laticsexile's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
As a story, it’s right up there with his other great books and apposite even 40 years on (reading this in 2023 during yet another dark period in Middle East politics). The reason I have it down as a 3.75 rather than 4 or higher is that Charlie seems to me to be too easily sucked into the opposite camp of her initial character’s leanings. It just doesn’t ring true. The plotting and detail and descriptions of places are all top drawer Le Carré
baxtervallens's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
basilganglia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bukebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
fionarp's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
acardattack's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This has a higher rating than I expected given seeing how some of le Carre's is rated. I did consider DNFing this a couple times, but since I finished a book of this length, I dont feel I can go lower than 3 stars.
It is slow, A good half of the book could have been cut and it would have made for a much better book IMO. Started very interesting, and then arduous middle half until about the last 25% where things started to really pick up
It is slow, A good half of the book could have been cut and it would have made for a much better book IMO. Started very interesting, and then arduous middle half until about the last 25% where things started to really pick up
rosekk's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't sure how the book would handle the conflict, and since all I knew about the author what that he writes spy novels, I feared it would be quite shallow. It turned out to exceed my expectations by quite a long way.
patrickwadden's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
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
don't be a liberal. Leftist is bestist