Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
A gloriously bleak and twisty novel, which grew in its moral questions and sense of internal torment of its main character. It is one is a book full of masculinity, which I'm not used to. But it is also a completely satisfying read that you get to the end of understanding the purpose of those parts that seemed to drag.
What I like about it:
Character descriptions: I remember his description of Liz the librarian particularly, but each character in the story has just enought details to describe a real person you might know or have scene without the ridicolous embellishments I've seen in other books.
Plot: Quite tight and tense around page 90+ I'm starting to guess at what one of the 'twists' might be but I'm still not sure. Better than that I want to find out.. Having finished it I found the end very satisfying.
What could be improved:
POV: Seems to switch around a bit, which has the effect of jolting me out of the story while I work out what's going on. I think its' meant to work a bit like a movie but I found it a bit confusing.
Character descriptions: I remember his description of Liz the librarian particularly, but each character in the story has just enought details to describe a real person you might know or have scene without the ridicolous embellishments I've seen in other books.
Plot: Quite tight and tense around page 90+ I'm starting to guess at what one of the 'twists' might be but I'm still not sure. Better than that I want to find out.
Spoiler
OK I finished it up, I certainly didn't see what came, although I bet some of you smart spy fiction reading cookies' may have guessed.What could be improved:
POV: Seems to switch around a bit, which has the effect of jolting me out of the story while I work out what's going on. I think its' meant to work a bit like a movie but I found it a bit confusing.
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
le Carre is such a good writer, brilliantly plotted and great atmospheric writing capturing Cold War Britain
This is the third “George Smiley” novel I’ve read and funnily is the one with less Smiley but with more of the espionage centered plot that made le Carré famous. As much as I’ve enjoyed the previous two novels, I’ve read them more as some entertaining crime mystery than a proper spies novel. In this one we finally learn why le Carré is so important for the genre.
As much as George Smiley wasn’t more than an afterthought in this novel, the character it focused on, Alec Leamas, supplies for the absence of the notorious ex-agent. His rude ways, great knowledge of his field of work and unwavering will make for the perfect agent but also for a quite interesting character without falling into a coarse one dimensional characterization. The character of Elizabeth Gold was also interesting because at least I thought she humanized the other side, it gave some soul to the eternal evil in most English/American novels about the Iron Curtain; the communists. In that respect the novel dwells in the wrongs of the communists, but not without also highlighting how even the supposed “good guys” did horrible things just because they also thought that the ends justify the means. I’ve personally liked that, as much as I didn’t mind a history lesson, I didn’t want a moral lecture we’ve already heard before.
In regards to the plot, this novel wasn’t your usual action filled spies story; instead it pivoted around a “game” that reminded me more of a chess play. I’ve to admit that I’m not well versed in this genre and that I don’t know the ins and outs of the Iron Curtain and the espionage of its time, so I can’t comment on the realism of the things that happened and how they were lay out. But from the point of view of an ignorant reader like me, the tangle that composed the mission and all its traps seemed believable and also complicated enough without making me feel lost.
The plot twists and the unexpected ending made for a very solid novel. I can’t wait to keep reading more about George Smiley and his net.
As much as George Smiley wasn’t more than an afterthought in this novel, the character it focused on, Alec Leamas, supplies for the absence of the notorious ex-agent. His rude ways, great knowledge of his field of work and unwavering will make for the perfect agent but also for a quite interesting character without falling into a coarse one dimensional characterization. The character of Elizabeth Gold was also interesting because at least I thought she humanized the other side, it gave some soul to the eternal evil in most English/American novels about the Iron Curtain; the communists. In that respect the novel dwells in the wrongs of the communists, but not without also highlighting how even the supposed “good guys” did horrible things just because they also thought that the ends justify the means. I’ve personally liked that, as much as I didn’t mind a history lesson, I didn’t want a moral lecture we’ve already heard before.
In regards to the plot, this novel wasn’t your usual action filled spies story; instead it pivoted around a “game” that reminded me more of a chess play. I’ve to admit that I’m not well versed in this genre and that I don’t know the ins and outs of the Iron Curtain and the espionage of its time, so I can’t comment on the realism of the things that happened and how they were lay out. But from the point of view of an ignorant reader like me, the tangle that composed the mission and all its traps seemed believable and also complicated enough without making me feel lost.
The plot twists and the unexpected ending made for a very solid novel. I can’t wait to keep reading more about George Smiley and his net.
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Story ✔️characters ✔️atmosphere ✔️ writing ✔️
“In itself, the practice of deception is not particularly exacting it is a matter of experience, of professional expertise, it is a facility most of us can acquire. But while a confidence trickster, a play actor, or a gambler can return from his performance to the ranks of his admirers, the secret agent enjoys no such relief. For him, deception is first a matter of self-defense. He must protect himself not only from without but from within…”
“In itself, the practice of deception is not particularly exacting it is a matter of experience, of professional expertise, it is a facility most of us can acquire. But while a confidence trickster, a play actor, or a gambler can return from his performance to the ranks of his admirers, the secret agent enjoys no such relief. For him, deception is first a matter of self-defense. He must protect himself not only from without but from within…”