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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Standard le Carre (i.e. very good). The post cold war books are always fun because he just really, really, really hates neocons. This gets a little heavy handed but as always he was writing basically contemporaneously to real world events and this is in large part a reaction to the war on Iraq and the "war on terror" sham.
For the sake of consistency, I will say that while he's not annoying like Neil Gaiman, I still think authors shouldn't narrate their own books.
For the sake of consistency, I will say that while he's not annoying like Neil Gaiman, I still think authors shouldn't narrate their own books.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I picked this book up on a whim at the library knowing nothing about John le Carré (sorry) so I didn’t know what to expect from this book. I’ve read so many different genres this year and this was another one that really took me by surprise. I’ve been enjoying my literary fictions with messy plots and a chaotic direction but for the first quarter of this book I had no idea what I was supposed to be thinking, maybe this was intentional?
I weirdly liked the way it was written and ended up attached to this Ted character and was really shocked by the ending even though that might be because it’s the first book I’ve read based on spy/intelligence stuff. This book has a blend of very impersonal yet personal writing and I’m not sure how it was done but I’m impressed. I wasn’t expecting such a political undertone to the book but again I think that’s because I hadn’t read much into the author before reading but now that I have it makes sense and I wasn’t against it, I think it was cleverly done. It would have been very interesting to see people’s responses to this book when it was published!
Definitely going to try and read more of his books which I hope will help me to grasp this one better.
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I should probably come back to review this once I’ve wrapped my head around what just happened
I weirdly liked the way it was written and ended up attached to this Ted character and was really shocked by the ending even though that might be because it’s the first book I’ve read based on spy/intelligence stuff. This book has a blend of very impersonal yet personal writing and I’m not sure how it was done but I’m impressed. I wasn’t expecting such a political undertone to the book but again I think that’s because I hadn’t read much into the author before reading but now that I have it makes sense and I wasn’t against it, I think it was cleverly done. It would have been very interesting to see people’s responses to this book when it was published!
Definitely going to try and read more of his books which I hope will help me to grasp this one better.
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I should probably come back to review this once I’ve wrapped my head around what just happened
Imagine being the premier spy novelist of all time, and having your work descend into such overbearing conspiracist fantasism, that it would make Rushdie blush? Le Carre is about as poorly suited for the Wat on Terror as he was brilliantly suited for the Cold War. The future is now, old man.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Terrific storytelling
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
This was kind of interesting and the characterisation was interesting but I don't think enough really happened.
I forgot how much I love le Carré's writing. This one begs to be read with a bingo card of all his particular tropes and themes (for better and for worse). I zoned out for the ending, so I'm not entirely sure why what happened did happen.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another 3.4ish. Liked the writing and the back story got lost / bored with the spying bits.