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What Members Thought

This was my first John le Carre, but it won't be my last. I'm not sure I ever would have thought these were right for me, had I not attended the Rabbit Room session with Mark Meynell, who piqued my interest. Turns out, this is just the sort of character-driven thrillers I'm only just discovering I love. I read this on audio, narrated by Ralph Cosham, beloved by many of you Three Pines fans, and that only served to enhance that comparison in my mind. If you love a gentleman detective sort, if you
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I find that I like Le Carre's shorter novels better.
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What dreams did you cherish, Mrs. Fennan, that had so little of the world in them?
I guess I'm glad I read this, and I guess it was good, but to be honest I'm not really sure on either count. I'm not really sure I understood what happened.
Reading this is like reading Shakespeare: there are so many things le Carré assumes the reader knows, but I have no idea! I need an annotated edition to explain all the Britishisms and cultural norms of the time. My poor little 21st century American brain h ...more

LeCarre's first novel and the genesis of George Smiley, LeCarre's distinctly non-dashing spy with a quiet demeanor and a sharp mind. I'd read a few LeCarre novels and seen a few movie versions, so I wanted to read more and start at the beginning. A nice, solid tale of espionage and a fairly quick read. In a few places in the story, Smiley would be thinking over the information he had and the questions that remained unanswered, providing a periodic synopsis of where we were in the story. My mind
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Apr 21, 2012
Nanosynergy
marked it as to-read

Jun 24, 2012
Sara
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Sep 15, 2014
Steve Anderson
marked it as to-read

Feb 24, 2015
Vesra (When She Reads)
marked it as to-read
Shelves:
e-book,
pc-100-199,
fiction,
mystery-thrillers,
series,
c-white,
espionage,
c,
author-l,
spy-stories-tales-of-intrigue


Feb 19, 2017
Anna
marked it as to-read

Sep 24, 2019
Colleen Chi-Girl
marked it as to-read

Apr 28, 2020
Ryland Cronk
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
digital-library-book


Dec 13, 2020
Curlysue
marked it as to-read

Apr 25, 2022
Christine
marked it as to-read

Aug 10, 2025
Ellen Librarian
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