The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré

3.75 AVERAGE

8797999's profile picture

8797999's review against another edition

4.0
A good read but not as good or enjoyable as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Got a bit complicated and meandered too much. I do think it was good but not great.

monsieuralfonse's review against another edition

4.0
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

alatham1993's review against another edition

5.0
Re reading an all time fav - still great

birdonthewire's review against another edition

4.5
adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

dadooronron's review against another edition

5.0
adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
In my opinion, this is the best of the series . . . so far. Intrigue, conspiracy, double dealing and action

viemagique's review against another edition

4.0
adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

dstewart3's review against another edition

4.5
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

timd505's review against another edition

4.25
challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-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
humdrum_ts's profile picture

humdrum_ts's review against another edition

2.5
adventurous dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
 My third le Carré in a row and perhaps the start of diminishing returns. The Honourable Schoolboy attempts both the story of an aging field agent suffering a personal crisis (a la The Spy Who Came in from the Cold) and the story of George Smiley adeptly maneuvering through Circus politics (a la Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), all while giving a very of-its-time indictment of Western involvement in Southeast Asia. The result is a baggy mess, coming up short on all three counts. Westerby's sections have the most juice, while Smiley’s sections are the most egregious: for the amount of space they take up, they’re shockingly lifeless compared to their predecessor. le Carré seems to have bitten off more than he could chew here. 

c_kyle's review against another edition

5.0
mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes