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lilliangretsinger's review against another edition
1.0
I stopped at page 260 - I tried reading the print copy. I tried the audio book, which was slightly better because it was read by the author is a posh British accent. I still found the book DULL. It talked about events that happened before my time. The author discusses certain events without referencing a specific year in most cases and just expects the reader to know when it happened. (yes, I suppose I could look it up but then I would be reading wikipedia more than the book.)
The author keeps referencing the chapter on his father that he left for the end. The chapter on his father is 30 freaking pages - daddy issues much? This is where I gave up.
I am sure his fiction material is very interesting, but this memoir read like a meandering conversation with someone who is WAY past his prime and thinks he's more important than he actually is.
The one bright chapter in this book was his description/forward for Alec Guinness. That was lovely and beautifully written.
The author keeps referencing the chapter on his father that he left for the end. The chapter on his father is 30 freaking pages - daddy issues much? This is where I gave up.
I am sure his fiction material is very interesting, but this memoir read like a meandering conversation with someone who is WAY past his prime and thinks he's more important than he actually is.
The one bright chapter in this book was his description/forward for Alec Guinness. That was lovely and beautifully written.
sianami's review against another edition
5.0
Le Carré's memoir is captivatingly written, a beautiful prose style and hilarious, tragic, and fascinating by turns. Insights into history, politics, literature, espionage, diplomacy and more.
heidi_meredith's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
Three confessions:
1. I picked this book at the library based on its cover.
2. I haven't read any other John Le Carré books but have seen the film of 'The Constant Gardener'.
3. I am woefully ignorant about history and politics.
Consequently, for me this was hard work, as there were so many people, book plots, countries and political situations alluded to of which I had little to no prior knowledge. However I decided to persevere as I liked the style of the writing, his dry humour and the idea that I was learning something, although in reality it will leave me with vague anecdotes about some alarming or humorous situations in which I can't remember the people, location or decade.
This would likely be more enjoyable for fans of his fiction or for those with some prior knowledge of 20th century politics! To me the book as a whole seemed disjointed. I wished that the stories had been given in chronological order, although there possibly was an order that I was not equipped to fathom.
If I take one lesson away from this collection of stories, it's a reinforcement of the saying, 'It's who you know, not what you know.' Perhaps that's the relevance of the title, which seems to hint at the futility of life?
1. I picked this book at the library based on its cover.
2. I haven't read any other John Le Carré books but have seen the film of 'The Constant Gardener'.
3. I am woefully ignorant about history and politics.
Consequently, for me this was hard work, as there were so many people, book plots, countries and political situations alluded to of which I had little to no prior knowledge. However I decided to persevere as I liked the style of the writing, his dry humour and the idea that I was learning something, although in reality it will leave me with vague anecdotes about some alarming or humorous situations in which I can't remember the people, location or decade.
This would likely be more enjoyable for fans of his fiction or for those with some prior knowledge of 20th century politics! To me the book as a whole seemed disjointed. I wished that the stories had been given in chronological order, although there possibly was an order that I was not equipped to fathom.
If I take one lesson away from this collection of stories, it's a reinforcement of the saying, 'It's who you know, not what you know.' Perhaps that's the relevance of the title, which seems to hint at the futility of life?
andrewspink's review against another edition
5.0
John le Carré has always been one of my favourite authors and so I started this autobiography with some anticipation. I was not disappointed. I learnt that his books were far more thoroughly researched and based on personal experience, also the post.cold war ones, than I had imagined. Like his fiction, this collection of anecdotes is very well written. I especially enjoyed the way that he slips from straight forward narrative to his clipped spy-thriller style as he takes us into some more action packed events, so that it almost feels like it is fiction. I will re-read some of his old books with new eyes now.
zohal99's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the first 50% but my interest dropped after that. It did catch my attention in the end though. I liked the dry humour. His life is very adventurous and seeing his insights into British intelligence was fascinating. I also loved learning about how he created his characters from real-life experiences to ground his work. I only ever read his novel The Spy Who Came in From the Cold which is a very confusing but intellectually stimulating spy novel. I look forward to reading more of his work. I just wish his writing style wasn't so dry.
mactammonty's review against another edition
4.0
I understand why he has so many well loved novels and novels aspired to film. His writing drew me into the stories he wished to share.
This book is a difficult read in parts, as he himself acknowledges, because I did not recognize the people he was referencing. His insights and questioning attitude about how Germany and Russia rebuilt themselves after WWII has less me to add his books to my TBR.
His dedication to research is remarkable. This has lead me to believe that his books will hopefully not be white washed as much as others tend to be. If only all of us could say the same of our own opinions of other people's today.
This book is a difficult read in parts, as he himself acknowledges, because I did not recognize the people he was referencing. His insights and questioning attitude about how Germany and Russia rebuilt themselves after WWII has less me to add his books to my TBR.
His dedication to research is remarkable. This has lead me to believe that his books will hopefully not be white washed as much as others tend to be. If only all of us could say the same of our own opinions of other people's today.
bobbo49's review against another edition
3.0
I have long been a fan of le Carre's, going back to The Spy Who Came In From the Cold. Some of these tales from his life story are brilliant and evocative, providing the background and settings for his novels (with many characters drawn from reality, noted here). On the other hand, the pieces about his ne'er do well, financial criminal father seem overlong and, in my view, not entirely relevant - except, of course, to let us know a major piece of how le Carre came to be the man, and the writer, that he became. Overall, a mixed review.
sbro's review against another edition
3.0
Some interesting parts, but overall, this was just a collection of disconnected stories. The extent of some of them were, "I had dinner with this famous person and this is generally what we talked about." I think I'll probably stick with his novels.