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A review by inquisitive_chap
The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré
1.0
I thought this a very poor novel, which was a shame as I enjoyed Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Firstly, it's WAY too long for the material covered. There appears to have been little rigour in editing it and - in consequence - it drags on interminably. Despite its length the characters introduced don't really gain any depth. The amount of stories about them provide breadth but little that really explores them in any kind of deep way.
The plot itself is ridiculous and fantastical. That isn't in itself a problem as spy novels are a break from reality. But this manages to be fantastical yet dull. Many of the encounters are just ridiculous. There's no pace until the penultimate chapter.
And even the ending is a complete damp squib
I know it isn't narrated by a main character but there are frequent inclusions of uncommon words which seem out of place in the book and maybe are designed to show off the author's vocabulary.
It was a real struggle to finish it and I only did because I found the previous book better and I wanted to find out the next stage in the Karla trilogy.
Really very poor
Firstly, it's WAY too long for the material covered. There appears to have been little rigour in editing it and - in consequence - it drags on interminably. Despite its length the characters introduced don't really gain any depth. The amount of stories about them provide breadth but little that really explores them in any kind of deep way.
The plot itself is ridiculous and fantastical. That isn't in itself a problem as spy novels are a break from reality. But this manages to be fantastical yet dull. Many of the encounters are just ridiculous. There's no pace until the penultimate chapter.
And even the ending is a complete damp squib
I know it isn't narrated by a main character but there are frequent inclusions of uncommon words which seem out of place in the book and maybe are designed to show off the author's vocabulary.
It was a real struggle to finish it and I only did because I found the previous book better and I wanted to find out the next stage in the Karla trilogy.
Really very poor