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danielmbensen's review against another edition
5.0
Thoroughly enjoyable and instructive for both students of writing and the human condition. The spy novelist (and ex-spy) John Le Carré writes about his life and work from the perspective of a retired 80-something living in a Swiss Chalet. Not a bad life. And when the President of Italy requests that I give him one of my books, I’ll make sure to have one specially bound in leather with gold embossing. I didn’t know you could do that.
decoachwife's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
dananker's review against another edition
4.0
Typically superlative le Carre writing, and a glimpse into the family life that fueled some of his reticence and interest in secrets. I opted to read these memoirs over the Sisman biography, and I'm not disappointed.
joehughesccp's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
lilliangretsinger's review against another edition
1.0
I stopped at page 260 - I tried reading the print copy. I tried the audio book, which was slightly better because it was read by the author is a posh British accent. I still found the book DULL. It talked about events that happened before my time. The author discusses certain events without referencing a specific year in most cases and just expects the reader to know when it happened. (yes, I suppose I could look it up but then I would be reading wikipedia more than the book.)
The author keeps referencing the chapter on his father that he left for the end. The chapter on his father is 30 freaking pages - daddy issues much? This is where I gave up.
I am sure his fiction material is very interesting, but this memoir read like a meandering conversation with someone who is WAY past his prime and thinks he's more important than he actually is.
The one bright chapter in this book was his description/forward for Alec Guinness. That was lovely and beautifully written.
The author keeps referencing the chapter on his father that he left for the end. The chapter on his father is 30 freaking pages - daddy issues much? This is where I gave up.
I am sure his fiction material is very interesting, but this memoir read like a meandering conversation with someone who is WAY past his prime and thinks he's more important than he actually is.
The one bright chapter in this book was his description/forward for Alec Guinness. That was lovely and beautifully written.
sianami's review against another edition
5.0
Le Carré's memoir is captivatingly written, a beautiful prose style and hilarious, tragic, and fascinating by turns. Insights into history, politics, literature, espionage, diplomacy and more.
heidi_meredith's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
Three confessions:
1. I picked this book at the library based on its cover.
2. I haven't read any other John Le Carré books but have seen the film of 'The Constant Gardener'.
3. I am woefully ignorant about history and politics.
Consequently, for me this was hard work, as there were so many people, book plots, countries and political situations alluded to of which I had little to no prior knowledge. However I decided to persevere as I liked the style of the writing, his dry humour and the idea that I was learning something, although in reality it will leave me with vague anecdotes about some alarming or humorous situations in which I can't remember the people, location or decade.
This would likely be more enjoyable for fans of his fiction or for those with some prior knowledge of 20th century politics! To me the book as a whole seemed disjointed. I wished that the stories had been given in chronological order, although there possibly was an order that I was not equipped to fathom.
If I take one lesson away from this collection of stories, it's a reinforcement of the saying, 'It's who you know, not what you know.' Perhaps that's the relevance of the title, which seems to hint at the futility of life?
1. I picked this book at the library based on its cover.
2. I haven't read any other John Le Carré books but have seen the film of 'The Constant Gardener'.
3. I am woefully ignorant about history and politics.
Consequently, for me this was hard work, as there were so many people, book plots, countries and political situations alluded to of which I had little to no prior knowledge. However I decided to persevere as I liked the style of the writing, his dry humour and the idea that I was learning something, although in reality it will leave me with vague anecdotes about some alarming or humorous situations in which I can't remember the people, location or decade.
This would likely be more enjoyable for fans of his fiction or for those with some prior knowledge of 20th century politics! To me the book as a whole seemed disjointed. I wished that the stories had been given in chronological order, although there possibly was an order that I was not equipped to fathom.
If I take one lesson away from this collection of stories, it's a reinforcement of the saying, 'It's who you know, not what you know.' Perhaps that's the relevance of the title, which seems to hint at the futility of life?