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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I don't know how many John Le Carre books I've read. At least 9 or 10. And I've enjoyed them all immensely. He write spy novels, but his stories and his story telling transcend the genre. That is why I am so disappointed by his latest, "A Delicate Truth." Without giving anything away, the issue is just way to small to be a Le Carre book. I could not get into the characters, the plot, the mystery or the writing. This is not the Le Carre I know and have recommended over the decades. I give it 'one star.' Yes, there are books out there more deserving of one star, but for a Le Carre novel, this book barely deserves its one star. I am, to say the list, most disappointed by this read. In all honesty, if we have to bring back the cold war to bring back the Le Carre I know and loved, then I say bring it on -- because, sadly, this book was so not worth it.
This is quite a departure from what I normally read, which is perhaps why I struggled to get into it at first. I ended up engrossed and found myself laughing at times, (maybe I have a weird sense of humour). It left me with a desire to pick up more Le Carre.
I tore through this in less than 24 hours - it's definitely a return to the tense, engrossing spy fiction of le Carre's classic era. It started a little slow, but by the end of the first chapter I was hooked.
Le Carre hasn't lost the burning anger that have both elevated and dominated his last couple of books, but A Delicate Truth puts its politics clearly behind it's plot. And in place of passion, we have a certain world-weariness, as the intelligence services come across as more inept and uncaring than deliberately destructive, and the villains as parasites, not corporate despots.
The most enjoyable parts of the book to me was the finely drawn characters, as always, the older bufuddled British public servant, as le Carre once again celebrates the naive-yet-goodhearted archetype he draws so well.
Perfect holiday reading, but unlikely to linger.
Le Carre hasn't lost the burning anger that have both elevated and dominated his last couple of books, but A Delicate Truth puts its politics clearly behind it's plot. And in place of passion, we have a certain world-weariness, as the intelligence services come across as more inept and uncaring than deliberately destructive, and the villains as parasites, not corporate despots.
The most enjoyable parts of the book to me was the finely drawn characters, as always, the older bufuddled British public servant, as le Carre once again celebrates the naive-yet-goodhearted archetype he draws so well.
Perfect holiday reading, but unlikely to linger.
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=A_Delicate_Truth_by_John_le_Carre
This review first appeared on my blog here.
It's a while since I last read a John le Carré novel, and I picked this up in the local library a little reluctantly, because I felt that his world was often too downbeat for me to enjoy reading his work as much as I felt I should - very well written, provocative, but depressing.
A Delicate Truth is the story of the aftermath of a secret and rather shady operation, a collaboration between British military and a US security firm, organised outside normal security services procedures by an ambitious government minister. The operation is described in the first section of the novel, and the fallout from it returns to haunt some of those involved through the rest of the book. The main character is Toby Bell, who was the minister's private secretary at the time of the mission and was excluded in a manner which made him suspicious. The focus is on Bell's attempt to understand what has happened and to act in accordance with his conscience, not in the way which sustains the cover up.
The ideas of the novel are clearly inspired by the Wikileaks saga and the cases of Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning and Edward Snowden. Several of le Carré's earlier novels, especially [b:The Constant Gardener|19000|The Constant Gardener|John le Carré|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348649766s/19000.jpg|1442776], [b:The Mission Song|18988|The Mission Song|John le Carré|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167175744s/18988.jpg|3310], and [b:A Most Wanted Man|3281277|A Most Wanted Man|John le Carré|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348263193s/3281277.jpg|3317593] have done the same thing, but this is the first time where a UK setting has been used to give the novel more immediacy to what I would assume is the author's main audience, his compatriots.
Although the operation is not an official one, and the background is post-Cold War, I found A Delicate Truth reminiscent of le Carré's Smiley novels as a reading experience, more than it is of the recent works already mentioned. This is not the only reason; le Carré's spy fiction has often had matters of conscience and honour at its heart, and these themes play a large part here too. I did feel that this resemblance does make it clear that A Delicate Truth is overshadowed by the Smiley novels - not surprisingly: there is a reason why they are classics of the spy thriller genre.
A thoughtful novel, raising concerns about the actions taken against whistleblowers by those in authority. Though readable, it is a step down from le Carré at his peak.
It's a while since I last read a John le Carré novel, and I picked this up in the local library a little reluctantly, because I felt that his world was often too downbeat for me to enjoy reading his work as much as I felt I should - very well written, provocative, but depressing.
A Delicate Truth is the story of the aftermath of a secret and rather shady operation, a collaboration between British military and a US security firm, organised outside normal security services procedures by an ambitious government minister. The operation is described in the first section of the novel, and the fallout from it returns to haunt some of those involved through the rest of the book. The main character is Toby Bell, who was the minister's private secretary at the time of the mission and was excluded in a manner which made him suspicious. The focus is on Bell's attempt to understand what has happened and to act in accordance with his conscience, not in the way which sustains the cover up.
The ideas of the novel are clearly inspired by the Wikileaks saga and the cases of Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning and Edward Snowden. Several of le Carré's earlier novels, especially [b:The Constant Gardener|19000|The Constant Gardener|John le Carré|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348649766s/19000.jpg|1442776], [b:The Mission Song|18988|The Mission Song|John le Carré|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167175744s/18988.jpg|3310], and [b:A Most Wanted Man|3281277|A Most Wanted Man|John le Carré|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348263193s/3281277.jpg|3317593] have done the same thing, but this is the first time where a UK setting has been used to give the novel more immediacy to what I would assume is the author's main audience, his compatriots.
Although the operation is not an official one, and the background is post-Cold War, I found A Delicate Truth reminiscent of le Carré's Smiley novels as a reading experience, more than it is of the recent works already mentioned. This is not the only reason; le Carré's spy fiction has often had matters of conscience and honour at its heart, and these themes play a large part here too. I did feel that this resemblance does make it clear that A Delicate Truth is overshadowed by the Smiley novels - not surprisingly: there is a reason why they are classics of the spy thriller genre.
A thoughtful novel, raising concerns about the actions taken against whistleblowers by those in authority. Though readable, it is a step down from le Carré at his peak.
“Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue, dear man. In an imperfect world, I fear it’s the best we can manage.”
― John le Carré Quoting François de La Rochefoucauld, A Delicate Truth
If for whatever reason, during the last twenty years, you've missed John le Carré's anger, and if his last 10 books were too subtle for you, and if you didn't catch le Carré's moral outrage in '[b:The Constant Gardner|12986628|The Constant Gardner|John le Carré|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330851054l/12986628._SX50_.jpg|1442776]' and '[b:A Most Wanted Man|3281277|A Most Wanted Man|John le Carré|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348263193l/3281277._SY75_.jpg|3317593]', then you might need to skip 'A Delicate Truth'. In his newest novel, John le Carré tackles the amoral world of private contract espionage, rendition, and ineptness. Le Carré attacks Western ethics, Western hypocrisy, and the West's venal “war gone corporate.”
John le Carré's war is a battle of young idealism vs amoral and often incompetent mercenaries. It is a war of principled, but flawed individuals vs what Olen Steinhauer summarized as the "shortsightedness, hypocrisy, lies and unfettered greed that plagues the “post-imperial, post-cold-war world".
This isn't the most artful of le Carré's novels, but it is probably one of his sharpest. He dares the reader to follow him in his role as the latter-day Jeremiah of state craft. He condemns the hypocrisy and the false gods of the West in his aim to "root out, pull down, destroy and throw down" the inhuman idols of the West. His NeoCon critics might aim for le Carré's eyes, but they can't destroy his vision or unbind his prophetic balls.
― John le Carré Quoting François de La Rochefoucauld, A Delicate Truth
If for whatever reason, during the last twenty years, you've missed John le Carré's anger, and if his last 10 books were too subtle for you, and if you didn't catch le Carré's moral outrage in '[b:The Constant Gardner|12986628|The Constant Gardner|John le Carré|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330851054l/12986628._SX50_.jpg|1442776]' and '[b:A Most Wanted Man|3281277|A Most Wanted Man|John le Carré|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348263193l/3281277._SY75_.jpg|3317593]', then you might need to skip 'A Delicate Truth'. In his newest novel, John le Carré tackles the amoral world of private contract espionage, rendition, and ineptness. Le Carré attacks Western ethics, Western hypocrisy, and the West's venal “war gone corporate.”
John le Carré's war is a battle of young idealism vs amoral and often incompetent mercenaries. It is a war of principled, but flawed individuals vs what Olen Steinhauer summarized as the "shortsightedness, hypocrisy, lies and unfettered greed that plagues the “post-imperial, post-cold-war world".
This isn't the most artful of le Carré's novels, but it is probably one of his sharpest. He dares the reader to follow him in his role as the latter-day Jeremiah of state craft. He condemns the hypocrisy and the false gods of the West in his aim to "root out, pull down, destroy and throw down" the inhuman idols of the West. His NeoCon critics might aim for le Carré's eyes, but they can't destroy his vision or unbind his prophetic balls.
Although I rarely read spy fiction, when dealing with John le Carré, there is a sense of being in safe hands. This is the man who created Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and then more recently The Constant Gardener. Le Carré's fiction has progressed from the Cold War all the way to the modern War on Terror and I struggle to think of another author who has been obliged to adapt with the times to the same extent. With the collapse of the Berlin War, le Carré's heroes lacked an enemy to really set themselves against ideologically; 2001's The Constant Gardener set itself against the pharmaceutical industry to great success but it is with A Delicate Truth that le Carré once more has an antagonist to muster his rage against.
The War of Terror was a decidedly murky period for security services across the globe. Deeds were done that will bring glory to no one. Extraordinary renditions, torture, civilian casualties - we must celebrate the brave men and women of the armed forces but those in government deserve no such honour. In A Delicate Truth, le Carré tells a story of privatised war and defence contractors out for themselves in a world which lost its George Smileys a long time ago. As most people are aware, the man behind John le Carré was employed in the secret services so is in a sturdy position to pass judgement on the way that the service has moved on from the gentleman's game of the past. Now in his eighties, le Carré mourns the passing of this romanticised era in this novel but the indelicate truth is that his story is all too believable.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/a-delicate-truth-john-le-carre.html
The War of Terror was a decidedly murky period for security services across the globe. Deeds were done that will bring glory to no one. Extraordinary renditions, torture, civilian casualties - we must celebrate the brave men and women of the armed forces but those in government deserve no such honour. In A Delicate Truth, le Carré tells a story of privatised war and defence contractors out for themselves in a world which lost its George Smileys a long time ago. As most people are aware, the man behind John le Carré was employed in the secret services so is in a sturdy position to pass judgement on the way that the service has moved on from the gentleman's game of the past. Now in his eighties, le Carré mourns the passing of this romanticised era in this novel but the indelicate truth is that his story is all too believable.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/a-delicate-truth-john-le-carre.html
Excellent novel, couldn't put it down. Wonderfully drawn characters and completely believable.
Heard the dramatization on the radio but, much as I enjoy anything involving Damien Lewis, liked the book even more
Heard the dramatization on the radio but, much as I enjoy anything involving Damien Lewis, liked the book even more
Giving this 5 stars because I just love John Le Carre and this one was just as compelling and twisty and great as I'd hope and expect. It also ended on an almost positive note which is rare. I love that his books are always so current--yes, he writes the best Cold War spy novels but he's moved seamlessly into the 21st century. This one takes on sleazy defense contractors and Foreign Office diplomats trying to do the right thing.