You may be getting the idea that I don’t like Casablanca. You may be feeling that I’mtrying to talk you out of it, or make your mind up for you; but it really isn’t my place to dothat. It’s just that, if you’re anything like me – and your entire life has been spent watching thedoor of whatever bar, cafe, pub, hotel, or dentist’s surgery you happen to be sitting in, in thehope that Ingrid Bergman will come wafting through in a cream frock, and look straight atyou, and blush, and heave her bosom about the place in a way that says thank God, life doeshave some meaning after all – if any of that strikes a chord with you, then Casablanca is goingto be a big fucking disappointment.

Knjiga se, tako kot se za kvalitetne vohunske romane dogaja po celem svetu, seveda pa v duhu dobrih parodij žanrov postreže s kar nekaj odličnih šal in dovtipov, ki vas bodo spodbujali, da knjigo preberete v enem dihu. Seveda Laurie zraven zmeša še dostojno vohunsko zgodbo, ki je polna fatalk, zločincev in zlobnih šefov, ki junaku tik pred utopitvijo v bazenu, polnim morskih psov z laserji na glavah, razložijo celoten načrt za dominacijo severne poloble.

Goldman came next, tall and thin and enjoying the fact that he didn’t enjoy his work. Goldman’s preoccupation seemed to be etiquette. He had a right way and a wrong way of doing everything, from hanging up a telephone receiver to licking a stamp, and he would brook no deviation. After a day of his tutoring I felt like Eliza Doolittle. Goldman told me that henceforth I should answer to the name of Durrell. I asked him if I could pick my own name, and he said no, Durrell was already entered on the case file of Operation Dead Wood. I asked him if he’d heard of Tippex, and he said that was a silly name, and I’d better just get used to Durrell. Travis was unarmed combat, and when they told him he only had an hour with me, he just sighed, said ‘eyes and genitals’, and left.

Glavni čar knjige pa je, kot že rečeno, jezik in humor, ki seva z vsake strani. Notranji monologi, zunanji dialogi, opisi in razlage, pri katerih si človek ne more pomagati, da se ne bi na ves glas krohotal in zraven motil #puncokigledanogomet, so glavni razlog za branje te knjige in samo upamo lahko, da se bo Laurie tudi v prihodnosti vrnil v literarne vode in spisal bodisi nadaljevanje bodisi novo zgodbo. Priporočam.

in če bi kdo rad bral, plačal pa ne, sem našel tole povezavo.