Anybody here read any of his books? I got halfway through 'The Night Manager' before I quit. A veeerrryyyy sloooowww read. Also, I was confused as to the sequence of events in the book. Not very linear - most of the book appears to be backstory to explain where the character just jumped to. And he will put the character in a new place but then proivde some backstory on where the guy was before. My opinion is too much backstory disguises a thin plot, thin writing, or both. But then this was a NY Times best seller, so what do I know?
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David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment. -
Back in the Seventies I read his biggie, "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold," and a few others ... "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "Smiley's People" and "The Looking Glass War" and maybe one or two others. I don't recall the sequencing issue but I do remember most if not all of them being pretty slow going.
I was a voracious reader, then (and still am, at least to the extent I don't fall asleep after reading only two pages) and I tended to be too forgiving of an author, especially the top-selling guys. No matter how bad a book was, I'd stubbornly plow on through it. In time I realized how silly this was. Now, if a book doesn't hook me quick and keep me hooked, I'm outa there.Larry -
I'm a huge LeCarre' fan. The Night Manager may be his weakest effort.
His prime stuff, as mentioned by Larry, and starring George Smiley, was much more interesting. Don't expect Ken Follet or Ian Fleming type shoot-em-up stuff, though. The stories are much more about the character ineraction and pressures of spying.
JRJRComment
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I think Le Carre' is best suited to concentrated reading. If I can put in a few hours a day for a couple of days Le Carre' works for me since I can keep the characters and details alive in my mind. I can usually get through one of these on a rainy Friday night/Satuday morning, but if I tried reading Le Carre' in 20-minute chunks over a week and a half it would become confusing.
I read lots. I go through a couple of pocket books a week. It's annoying that my eyesight is deteriorating and I have to wear corrective lenses for reading. My wife is now bringing home large-print books from the library.AndrewComment
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I'm listening to a CD version of The Constant Gardener. JR's comments about character interaction and pressures of spying are quite apt. Le Carre is more interested in motivation and reaction than in action itself. I'm finding Gardener to be pleasant enough listening on my 2-1/2 hour daily commute. The reader's facility at providing varied voices (women, men, young, old, Russian, Italian, English, American, New Zealander, African) adds to the interest. Don't know if this would do as much for me if I were silently reading it to myself.- David
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” -- Oscar WildeComment
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His most recent novel, Absolute Friends, brings back his style of old, albeit with a new cast of characters. It's sort of a post-cold-war spy book with Bader-Meinhof twist.
Very long on character development. As usual, a downbeat denouement makes you wonder about human motivations.
The name of the game in spy books now is in the Middle East. LeCarre' doesn't seem to be able to quite get his method lined up with that reality.
JRJRComment
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