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38th out of 485 books
—
402 voters
The Little Drummer Girl
John le Carre's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge, and have earned him unprecedented worldwide acclaim.
In this thrilling and thought-provoking novel of Middle Eastern intrigue, Charlie, a brilliant and beautiful young English actress, is lured into "the theatre of the r...more
In this thrilling and thought-provoking novel of Middle Eastern intrigue, Charlie, a brilliant and beautiful young English actress, is lured into "the theatre of the r...more
Paperback, 672 pages
Published
April 1st 2000
by Pocket Books
(first published January 1st 1983)
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In my twenties, I had a fair number of one-night stands. Each was terrific in its own way even if none was particularly profound in any lasting sense. I never regretted one or thought there was something I could have been doing better with my time. They were fun. By the time I got to my thirties, those one-night stands tapered off. They were still fun, but it was a fun in which I was increasingly less interested. For what they were, I had no complaints, but what they were started to feel hollow,...more
Mar 08, 2009
Denise
added it
This is one of the hardest books for me to get through. I'm still working it out, and it's worth it. I don't like slow reads normally, and this one started out all over the place. Boring, but if you get through the first several chapters, it gets much better. I AM interested in the girl's downslope into terrorism, if that is really what it is. I will let you know. My usual style is to finish a book in two to three nights. This one is taking forever! I cant give up on it though. There is a good s...more
A young actress, Charlie, is recruited by an Israeli spymaster, Martin Kurtz, to try to locate a Palestinian terrorist by the name of Kahlil, who zeroes in on Jewish targets, mostly in Germany. Internal conflicts arise for Charlie, whose character is probably loosely based upon Vanessa Redgrave, because she is an anti-Zionist working for Israelis. She falls in love with her case officer, who closely resembles Kahlil's brother. As the plot spirals inward, the pressures on Charlie consistently inc...more
Originally published on my blog here in July 2001.
This novel is a departure from the spy stories which were the norm for le Carré, and a more successful one than The Naive And Sentimental Lover, because more along the lines of his usual writing. It is about a spy infiltrating an organisation, but not the KGB or the British secret service - this is a Palestinian terrorist cell intent on attacking Jewish targets in Europe. The infiltrator is a British actress, Charmian (known as Charlie), who has...more
This novel is a departure from the spy stories which were the norm for le Carré, and a more successful one than The Naive And Sentimental Lover, because more along the lines of his usual writing. It is about a spy infiltrating an organisation, but not the KGB or the British secret service - this is a Palestinian terrorist cell intent on attacking Jewish targets in Europe. The infiltrator is a British actress, Charmian (known as Charlie), who has...more
An amazing novel. I was a le Carre fan coming in, but this book's explorations of identity and morality blew my mind while simultaneously blowing up lots of other stuff. It's a story about Zionists, Palestinians, and bombs. And love and identity and morality. It's complex as hell; the identity stuff is on a PK Dick level, but goes there without drugs. The morality issue may be closer to common, as we are given Palestinians and Zionists and why they are who they are, but le Carre never overtly po...more
I found this novel extremely disturbing, and the movie version starring Diane Keaton even more so. Perhaps it's because I'm half-Jewish, and family discussions regularly circle back to Israeli/Palestinian politics. The basic scenario in the book is that Mossad are concerned about a successful series of bombings carried out against Israeli targets by a Palestinian terrorist group. They want to infiltrate the organization, and recruit a young actress to help them. There are two scenes near the beg...more
It's depressing, re-reading this after many years, to find that the underlying Israel/Palestine conflict is so little changed. The German backdrop to the novel's early events has changed beyond recognition: the collapse of East Germany, the demolition of the Berlin Wall, and reunification. And, perhaps British and German government agencies might now be less likely to be complicit in Israeli shenanigans. (Maybe. Maybe not.) But the Middle East, no real change.
But, in any case, this, like all le...more
But, in any case, this, like all le...more
I got this at the library and it's due tomorrow. But instead of renewing it I'm going to return it without finishing it. I really liked it in the beginning. The Kurtz character is great. But as soon as the Charlie character was introduced I became more and more disappointed. I still enjoy the parts about the interrogation, etc but very time the story returns to Charlie and Joseph/Michel/Becker/Gadi I find myself skipping whole paragraphs. She seems so weak and pathetic, so driven by sex and men'...more
I have a vague memory of a column by George Will, back when I used to read him, about this 1983 novel. If memory serves, Will was upset that le Carré depicts the Palestinians as having a point of view, or maybe of just acknowledging that they exist. He likened the book to a Harlequin romance. He hated the dust jacket, and the typeface.
I don’t like any of the choices we’re given in the Middle East: choose one side or another, or say “a plague on both your houses,” or ignore it altogether. Le Car...more
I don’t like any of the choices we’re given in the Middle East: choose one side or another, or say “a plague on both your houses,” or ignore it altogether. Le Car...more
Where does reality become fiction? Where does fiction become reality? Can they exist together? The spy novel genre is not usually one that I choose to read. I was impressed, though, with Le Carre's wealth of knowledge with the inside workings of the world of espionage. How does he know so much and in such detail? On the one hand, I applaud the story's intricacies, the slow reveal of each and every plot detail. At times, I had a hard time hanging on to the intended growing suspense. I felt like I...more
This was the first book I read by John le Carre and I feel like a fool to admit that it was a surprise delight to me as he has always had the reputation of being more than just a spy writer, more like a Gene Wolfe-type talent who writes literary novels within a genre, which was exactly what this novel was.
The english actress Charlie, the Israeli spymaster Kurtz and all the other characters are vivid and very real. In fact its more a character study of two very different people unusually bound to...more
The english actress Charlie, the Israeli spymaster Kurtz and all the other characters are vivid and very real. In fact its more a character study of two very different people unusually bound to...more
I'm more of a movies' addict, not so much a books' guy, and I got to know John Le Carre's work through (Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy) the film..
This book is my first read for him, and I must say I really understood through it the way the aforementioned film was made, they both start every were with so many characters heavily described giving you the feeling that it'll play a principal role in the novel (which it then doesn't) leaves you almost understanding nothing even after 5 chapters..then ev...more
This book is my first read for him, and I must say I really understood through it the way the aforementioned film was made, they both start every were with so many characters heavily described giving you the feeling that it'll play a principal role in the novel (which it then doesn't) leaves you almost understanding nothing even after 5 chapters..then ev...more
I had such a hard time reading this book. It took almost a hundred pages or so for the character development to fall into place. Plus the beginning was more descriptive and less character interaction. But in the end, it was worth it.
I still struggle with fully understanding what exactly the true goal of the group that 'hired' Charlie the actress. I guess that is something that can happen with a spy story like this. But the development of Charlie is what carried me through to finish the book. The...more
I still struggle with fully understanding what exactly the true goal of the group that 'hired' Charlie the actress. I guess that is something that can happen with a spy story like this. But the development of Charlie is what carried me through to finish the book. The...more
This is my all time favorite book. A bit different for LeCarre; probably one of his least acclaimed. But the poignant and at the same time schizophrenic recruitment of Charlie (my favorite heroine), and at times mirrored sentiments of her caseworker Joseph keep me enthralled. I read it when it first came out, and of course at the time it was very pertinent and believable--how some middle class western women could be easily manipulated for the good or is it the bad??? Still has applicability now,...more
Having read several of John le Carré's works, I feel that his particular forte is creating for his characters environments that have an amazing amount of stress. He ratchets up drama by putting his characters in extremely difficult situations and then continuing to crank up the stress level. Of his novels that I have read, the previous epitome of these super stress levels was The Spy Who Came In from the Cold. However, I think the stress in The Little Drummer Girl tops even that work.
The title c...more
The title c...more
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J'avoue en partant que les livres d'espionnage ne sont pas ma tasse de thé. Ça peut expliquer en parti pourquoi je n'ai pas réussi à finir ce livre. Je me suis rendu le plus loin que j'ai pu, soit à environ la moitié, mais je n'accrochais toujours pas à l'histoire ni aux personnages.
John Le Carré est un auteur que je qualifierais de porteur de TDAH (trouble de déficit de l'attention avec hyperactivité). Il veut tellement en dire en même temps, qu'on n'arrive plus à savoir quelle information est...more
John Le Carré est un auteur que je qualifierais de porteur de TDAH (trouble de déficit de l'attention avec hyperactivité). Il veut tellement en dire en même temps, qu'on n'arrive plus à savoir quelle information est...more
"This was my first LeCarre book (although I enjoyed the film of “The Constant Gardener”), and I am not really big into spy thrillers, but this book was more intelligent, philosophical, and psychologically probing than I anticipated, in addition to being the heart-racing page-turner that I was expecting.
It is the story of an elegant ploy devised by Israeli intelligence officers to penetrate a Palestinian terror ring that has claimed the lives and limbs of several Israeli diplomats overseas. The p...more
It is the story of an elegant ploy devised by Israeli intelligence officers to penetrate a Palestinian terror ring that has claimed the lives and limbs of several Israeli diplomats overseas. The p...more
While the beginning of the book is essential to building an understanding of the world of terrorism that is being explored, I did find this book difficult to get into at first. What I found most engaging is how deftly le Carre handles the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a great deal of grace and understanding for both sides. Charlie was a difficult heroine for me to like, and I certainly didn't understand her...all in all, this is well worth reading - thought provoking for sure.
I felt very impatient with the plot of the book as I felt the characters were being drawn to make the plot work rather than develop themselves. The girl, herself, was rather tedious and unlikeable. Hard to believe that she allowed herself to be slapped around by her boyfriend but could take on the psychological pressure of spying. Her inner world felt contrived and not unbelieveable and, in that, the book failled. The writing, as always, was pacey and built scenes effortlessly.
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I guess I am still working through it in my mind after finishing it yesterday.
It was well thought out with lots of descriptive detail, making it rather lengthy compared to most Le Carre books. I found Charlie to be either a very good actress, or easily duped. At the end I couldn't say whose side she was on as she seemed to believe more in fiction than fact. Perhaps that makes her a top class spy.
Le Carre is indeed a master of espionage yarns. That is read...more
It was well thought out with lots of descriptive detail, making it rather lengthy compared to most Le Carre books. I found Charlie to be either a very good actress, or easily duped. At the end I couldn't say whose side she was on as she seemed to believe more in fiction than fact. Perhaps that makes her a top class spy.
Le Carre is indeed a master of espionage yarns. That is read...more
I'm surprised that the publisher's description of this book makes it sound like it's pro-Israel; in fact, the story focuses on the tragic contradictions and ironies of the Israel/Palestine conflict and humanizes both sides with no clear heroes or villains. There were a few descriptive parts that I felt slowed the plot's momentum a little too much, but overall it was a great read with lots of suspense. This was my first John Le Carre book, and I can't wait to read more!
John LeCarre has the capacity to emote deep emotional involvement with his characters, causing the reader to agonize over the inherent dangers, paralyzing fears, and myriad of possible outcomes that the players in his political dramas face each moment. And each moment as you read you are eager to find the hopeful outcome to the extent that you want to skip pages to get answers, but you dont dare miss any of his words.
By no means a bad novel but very confusing and convulated. Some things don't make sense. How does Charlie fall in love with a man she has never met? And it is permamenently unclear which side she is operating on because at the end she suceeds at bombing a university but also at finding a wanted terrorist for the Israelis. A further complaint: The plot of the novel could be summarized in a couple of sentences. Why does it take le Carré so many pages to let the story unfold? Certain passages are m...more
I love le Carre. Finding a book of his that I haven't read is always exciting and sad--I'm always afraid it'll be the last one. This one, though...meh. It feels a little heavy-handed: lots of explaining rather than showing. It feels very...earnest.
I'm going to finish it, of course. It's slowly getting more interesting and it is a spy novel, after all. I can never put those down.
******
I ended up liking this book much more than I thought I would. It'll never be a favorite, but it ended up grippin...more
I'm going to finish it, of course. It's slowly getting more interesting and it is a spy novel, after all. I can never put those down.
******
I ended up liking this book much more than I thought I would. It'll never be a favorite, but it ended up grippin...more
Interesting, thought-provoking and definitely a page-turner. I really wanted to get to the end to see what happened.
On the minus side, Le Carré is VERY wordy and some passages just go on..and on..and on. And I had a bit of trouble with Charlie. I don't find it totally impossible that a girl with her background could be sucked into the world of terrorism but the blend of fact and fiction is a bit too confusing and doesn't ring true.
I didn't really like the way that Charlie and Joseph finished up.
On the minus side, Le Carré is VERY wordy and some passages just go on..and on..and on. And I had a bit of trouble with Charlie. I don't find it totally impossible that a girl with her background could be sucked into the world of terrorism but the blend of fact and fiction is a bit too confusing and doesn't ring true.
I didn't really like the way that Charlie and Joseph finished up.
Sep 25, 2011
Judith
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone who enjoys spy novels.
Recommended to Judith by:
I chose it because of the author.
This was a difficult book for me to read. I love any John le Carre book, but he builds the story page by page and supplies so few clues as to where the reader is headed. This book is no exception. I have to concentrate deeply in order to get the full value of the text. I had never before considered the possibility of an 'unwilling' spy. I should read this one again - very soon.
Le Carre provides an intimate and occasionally thrilling perspective on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. But it is a one-dimensional look told through the eyes of a hardened Jewish intelligence agent and a young, libertine woman whom he recruits as a double agent. As a consequence, the reader may be left with a sympathy for the Palestinian cause that is not rooted in reality.
My first experience with LeCarre...I enjoyed it. His characters are interesting and dynamic, and he remains true to them throughout the entirety of the novel. It was also an interesting glance into the world of Israelis and Palestinians. Although, I'm grateful for the history lesson that my professor provided beforehand. I think it was necessary. Either way, great novel. Quite enjoyable.
What happens when a woman loves two righteous men? Two feuding nations? A woman who is struggling with both her inner and outer world; her inner and outer dialogue. ''The Little Drummer Girl'' is the second best spy novel I've ever read, but I NEVER give first prizes. Charlie is a woman who incubates in the womb of her mind the warring ideals and pitiful trails of two imperfect people(s). We all have both angels and devils in our nature and the irony is that when we try to invent one, we end up...more
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John le Carré, the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born 19 October 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), is an English author of espionage novels. Le Carré has resided in St Buryan, Cornwall, Great Britain, for more than forty years where he owns a mile of cliff close to Land's End.
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“Everyone who is not happy must be shot.”
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“Charlie alone knew he was a ghost.”
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