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What Members Thought
I initially picked up this book because I saw the movie and didn't quite feel like I understood everything that was going on. Instead, I ended up being grateful I'd seen the movie, because it helped me understand the book. This is not an easy read. But it is well, well worth the effort. The characters are richly developed, and the prose draws you in so thoroughly that you get the feeling you're reading about actual events.
This is a spy novel, but it's the Colin Firth of spy novels. Which is to s ...more
This is a spy novel, but it's the Colin Firth of spy novels. Which is to s ...more
I had trouble getting into this novel, I wanted to read something very plot driven and fast paced and this spy thriller was leisurely. Much of the action occurs in the past and characters describe what happened to George Smiley, who is trying to uncover the identity of a mole in the British Secret Services. I had trouble distinguishing among some of the minor characters but George Smiley was an interesting anti-James Bond protagonist. Very melancholy atmosphere and a sense of England in decline
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I can't say this cleared up many of the questions I had after seeing the recently released movie, but the scene in which Smiley (tries to) confront Karla forms the heart of the novel, and practically jumped off the page and demanded four stars, so wrenching and alive it was.
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OMG I thought this book would never end! What the heck did it mean? There were a lot of men, spies or something, someone was a traitor, who knows how they figured out who it was ? Boring and utterly confusing. Why would anyone like this?
i was disappointed. perhaps because i was semi-spoiled about who the mole was, but mostly i think because few of the characters were at all interesting to me, and i thought le carre dumped too many of them into the mix too soon. perhaps it will be more enjoyable to watch than it was to read.
OK so... this book is pretty difficult. Not only because of the language/choice of words, and the narrative style that made it a little bit boring sometime, but also because of the plot! All this conspiracy, spy play, politics, cold war, etc etc. If you don't really know about the world politics in 1970s including the Cold War, you will be as confused as I did when reading this book XD But considering this is one of the very first books talking about "mole" and "double agent" and because the wri
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Such a good spy/mystery novel. I especially liked reading it after watching the upcoming movie trailer so I could imagine Colin Firth in the book as I read. Be warned, this is more about espionage and not about the glamorous Bond/Bourne spy lifestyle. The protagonist is almost dumpy in appearance and is no womanizer.
If you won't like this, you probably already know; but in that case, I'm not sure I want to know you.
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Jan 11, 2014
Meg
marked it as to-read-fiction
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
mystery-horror
Dec 28, 2021
Laura Watkins
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2022
Lisa
marked it as to-read
Aug 25, 2022
Archi
marked it as to-read
