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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As much as I wanted to enjoy this book, I didn't really like it. There were some moments of brilliant writing and tense scenes, but there are too many characters that sporadically appear and whole sections of the plot are never really explained. If you are looking for a book with a satisfying ending, this really isn't it.
Le Carré has a wonderfully unique way of describing his passages that evoke understandings not matched by other authors I’ve read. While I can’t describe this book as a page turner it is something much more sophisticated and enjoyable than that - one for the long run. Pine is a complex and heavy yet principle protagonist, one who is enjoyable to root for while you also rue his weaknesses yourself. Le Carré’s ability to create what is essentially a whole separate world of espionage, inseparable and yet wholly different to our pop culture understandings, is what makes this a good book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A solid spy thriller with a compelling cast of characters. Main issue with it is its very slow going and at times not a lot happens. This is typical of le carre but this book in particular is really drawn out.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
I would like to preface this by saying that I mostly read this so I good go watch the miniseries based on the book because the main cast was so impressive. I also hoped that it would be a good lead in to Le Carré's other works, as I had won another of his books in a giveaway and haven't managed to get ahold of a copy of the books prior to it yet. Looking at the cast listing now, of the actors that I am familiar with, I think they did a fantastic job. (And bravo to genderswapping Burr. When I was looking up who they got to play him, there was a particular line about napalming all the crooks that I could see in my mind's eye being said in the actress's voice. I think that was a marvelous casting choice.)
I found this book to have poor pacing for me, unfortunately. There is nothing more unfortunate to me than being bored for a third of a book. Once it picks up, though, the pace of the book is far more engaging and makes the whole thing a lot more fun to read. Think of it like a roller coaster, except the incline for the drop is way too long. It killed the book a little bit for me.
I think a lot of that pacing was so that you would get attached to your main character, which is Mr. Jonathan Pine. Unfortunately, I found I really didn't like Jonathan much at all. As much as I wanted to like him, he is a sexually repressed, angry, somewhat vile person. There's nothing like listening to him rant about how the woman he is sexually attracted to is a whore because he didn't have to common decency to look away from her while welcoming them to their hotel room. Holy shit, it's just a tit. Imagine if he ever had to take life drawing classes and used a model that was moderately attractive. He'd blow his proverbial lid.
Continuing on that same note, I felt he and Jed had no chemistry whatsoever.
That being said, the spying and the intrigue were very well done. I have to say, I really think that Burr was my favorite character of the whole bunch. I can't wait to watch the miniseries and see him (her) take on all the corrupt politicians that have been making their job of freeing the world of Roper hell. I enjoyed watching him outmaneuver all of his adversaries precisely and cautiously, and then finishing it off in one fell swoop. It had the elegance of building a stack of cards and then knocking it down swiftly and efficiently with a wrecking ball.
Jonathan was a good spy, of course. His intel was invaluable to the story. Albeit if he had just kept his god damn libido in check, he would have been safe a good while longer than he was and they may have actually caught Roper properly. Like seriously, pick a girl who isn't dating an arms dealer - any girl. Vapid, boring Jed cannot be as pretty as risking death for it. Besides, you already have one tragically dead love interest. There's no need to go for two. In any case, Jonathan was not a character I could bring myself to love. He was mostly hell bent on dealing with Roper, which was a cause I could get behind. When I read from his perspective, I strongly felt that tension that the author was going for. However, when threats were made to his safety and character, I found I didn't fear the consequences. I was sort of numb to him because I couldn't in any way relate to him. I read on to see how the story progressed instead of reading on in fear of the death or suffering of the main character who was the glue of the story. An argument could be made that he is an example of the type of person drawn to the field of being a CI, and that the psychology is interesting to the book. However, I didn't much come looking for insight into the psychology of people who can't keep it in their pants when surrounded by some of the most dangerous people in the world.
On the subject of Jed and women in general in the book, I was severely disappointed. The only notable female roles are Jed and Caroline. Caroline is a minor recurring character, who provides Jonathan with some intel at one point when she was pissed off at her cheating husband, but in the end goes back to loving her husband after his affair ends and his endless source of dirty money. Jed, the more significant female role, for me could not pass the sexy lamp test. For those not familiar, the sexy lamp test is basically the idea that this character could have been replace with the leg lamp from A Christmas Story and the plot could have gone on as per usual. Sure, he gives Jed a little backstory, but aside from being a sexual interest for both Jonathan and Roper, she truly served very little purpose. She was there to provide sexual tension and not much else. She has never had a career, she has no personal goals, she exists to sleep with the main male characters. It was insufferable and she was boring. Sophie, unfortunately, was much the same. A sexy woman that dies to push the man forward does not a strong female role model make. As a woman reading this book, this was very disappointing for me, but not unexpected given the author's generation and upbringing. Still, I can't imagine John Le Carré has never met a strong woman in his life.
I feel that I will enjoy this book far more as an on-screen adaptation. There were several places where he spends a few paragraphs describing rooms that Jonathan is in which I find is often more interesting when seen visually than described. Often, these were in run on sentences. THAT was a little annoying for me. These details were just rushed in there and then they never came up again.
I look forward to watching the mini-series, but I will likely never read this book again. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in the psychology of and the logical workings of how an informant gets into and out of the good graces of someone being targeted by national spy networks.
I found this book to have poor pacing for me, unfortunately. There is nothing more unfortunate to me than being bored for a third of a book. Once it picks up, though, the pace of the book is far more engaging and makes the whole thing a lot more fun to read. Think of it like a roller coaster, except the incline for the drop is way too long. It killed the book a little bit for me.
I think a lot of that pacing was so that you would get attached to your main character, which is Mr. Jonathan Pine. Unfortunately, I found I really didn't like Jonathan much at all. As much as I wanted to like him, he is a sexually repressed, angry, somewhat vile person. There's nothing like listening to him rant about how the woman he is sexually attracted to is a whore because he didn't have to common decency to look away from her while welcoming them to their hotel room. Holy shit, it's just a tit. Imagine if he ever had to take life drawing classes and used a model that was moderately attractive. He'd blow his proverbial lid.
Continuing on that same note, I felt he and Jed had no chemistry whatsoever.
That being said, the spying and the intrigue were very well done. I have to say, I really think that Burr was my favorite character of the whole bunch. I can't wait to watch the miniseries and see him (her) take on all the corrupt politicians that have been making their job of freeing the world of Roper hell. I enjoyed watching him outmaneuver all of his adversaries precisely and cautiously, and then finishing it off in one fell swoop. It had the elegance of building a stack of cards and then knocking it down swiftly and efficiently with a wrecking ball.
Jonathan was a good spy, of course. His intel was invaluable to the story. Albeit if he had just kept his god damn libido in check, he would have been safe a good while longer than he was and they may have actually caught Roper properly. Like seriously, pick a girl who isn't dating an arms dealer - any girl. Vapid, boring Jed cannot be as pretty as risking death for it. Besides, you already have one tragically dead love interest. There's no need to go for two. In any case, Jonathan was not a character I could bring myself to love. He was mostly hell bent on dealing with Roper, which was a cause I could get behind. When I read from his perspective, I strongly felt that tension that the author was going for. However, when threats were made to his safety and character, I found I didn't fear the consequences. I was sort of numb to him because I couldn't in any way relate to him. I read on to see how the story progressed instead of reading on in fear of the death or suffering of the main character who was the glue of the story. An argument could be made that he is an example of the type of person drawn to the field of being a CI, and that the psychology is interesting to the book. However, I didn't much come looking for insight into the psychology of people who can't keep it in their pants when surrounded by some of the most dangerous people in the world.
On the subject of Jed and women in general in the book, I was severely disappointed. The only notable female roles are Jed and Caroline. Caroline is a minor recurring character, who provides Jonathan with some intel at one point when she was pissed off at her cheating husband, but in the end goes back to loving her husband after his affair ends and his endless source of dirty money. Jed, the more significant female role, for me could not pass the sexy lamp test. For those not familiar, the sexy lamp test is basically the idea that this character could have been replace with the leg lamp from A Christmas Story and the plot could have gone on as per usual. Sure, he gives Jed a little backstory, but aside from being a sexual interest for both Jonathan and Roper, she truly served very little purpose. She was there to provide sexual tension and not much else. She has never had a career, she has no personal goals, she exists to sleep with the main male characters. It was insufferable and she was boring. Sophie, unfortunately, was much the same. A sexy woman that dies to push the man forward does not a strong female role model make. As a woman reading this book, this was very disappointing for me, but not unexpected given the author's generation and upbringing. Still, I can't imagine John Le Carré has never met a strong woman in his life.
I feel that I will enjoy this book far more as an on-screen adaptation. There were several places where he spends a few paragraphs describing rooms that Jonathan is in which I find is often more interesting when seen visually than described. Often, these were in run on sentences. THAT was a little annoying for me. These details were just rushed in there and then they never came up again.
I look forward to watching the mini-series, but I will likely never read this book again. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in the psychology of and the logical workings of how an informant gets into and out of the good graces of someone being targeted by national spy networks.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Le Carré remains one of my all-time favorites, although the ending seems a bit squishy.