The Honorable Schoolboy and How I Knew The New Arrested Development Would Suck

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is one of my favorite books. It would come with me to the desert island if they said pick 5 to read for the rest of your life.  There's only a few big novels I've read multiple times - East of Eden, Tinker, Tailer, American Tabloid, Lonesome Dove -- can't think of others off the top of my head --

And yet, I've tried to read The Honorable Schoolboy (the sequel) at least 3-4 times now and I get progressively less far before putting it down.  Maybe it's because I own the "Quest for Karla" 3-bound books in a single volume and it feels weird to read it that way.  Maybe I need just a paperback.

But it says something strange -- that here there is an all time favorite -- and you go with same author, some of the same characters, the same world, and even a continuation of the same story...and it becomes unreadable. How does such a thing happen?  Because writing and creating fiction is a magic trick and a mystery.