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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Had trouble getting interested at the beginning since characters only loosely defined, but coalesced slowly into interesting spy story about a chameleon of a man getting revenge against a crime boss. Full set of Le Carre characters from the bureaucracy of espionage, better drawn for the British than American side.
Good grief, I really, really wanted to love this. I am a HUGE fan of The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, but this was just. so. boring. I only managed to finish out of sheer stubbornness and a desperate need to procrastinate.
The novel also felt very dated: the Bahamians, the Columbians, the women - basically anyone who wasn’t a white guy - were walking stereotypes.
The TV series adaptation (which le Carré did approve of) is actually far better. Stick with that and go read The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, instead.
The novel also felt very dated: the Bahamians, the Columbians, the women - basically anyone who wasn’t a white guy - were walking stereotypes.
The TV series adaptation (which le Carré did approve of) is actually far better. Stick with that and go read The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, instead.
Don't get me wrong - it's one heck of a novel. But I haven't read a le Carré until this one without Smiley in it and I'll be honest, that made me a little sad. Okay, quite a bit sad. But the plot was magnificent, Jonathan Pine was a compelling lead, and BURR okay Mr. Leonard Burr was spectacular. He and Jonathan are like, the brotp to make all other brotps look stupid.
I finished it. I can't even tell you why it took so long. I like le Carré, but his writing is so dense to me. I'm looking forward to the mini series, and I'm glad to say I've read this.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I chose to read it because of the recent limited series version, and I think I may have enjoyed the book more. I appreciated the insight into Pine's mind that I got in the book. I felt that the ending was a bit of a letdown because the bad man didn't get his comeuppance - but that's usually what happens in "real life," isn't it?
Unfortunately I think my read of this is poisoned by the fact that I watched the TV adaptation first and as a "the book is always better" gal, I'm sorry to say that I actually preferred the adaptation.
This is my first John Le Carre and while I didn't dislike it, I don't think I'll read him again. Much like the Bourne novels, this novel is full of much, much more stuff than the TV adaptation reflects of it - so if you're reading it after the movie and trying to be guided by the familiarity, you really won't be. Additionally, the problems I had with the TV show (a major one being that Jonathan Pine slept with every woman he encountered and every woman fell mindlessly in love with him) was magnified in this book, it being from 1993 - the TV show wrote the women much better than Le Carre did.
This is intricate and well done, but I didn't like the writing style and I thought the dialogue was truly awful. Leonard Burr, who in the show was Angela Burr, was uninteresting to me since in the book he's just another gruff dude.
It's like reading Clancy or Ludlum, but I skimmed a lot of it because I felt the TV show made good choices in streamlining the story: cutting out the fat and still keeping the intrigue. There was no reason for this to come in at almost 600 pages.
This is my first John Le Carre and while I didn't dislike it, I don't think I'll read him again. Much like the Bourne novels, this novel is full of much, much more stuff than the TV adaptation reflects of it - so if you're reading it after the movie and trying to be guided by the familiarity, you really won't be. Additionally, the problems I had with the TV show (a major one being that Jonathan Pine slept with every woman he encountered and every woman fell mindlessly in love with him) was magnified in this book, it being from 1993 - the TV show wrote the women much better than Le Carre did.
This is intricate and well done, but I didn't like the writing style and I thought the dialogue was truly awful. Leonard Burr, who in the show was Angela Burr, was uninteresting to me since in the book he's just another gruff dude.
It's like reading Clancy or Ludlum, but I skimmed a lot of it because I felt the TV show made good choices in streamlining the story: cutting out the fat and still keeping the intrigue. There was no reason for this to come in at almost 600 pages.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse
Usually prefer reading the originals before seeing an adaptation, but did this in reverse with the excellent BBC series last year. Harder to read the book without projecting the superb performances of the cast into the book characters.
Have to admit though I much preferred the BBC ending to the book, wildly different and the book one left me a bit unsatisfied.
Have to admit though I much preferred the BBC ending to the book, wildly different and the book one left me a bit unsatisfied.
I'm only halfway through, but I'm putting this away because this book has thrown me even deeper into my current book slumb. It's not because it's bad, I just think it's written for another target group and I'm atm not capable of filtering all the unimportant information from the important ones (like one has to in adult books). I wanted to read this book because of Tom Hiddleston, and I'm almost sure I'll pick it up again at some point in my life, it's just not for me rn.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes