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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Boring! I listened to the audio book and nearly gave up a number of times. The government office machinations nearly did me in! I had planned to watch the TV series, but I don’t know if I can be bothered.
The Night Manager by John le Carré is an interesting read. It is split into parts, the past and the present day and it can be quite confusing. Like other reviews, the first 200 pages drags on a bit then it seems to move quite quickly then it slows right down. So its quite boring at the end. I'm excited to watch the series
It’s actually really fun to see LeCarre writing in response to his own work and the new political realities. Half of this is navigating the various murky waters of the British and American intelligence agencies and their own alliances within the illegal arms trade, and how a single agent can be put out to sea but for people making sure that they’re protected. The other half is that single agent being drawn back into the fray, part as vengeance for a woman who was put out to sea and ended up dead for it, and partly just wanting to see the bad man taken out. But LeCarre is pretty up front that this isn’t going to be so simple - when one of your side characters says offhandedly “it’s like Casablanca but without the heroes”, the thesis is pretty straightforward. :p Yes, there is the perennial problem of an underdeveloped woman (though she does get parts of a few chapters dedicated to her point of view, which is more than she would’ve gotten in the past). Half the fun is watching our main go deeper and darker into the depths, while watching in horror as things go spectacularly wrong at the highest levels behind him, and seeing how despite everything, he manages to get out of it all. Take it slow, and just enjoy the ride.
I found this pretty hard going (hence the reading time!). It felt like there were parts where it went into minute detail when nothing was really happening and then it skipped ahead for big chunks ... the ending particularly felt rushed and I didn't really understand what happened. I liked bits and pieces of it, but definitely not one for the re-read pile!
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's like James Bond but without the style, charisma, charm, good pacing, and interesting antagonist. Plenty of misogyny though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment
Having carefully avoided the television mini-series I read this with no preconceptions other than it was a John le Carre spy novel, and I liked all the others of his that I had read.
I enjoyed this one very much also. I thought the plot was well thought out, and he slowly but surely fleshed out the leading players - of which there were several to get my head around. What did surprise me was that there were no plot twists, although this didn't detract in any way from my enjoyment. The story line played out exactly as I expected it to right up until the somewhat abrupt ending. When I say abrupt, I don't mean in the sense of it being suddenly cut off. Le Carre did bring things to a nice close, it just felt as though the last bit was too brief to give real satisfaction after the preceding long, steady pace. And there were two characters whose actions must surely have had legal consequences, but no mention was made of this and that was odd to me considering how well thought through everything else was.
So, four stars rather than five because of the ending.
I enjoyed this one very much also. I thought the plot was well thought out, and he slowly but surely fleshed out the leading players - of which there were several to get my head around. What did surprise me was that there were no plot twists, although this didn't detract in any way from my enjoyment. The story line played out exactly as I expected it to right up until the somewhat abrupt ending. When I say abrupt, I don't mean in the sense of it being suddenly cut off. Le Carre did bring things to a nice close, it just felt as though the last bit was too brief to give real satisfaction after the preceding long, steady pace. And there were two characters whose actions must surely have had legal consequences, but no mention was made of this and that was odd to me considering how well thought through everything else was.
So, four stars rather than five because of the ending.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Ending somewhat disappointing
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
I read this quite a while ago, and liked it a lot - 4 stars of liking. Then watched the mini-series and didn't think much of it. For some reason, I re-watched the series this year, and though the story was full of holes, I really liked the characterizations. Whoever did the casting was right on the money. Now, I've read the book a second time, and have found it far, far superior to the series, and what made another bit of difference was that I have that brilliant casting to put to the story. I must admit, I was also able to follow the internal machinations of British intelligence with a lot more coherence. Jonathan's recruitment, legacy building, and spy-craft make sense, and the ostentation of Dickie Roper and company make one wonder just how rich you can become selling "toys," to bad guys. Stinking rich, it appears.