Reviews

Fascinating book to read while there is an Israeli war occurring over Palestine. Watched the mini series first and it enriched the book, because I was able to really see things unfolding in a different way. Great read on an airplane.

andrew61's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

actress Charlie arrives and the plot starts to pick up pace this is an interesting read and as the Middle East continues to dominate the news a reminder of how ever present the Israeli/Palestine conflict has been. Set in late 1970s/early 80's there is a Palestinian spate of bombings in Europe in which Jewish diplomats and their families are targeted and notably a child killed. The leader of the cell is unknown but a plot is hatched by the Israeli secret service and particularly chief spy master Kurtz to place an agent in to the frame.
In a very convoluted scheme they hatch upon a little known beautiful and volatile English actress and after the kidnap of the brother of Kahil the Palestinian leader Charlie is coached into the role of the brother's lover by another Israeli operative.
Once I found my way into the book I enjoyed being back in the twisty mind of a master storyteller and while I found Charlie's willingness to take on this role at times stretched credibility I was willing to follow the plot through to it's climactic end.

lanceschaubert's review against another edition

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5.0

Had I lived during the time of Dostoevsky and witnessed him publishing Crime and Punishment, I imagine it would have felt, in part, like witnessing the publication of The Little Drummer Girl. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in world politics, Arab culture, Jewish culture, German culture, or English culture.

Or anyone who ever acted.

Or watched a spy film.

Or lusted.

Yeah, that's most everyone. Go read it.

beefmaster's review against another edition

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5.0

As perfect as novels come

thisisstephenbetts's review against another edition

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5.0

The plot revolves around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rather than Le Carré's familiar milieu of the cold war. That said, he does kinda fit his plot into his familiar cold war devices - and this is essentially a story of espionage. This initially caused me a few reservations, as I'd expected it to be less like his previous novels than it appeared on first flush - there's an analogue for Smiley, and even for his occassional cadre of misfits; he returns again to England-on-the-wane than. But despite the superficial similarities - his tradecraft as he might himself have it - this book definitely moves beyond Le Carré's previous works, and is better for it. He manages to pull off an international setting without the histrionics of The Honourable Schoolboy. On the conflict itself, Le Carré is at pains to be even-handed - showing people of all stripes on all sides - though it is very clear that he believes that horrors have been committed against innocent Palestinians. In part this 'balances' the Palestinian villains of the piece, though that would be an over-simplification of Le Carré's nuanced portayal.

I thought the writing was excellent too - skillfully edging the narrative voice into the subjective reality of the protagonist just enough to give an impression of their mindset and smear our objective clarity, without it becoming too tricksy or distracting.

Actually not a bad introductory Le Carré I think.

joshtenet's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

patrickwadden's review against another edition

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3.0

this is a good book as it shows that liberals are ideologically bankrupt and are a vague collection of slight progressive ideas squeaked dimly into the void and stacked up only so high and so clumsily that they fall the second they are kidnapped and interrogated ruthlessly by a foreign military agency.

don't be a liberal. Leftist is bestist <3

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