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pluviosity's review against another edition
2.0
This book didn't impress me much, but after my friend--who usually shares the same taste--protested when I gave my opinion, I'm thinking about giving this book a second chance. Maybe someday.
brig_berthold's review against another edition
3.0
That ending!
This was far better than I expected it to be. All I knew was that I love this author. Once again, he didn't disappoint.
This was far better than I expected it to be. All I knew was that I love this author. Once again, he didn't disappoint.
c_ward68's review against another edition
3.0
My first Le Carre and I’m in two minds. Excellently written, I like his concise prose and unflowery style. But I didn’t really ‘get’ the story: the relationships with all but Ham were elusive, Tessa and Arnold were completely unbelievable, the point of Justin’s quest seemed disappointingly unfulfilled. I suppose I expected more of a final catharsis, an objective gained, but ended up with Justin’s unsatisfying amble around the world telling us again everything that had already been set out early on. All a bit polemical and dull.
mollymccall's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
chrisam's review against another edition
1.0
Save yourself the time.
"Big Pharma is really evil. Like, evil right? No, it's worse than that, it's like, really, really evil."
And so on. For hundreds of pages.
You begin to think straw pharmacist had a point.
Now we don't have the Cold War any more we have to think up some more ("Ain't gonna study war no more" doesn't really work in the thriller business).
Somehow my old review of this got lost. It involved Alice Liddell and the Cod War somehow.
"Big Pharma is really evil. Like, evil right? No, it's worse than that, it's like, really, really evil."
And so on. For hundreds of pages.
You begin to think straw pharmacist had a point.
Now we don't have the Cold War any more we have to think up some more ("Ain't gonna study war no more" doesn't really work in the thriller business).
Somehow my old review of this got lost. It involved Alice Liddell and the Cod War somehow.
bioniclib's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the plot: a pharmaceutical company tests a new TB drug on destitute Africans while the governments of both Kenya and England look the other way. The plot stats when the wife of a British Foreign Service officers gets murdered. The plot was great but the execution wasn't.
Mr. Le Carre's style is obtuse, intentionally so. What's happening is never really spelled out. Which is the point. It worked...for a while. But not almost 500 pages "a while". I enjoy the Justin Character but did not enjoy Woodward or his wife. There were other characters that were introduced too late on for me to care about.
I might try another, perhaps the more famous "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" but not for a while.
Mr. Le Carre's style is obtuse, intentionally so. What's happening is never really spelled out. Which is the point. It worked...for a while. But not almost 500 pages "a while". I enjoy the Justin Character but did not enjoy Woodward or his wife. There were other characters that were introduced too late on for me to care about.
I might try another, perhaps the more famous "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" but not for a while.
etinney's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 out of 5 stars
This took me a very long time to read mostly because of school. However, the pacing of this novel did not help.
I picked up this book because we had watched the movie in a cinema studies course. While the premise was interesting, and political thrillers are a subject that I enjoy, this novel just did not interest me. I felt it was entirely too long with seemingly pointless dialogue that dragged the story. There were too many characters, and I was not interested in most of them. There were only a few likable characters, so I was only really interesting when reading from Justin or Ghita's POV. I really enjoyed reading about Justin's investigation into the pharmaceutical company, but all of the diplomacy plots, especially those staring Sandy, were infuriatingly boring. Gloria was a very weak female character, so her point of view was frustrating as well.
Overall, Le Carre did a great job exploring the issue of the abuse of poor nations for research, but the story was bogged down by its length.
This took me a very long time to read mostly because of school. However, the pacing of this novel did not help.
I picked up this book because we had watched the movie in a cinema studies course. While the premise was interesting, and political thrillers are a subject that I enjoy, this novel just did not interest me. I felt it was entirely too long with seemingly pointless dialogue that dragged the story. There were too many characters, and I was not interested in most of them. There were only a few likable characters, so I was only really interesting when reading from Justin or Ghita's POV. I really enjoyed reading about Justin's investigation into the pharmaceutical company, but all of the diplomacy plots, especially those staring Sandy, were infuriatingly boring. Gloria was a very weak female character, so her point of view was frustrating as well.
Overall, Le Carre did a great job exploring the issue of the abuse of poor nations for research, but the story was bogged down by its length.
matteo_of_eld's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
marysues's review
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0