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John le Carre's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and kn...
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reviews
May 16, 2011
Helen
rated it: 
Let me start this review with these words; this book is devastating. It is the best writing John Le Carre has ever done, and will ever do.
That's not to say that it's a better spy novel than Tinker Tailor or The Spy Who Came in From the Cold; it's not. If spycraft is what you crave, it's here, but it definitely takes a back seat to everything else. In A Perfect Spy, Le Carre's writing rises easily to the level of the 20th Century's greatest authors.
After the death of his More...
That's not to say that it's a better spy novel than Tinker Tailor or The Spy Who Came in From the Cold; it's not. If spycraft is what you crave, it's here, but it definitely takes a back seat to everything else. In A Perfect Spy, Le Carre's writing rises easily to the level of the 20th Century's greatest authors.
After the death of his More...
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Dec 26, 2011
Juanita
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I have read this book almost countless times. I have tried to make schematics of its complex structure, to understand the grand architectonics upon which Le Carre built an absolute monument to the grand art of running and being an "agent."
The narrative time from the first action of the novel to its last may be something less than a month, but the lives it recounts cover some sixty complicated years. As the "perfect spy" ironically and compulsively, angrily and l More...
The narrative time from the first action of the novel to its last may be something less than a month, but the lives it recounts cover some sixty complicated years. As the "perfect spy" ironically and compulsively, angrily and l More...
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Dec 18, 2008
Nancy
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I recently found a review of this book ( here ) that notes that A Perfect Spy is a kind of what-if autobiographical account of John LeCarre himself (fictionalized, obviously). Whether this is or is not the case, this is one of the best novels I've read this year.
Magnus Pym, intelligence agent for the British, has gone to London after the news of his father Rick's death. He is supposed to return to Vienna, where he and his wife Mary are currently stationed, but instead he sends h More...
Magnus Pym, intelligence agent for the British, has gone to London after the news of his father Rick's death. He is supposed to return to Vienna, where he and his wife Mary are currently stationed, but instead he sends h More...
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Jul 25, 2011
Matthew
rated it:
There are novels which can only be described by a single word: epic. John le Carre's A Perfect Spy, published originally in 1986, is one of those novels to be certain. It is a tale that stretches right across half the twentieth century in the form of the life of Magnus Pym, the perfect spy of the novel's title. The novel is also, in fine le Carre tradition, a fine cross between the spy thriller and a human drama and is all the better for it.
The story revolves around the life and times More...
The story revolves around the life and times More...
Nov 21, 2010
Jim
rated it:
My holiday standby. Allegedly an autobiographical work, this took the cahracterisation that was missing in the novel above and showed how it really should be done. Infact, it was almost over-done by le Carre, as the main players in this book slowly unwound their past histories and interweaving destinies for us to ponder over. Le Carre doesn’t need set pieces to build suspense and action, as this happens in the thoughts and deeds of his people. What motivates them, how they became what they are,
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Aug 27, 2010
Jeffrey
rated it: 
I read A Perfect Spy (originally published in 1986) a half-dozen times in my teens and twenties but never considered Pym a traitor until I read it again in my forties.
What changed? Well certainly not the text. More likely, I grew from attempting to be a cosmopolitan to being an ardent patriot.
We are patriots because we are afraid to be cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan because we are afraid to be patriots.No doubt turning forty and having a third-dozen children changes one's focus.
I remembe
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Oct 24, 2011
Perry
rated it:
The perfect spy novel in my opinion. No tradecraft in that statement, just fact.
The subtlety and nuance of the characterisation by Le Carre here is something to marvel at; 600 pages and you could pull an example of his mastery from any paragraph on any page, the pitch is that perfect throughout. The protagonist, Magnus Pym, is an incredible creation, utterly empty and containing multitudes at the same time. The supporting cast are just as memorable, realer than life. Rick Pym, Magnus' More...
The subtlety and nuance of the characterisation by Le Carre here is something to marvel at; 600 pages and you could pull an example of his mastery from any paragraph on any page, the pitch is that perfect throughout. The protagonist, Magnus Pym, is an incredible creation, utterly empty and containing multitudes at the same time. The supporting cast are just as memorable, realer than life. Rick Pym, Magnus' More...
Aug 01, 2011
Steve
rated it:
Magnus Pym is the Secret Intelligence Service’s principle case officer running agents across Eastern Europe, currently from Vienna. Returning to the UK for his father’s funeral Pym fails to make his return flight and disappears as if into thin air. The problem is the CIA has long suspected Pym of being a Czech agent and a traitor. Is the CIA correct and Pym has defected; or planning to defect? Is the British defence that he is being framed by the Czechs and this is a ruse to convince the CIA of
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Sep 22, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
Some people - my agent for one - rate this le Carre's best book. It is certainly his most personal, in particular, the resemblance between Rick Pym and le Carre's own father has been commented on many times. I loved it. I admire in particular his skill at holding interest, keeping up the pace with a book that is really a reflection on the past - Magnus looking back. The structure cleverly keeps the present and past in parallel - and, somehow, le Carre is able to shift the narrative elem More...
Aug 28, 2011
Coinboy
rated it:
Le Carre transcends genre here, like he did in The Constant Gardener. This is a spy novel, and not. If you want to read a story about a son who followed his father into a life of deception, then let me hand you this. But don't tell me you won't try it because you don't read spy novels.
There were a few halting times when I had trouble following the origins of the protagonist's (not hero, precisely) story. Much of the prime meat of his story was rushed in the final 75 pages or so More...
There were a few halting times when I had trouble following the origins of the protagonist's (not hero, precisely) story. Much of the prime meat of his story was rushed in the final 75 pages or so More...
Aug 10, 2011
Sujeetha
rated it:
OK! Where do I begin to write about this superbly crafted novel. They do not write spy stories like this anymore, which is a shame. Le Carre has a done a good job crafting the characters with minute precision, but that is not even the highlight of the story. The pinnacle is his non-linear storytelling structure, oft-times mixing the past with present. It is an intricate plot and I wish any film-maker who wants to make the film does it ample justice. You cannot help but fall in love with the prot
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Aug 05, 2011
August
rated it: 
Philip Roth, himself, claims on the book's cover that it is "the best English novel since the war". I find that hard to believe, but I can understand why Roth would like it. It is structurally sound and Magnus Pym, the perfect spy, is a memorable character. Personally, though, I wasn't really impressed. It is a long book (700pages), jumping back and forth in time, lots of characters and a narrator who, somewhat schizophrenically, never refers to himself using the first-person sing
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Feb 18, 2011
Gary
rated it:
A Complete Masterpiece. The funny thing about this book was the way it ensnares the reader. It began slowly, almost boring, but eventually I became so intrigued by Pym and who he really was that I couldn't put the book down. Pym had such a sadness throughout the story, his childhood especially but the relationship between he and his father was the most interesting. It's said that this work is largely auto-biographical of le Carré (his father was something of a con-artist and he never really knew
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Aug 26, 2010
Sue
rated it:
Was very helpful to read other Goodreads comments after starting the book as I found it quite confusing. But really liked it once I got used to the deuces: two people Pym was writing to (Tom/Jack), the switching of persons telling the story (first person/third person), and the two time periods (past/present). Hated the ending but it made perfect sense. Also, as the book unfolded, Pym's profound decisions became clear too.
My question at the end was this: how did he become who he More...
My question at the end was this: how did he become who he More...
Jan 03, 2012
Pat
rated it:
I quite like this book after getting into it and discovering who is who. John le Carré seems to have the impression that we have all had connections with the British Secret Service at some time in our life and know how things work. It tells the story of a spy, his background, his family, and how he got into the business. His family was not exactly pefect, the father not exactly a good example for the son to live up to, and may explain why the spy was quite clever in his way. I believe the book w
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Sep 09, 2009
Joe
rated it:
This is supposed to be Le Carre’s best book and probably my favourite of the four I’ve read so far. It is more a piece of reflective literature than Cold War thriller. The novel charts the life and career of Magnus Pym and in particular his relationship as a boy and young man with his confidence trickster father. These flashbacks are juxtaposed with the present where as a diplomat and double agent he has gone missing from the British authorities as well as his Czech controller.
As wit More...
As wit More...
Jun 23, 2011
Christer
rated it:
This is a very sad and thoroughly believable story, perceptive, but it might start a little slow. The story is told with intense feelings, a beautiful language and stinging wit that draws the reader into the mind of Magnus Pym, traitor. It moves backward and forward in time, recording crises-ridden events from the viewpoints of numerous characters. It is well worth the read, it might not be as catching as the earlier novels like Tinker Tailor or The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, but it is a sto
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Jul 11, 2010
Mark
rated it:
The general public may recognize the name Ian Fleming better than John Le Carre. That's their loss. Le Carre is the true master of the spy novel because it focuses on the most important part of espionage...the psychology. This book looks at the psychology of the narrator and what led him into the espionage business, and how it affected the rest of his life. A great novel. Le Carre's best? I don't think so, but still very strong. It is definitely worth reading for the autobiographical elem
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Jan 16, 2012
Melmac
rated it:
The narration performed by Michael Jayston was top notch some of the best character work I've heard. The story on the other hand I found to be a hard slog. For starters it took me a little while to get my head around the change in time and perspective also I found it a bit repetitve. I thinkt he whole time I was expecting something big to happen to Pym but it never did it was more about his identity etc which I just found a bit yawn inducing. My first Le Carre novel and I just though it would be
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Jan 29, 2012
Russell
rated it:
The copy I have is read by Michael Jayston, who does a very good job.
I've never read any le Carré before, and this wasn't really what I was expecting, but reading other reviews suggests that this book isn't typical of his work.
Magnus Pym is an interesting central character. When the book starts, he has disappeared following the death of his father. There are suspicions that he may have been working for the Czechs and has now defected. In fact, he has taken himself off to More...
I've never read any le Carré before, and this wasn't really what I was expecting, but reading other reviews suggests that this book isn't typical of his work.
Magnus Pym is an interesting central character. When the book starts, he has disappeared following the death of his father. There are suspicions that he may have been working for the Czechs and has now defected. In fact, he has taken himself off to More...
Aug 13, 2011
Derek
rated it:
Transcending the genre (as all his works do), this is Le Carré’s best novel. Magnus Pym, the central character is a double agent, whose loyalties are personal rather than ideological. Like all of us, he presents different faces, different personae, to different people. But he is being found out. And, with the death of his father (a monstrous con-man and petty crook), it all unravels. If you like your spy novels to be full of action and the twists and turns of a fantastical plot, this isn't for y
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Jul 15, 2009
More of a how-to or self-help than a thriller (not sure what Powell's was thinking with that sorting...), it's the best book I've read in some time.
The bad news? Apparently to be the perfect spy, you need to have a trickster father and grow up in Britain, so I'm thinking my odds are getting longer still.
Seriously -- the central question of identity is excellent, perhaps even forward-thinking, and more than just a thriller, it really does turn the knife on the question of More...
The bad news? Apparently to be the perfect spy, you need to have a trickster father and grow up in Britain, so I'm thinking my odds are getting longer still.
Seriously -- the central question of identity is excellent, perhaps even forward-thinking, and more than just a thriller, it really does turn the knife on the question of More...
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Nov 24, 2008
Jim
rated it:
A fantastic read by a master of the genre, perhaps even his best work - certainly a personal favourite.
An old cliche, but even I found myself - whilst reading this book alone on a train from Sydney to Newcastle (circa 1988)- deciding that I was henceforth, or at least for the duration of the journey, to be a 'Mr. Cambridge' and invent a persona for this character of mine so that engaging in idle conversation on the train I could be someone completely different . . . and no-one would More...
An old cliche, but even I found myself - whilst reading this book alone on a train from Sydney to Newcastle (circa 1988)- deciding that I was henceforth, or at least for the duration of the journey, to be a 'Mr. Cambridge' and invent a persona for this character of mine so that engaging in idle conversation on the train I could be someone completely different . . . and no-one would More...
Nov 10, 2010
John
rated it:
The first hundred or so pages of A Perfect Spy seem designed to disorient: after a charming opening where Magnus Pym descends upon a quiet English shore town for what appears to be some much-needed R&R ("Hello Mr. Canterbury," the woman greets him upon opening the door, catching the alert reader off guard and perhaps already sounding an alarm in the reader's mind), we cut to Vienna, where Pym's wife apparently doesn't know where her husband is, and over the pages that follow it becomes
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Feb 18, 2008
Clare
rated it:
A Perfect Spy combines espionage with the crumbling walls of a constructed life, built on shadows, broken promises and best intentions and conflicted loyalties.
Magnus Pym is as robust and elsuive a character you will find among Le carre's books.
To classify John Le Carre as a spy writer is to do yourself and readers a disservice. It is true that his years in British Intelligence give undeniable weight to his stories, but Le Carre is so intent on the person also, the idios More...
Magnus Pym is as robust and elsuive a character you will find among Le carre's books.
To classify John Le Carre as a spy writer is to do yourself and readers a disservice. It is true that his years in British Intelligence give undeniable weight to his stories, but Le Carre is so intent on the person also, the idios More...
Jun 06, 2011
Wendy
rated it: 
I picked up this book since it was a list of most influential novels according to one of my issues of Mental Floss magazine, but I just couldn't force myself to get through it. I read about 100 pages of some of the most impenetrable prose, full of confusing switches in point of view, setting, and time period before I set it aside. The army of characters that dropped in like paratroopers made it hard to keep the names straight and at some point, I stopped trying. I just never got into the story.
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May 18, 2008
Dan
rated it:
Since the classic "The Day of the Jackal" -- the only spy/thriller-type book I've ever read -- is one of my all-time favorite vacation reads, I thought I'd pick up another in the same relatively light genre to tide me over while doing some recent traveling. Note: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR LIGHT READING, DO NOT CHOOSE "THE PERFECT SPY." At least early on, I found it so impenetrable that I almost made it the second book in my 37 years that I didn't finish. Actually, though, I'm gl
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May 29, 2010
Jessica
rated it:
Somewhere there's a joke about the fact that I read this while the guinea pig secret agent film "G Force" was playing on the deck of the cruise ship, but I can't find it right now. That said, a fascinating read - showing a spy from the angles of his family, his handlers, his contacts, and his friends breaks open the genre in a really interesting way. And the ending is both note-perfect and a corker.
Feb 11, 2008
Gerald
rated it:
I should say, I just reread this book. As I do every so often with the brilliant novels of John Le Carre, aka David Cornwell, former British intelligence analyst and god-knows-what-he-can't-say. I reread them because, genre aside, he's such a masterful stylist of the English language.
The book's metaphors (shared with his other works) are also just right. The spy as "close observer" is the reader--as the very same. The spy as double-agent, as betrayer, is the inverter of lov More...
The book's metaphors (shared with his other works) are also just right. The spy as "close observer" is the reader--as the very same. The spy as double-agent, as betrayer, is the inverter of lov More...
Nov 23, 2011
Brian
rated it:
I couldn't even make it 80 pages into this because the writing was so difficult to follow. John le Carre goes from first person to third person narrative by the SAME person in a single paragragh. It was way too much work trying to follow along. I wasn't going to deal with 600+ pages of that. I felt like I would have had a better chance of comprehending the writing if I was drunk or stoned.
