Reviews

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré

valeatsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

adrianjd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Second time around and as good as the first.  Clipped, terse prose.  Enough fog in the story to wrong foot you.  All building up to a climax that will likely catch you off kilter.  

Genuinely brilliant writing.  I wish we could have more 

antifuchs's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

mschat12's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

cephon's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

dellaposta's review against another edition

5.0

I couldn’t put this down and basically read it in one sitting. Perfect for people who like their spy stories to be more like The Americans than James Bond.

stefan_wenc's review against another edition

4.0

I was surprised to find that this novel contained very little of Smiley himself, but was rather set in his world. I found it a little hard to get going with initially because of it, but once I made it to around the halfway mark and settled in with the style of unraveling an entire world based purely on interrogations and the interior thoughts of Leamas as the protagonist, I gained a great deal of appreciation for what le Carré was doing here. A very twisty and turny story, definitely of a certain era, but a good read!

nongshaw's review against another edition

3.0

nah yeah

willdunks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

cdhotwing's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0