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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
quite enjoyed it as it went. once i got into the style it actually flowed pretty easily.
not sure what i expected, but there were parts i didn’t really love, and i’m not sure how much it’ll stick with me later on.
SPOILERS: i did love right at the end when he starts blabbering while talking with Miss D and he sounded so much like his father. and all in all i think the ending and the whole “being the bridge between rick and life” was a satisfying conclusion
not sure what i expected, but there were parts i didn’t really love, and i’m not sure how much it’ll stick with me later on.
SPOILERS: i did love right at the end when he starts blabbering while talking with Miss D and he sounded so much like his father. and all in all i think the ending and the whole “being the bridge between rick and life” was a satisfying conclusion
This book had been on my shelf for a few years, and, thinking it was much shorter than it actually was, I finally decided to dive into it on a camping trip early last month. I ended up spending more time—about a month—reading it than I have most books over the past few years, in part because it takes a little while to really get interesting, but also because it's a slow burn. Le Carré is a very skilled writer and "A Perfect Spy" is an intelligent novel. It deftly shifts between its protagonist's past and present, as it slowly uses the former to shed light on the latter. Intrigue unfolds, the perfect protagonist is revealed to be an imperfect antihero, and his devolution is explained. It all reads as a slow-moving twist, which is—sort of to Le Carré's credit—a unique, albeit hesitant, compliment.
I wish the book had been shorter, or at least read a little faster (Pym's present position, writing his memoir, makes sense, but left me a little bored at times). That said, like the Firm (i.e., the British secret service), I fell for Pym's con—his being a different man from his father, his being an attentive husband, his removing himself to the English countryside out of grief and need for space. And, that's what makes "A Perefct Spy" such a clever book—it manages to have an unreliable narrator, and then make the same narrator's slow-moving honesty both a central plot point and a devestating twist. It left me a little sad—I wanted to believe that Pym was more than his father, and the reader is set up to believe as such for most of the book—but, as a true measure of a good book, I imagine that impression will stick with me.
I wish the book had been shorter, or at least read a little faster (Pym's present position, writing his memoir, makes sense, but left me a little bored at times). That said, like the Firm (i.e., the British secret service), I fell for Pym's con—his being a different man from his father, his being an attentive husband, his removing himself to the English countryside out of grief and need for space. And, that's what makes "A Perefct Spy" such a clever book—it manages to have an unreliable narrator, and then make the same narrator's slow-moving honesty both a central plot point and a devestating twist. It left me a little sad—I wanted to believe that Pym was more than his father, and the reader is set up to believe as such for most of the book—but, as a true measure of a good book, I imagine that impression will stick with me.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
fast-paced
The narration performed by Michael Jayston was top notch some of the best character work I've heard. The story on the other hand I found to be a hard slog. For starters it took me a little while to get my head around the change in time and perspective also I found it a bit repetitve. I thinkt he whole time I was expecting something big to happen to Pym but it never did it was more about his identity etc which I just found a bit yawn inducing. My first Le Carre novel and I just though it would be a bit more exciting.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just finished reading this and it's been a while since I've been so sad about finishing a book. This book was an absolute journey which I treasured - it's such an unconventional spy novel and yet equally, if not more, captivating than any full of action and espionage. The human element and the smartness of the story are going to stay with me for a long long time.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I know it’s hard to get into but when you do, it’s so close to perfect I could cry.
It helped me to listen to a couple chapters on the audiobook to keep things moving and to give the characters a bit more life in my head, then I read the rest of the book in a flash.
It helped me to listen to a couple chapters on the audiobook to keep things moving and to give the characters a bit more life in my head, then I read the rest of the book in a flash.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, War
Minor: Rape, Torture, Murder