Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré

11 reviews

tyelperinquar's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

The fact it ends the same way it began, with a spy and his lover being shot while crossing the border, makes me so.

AUGH.
That chapter where Leamas and Liz are discussing

how the British Intelligence Service and the Communist Party are both trampling over innocent people in the name of “the greater collective good”

was so poignant to me… It’s something I’ve thought about a lot during my investigation into Cold War literature, and I was somewhat surprised to hear le Carré addressing it in this book.

Narrator was very good… the exhaustion he has in his voice when reading the part about

Leamas’s interrogation

was fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Antisemitism, and Death

ms_gouldbourne's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

I read this book in about two hours, and once I got started I absolutely couldn't put it down. There's something extremely compelling about John le Carré's style of prose - it's fairly sparse, navigating the complex subject matter with an efficiency and briskness that made the story easy to read in spite of its weightiness. The character of Leamas was sketched out in few words, yet he still felt utterly real to me. I did guess some of the twists and turns ahead of time, but that didn't detract whatsoever from my enjoyment of the story, and I found the final note to be poignant and intelligent. I've never read any le Carré before, but I doubt this will be my last outing with him!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Violence

lizdaniii's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Death, Murder, Violence, Antisemitism, and Gun violence

Minor: War, Sexism, Confinement, Torture, and Alcohol

rheagoveas's review

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism

chriswoody94's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Torture and Antisemitism

Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny

tjwolf's review

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Gun violence, Confinement, Murder, Death, and Alcoholism

Minor: Antisemitism

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Murder, War, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Sexism, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Confinement, Torture, Violence, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Fatphobia

ilovelucy's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

I read this book almost a year ago, and I have been thinking about it ever since.  I started this novel and became immediately interested in where the story was going, however I was a big fan of tinker tailor and wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this one as much.
I was intrigued by the story, specifically seeing the story unravel that Leamas was feeding to Fiedler. I felt I was following along pleasantly until I neared the end, and suddenly I could not keep reading quickly enough.

When I read the final pages I felt like my heart had stopped. It was like was gut punched with a sack of bricks. The reveal of Control’s plan, Leamas’s place in it all, the horribly unethical inclusion of Liz in these plans… the conversation between the two in the car on the way to their demise was some of the most thought provoking and emotion invoking dialogue I have ever read, especially in an espionage novel.  

All of this to say - there were definitely some dated elements to the writing, but Le Carre’s style and substance vastly (in my opinion) outweighs these cons. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism

siiriainen's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Death, Antisemitism, and Torture

amandabcook's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Alcohol, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Death, and Police brutality