Argo

Argo
by
Antonio Mendez

This book, Argo, is the  basis for the Ben Affleck film of the same name. I saw the movie and really liked it, in fact I think it was one of the best films of 2012. I was a little hesitant to get into this book because I thought it would be vastly different from the movie in ways that made the movie seem to be worse. But that never happened. That's not to say that the book is not as good as the film, just different.
There are certain things that the film did which make cinematic sense, and some have said, well okay, one guy at the library, but he said it loud and often, that the film was artificial with a fake sense of urgency, but the book was even worse because there was no urgency and the Americans were never in any danger from the Iranians. Well I concede the point that the movie shortened the timeline, amalgamated the two CIA operatives into the one played by Affleck. But no sense of urgency? No threat to the Americans? My only conclusion has to be that either the guy didn't finish the book or is a complete moron. When asked by the librarian if he finished the book since it was so "bad", he said he had, which I guess answers the question I posed.
I thought there was plenty of tension as the Americans tried to get out of Tehran and on to their flight to freedom. The book used spycraft, because presumably the real life versions of the CIA operatives did too. He has to stand in a window in the airport terminal that is visible from the drop-off point outside and hold as if reading a portfolio for the fake film that they were working on. If he's not holding or not where he can be seen when they arrive, they are to abort their mission and move to a backup plan and another way out of the country. This was as every bit compelling as the movie, just operating at the pace of real life instead of the full-ahead-wrap-this-up-in-two-hours pace of the film.
My advice is that if you are really interested in what you saw in the movie, read the book. If you want to see how the CIA was operating or want ot check out the footnotes, read the book. Otherwise, watch the film.

Argo at Powells.com