A review by heritage
Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carré
4.0
This novel marks a return of sorts for le Carré. Firstly, it's a return to the topic of Russia, something that has been absent from the last few books he has written. It's also a return to his highly-stylized narrative, his great dialog, and decent characterization, all of which were absent from his previous novel, "A Most Wanted Man". However, what remains is still what I call an 'activist novel', which is pretty much what le Carré's last five novels have all been about. But this time it has been muted a bit and the plot takes a more predominant role.
Le Carré gets a lot of things right in this novel, and I think many long-time fans will be pleased. There were, however, two items that disappointed me. One involved a subplot regarding the money launderer's daughter, which could easily have been edited out. The other is that le Carré has pretty much ended his last five novels the same way. I think it's high time for him to give us something a little different as it's getting a little predictable now.
I say give this one a try. It's good, and you won't be disappointed. Really, I can't say enough about the narrative and dialog. It's worth the read for that alone. It's also interesting to read a few of the newspaper articles that are being mentioned with reference to this novel just to see how close to reality le Carré really is with this plot.
Le Carré gets a lot of things right in this novel, and I think many long-time fans will be pleased. There were, however, two items that disappointed me. One involved a subplot regarding the money launderer's daughter, which could easily have been edited out. The other is that le Carré has pretty much ended his last five novels the same way. I think it's high time for him to give us something a little different as it's getting a little predictable now.
I say give this one a try. It's good, and you won't be disappointed. Really, I can't say enough about the narrative and dialog. It's worth the read for that alone. It's also interesting to read a few of the newspaper articles that are being mentioned with reference to this novel just to see how close to reality le Carré really is with this plot.