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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Not gonna give it a star-rating as I think I'd have enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn't seen the TV series. This is one of those rare occasions where the adaptation was better than the book and I was almost bored reading the book because of it. The ending hooked me though as it was very different.
Probably Le Carré’s most conventionally paced novel for some years at the time of its publication, eschewing his tendency for quite lengthy chapters and divergences.
Still, no getting around that his razor-sharp ability to generate suspense and tension within his sociopolitical critique has devolved into hollow proselytising, which I’d be prone to forgive and label this a perfectly adequate potboiler with some engaging side characters.
Sadly that becomes much harder to forgive due to his catastrophically misguided decision to try and write in Carribean Creole with all the grace of a drunken racist uncle, not to mention inevitable comparisons I found myself making to the superior TV adaptation with Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie. Best watch that instead.
Still, no getting around that his razor-sharp ability to generate suspense and tension within his sociopolitical critique has devolved into hollow proselytising, which I’d be prone to forgive and label this a perfectly adequate potboiler with some engaging side characters.
Sadly that becomes much harder to forgive due to his catastrophically misguided decision to try and write in Carribean Creole with all the grace of a drunken racist uncle, not to mention inevitable comparisons I found myself making to the superior TV adaptation with Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie. Best watch that instead.
adventurous
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:
Yes
Le carre is an excellent author. His scene setting and description is beautiful, sometimes so much so that I'd read a passage over. I just wish he could introduce a female character without describing her breasts in great detail.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Definitely not the best of le carre. The TV show is a superior version of this story I think.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Definitely one of LeCarre's lesser efforts. A pedestrian thriller.
I enjoyed this book, but surprisingly not as much as I enjoyed the TV adaptation. Usually it is the other way around.
Nothing the matter with it--I was enjoying it, in fact, but other books intervened. Now, it's due at the library, and I still have a long list of others to read. Perhaps I'll pick it up again someday!
Felt long a bit. John le Carré does plot and tension amazingly and I enjoy the writing but I could really do without the misogyny.