Post by Polish6 on Nov 4, 2016 17:09:43 GMT
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review By Andrew McCaffrey VINE VOICE on March 29, 2004
What is to be said about John Le Carré's THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD? It's shockingly entertaining, it's genuinely unpredictable, and it doesn't offer up a cheap get-out-of-jail-free ending. The characters are cursory without being shallow, the plot moves with amazing speed, and the action keeps bouncing along. In short, this is pretty much the perfect spy novel. As engrossing as it is realistic, and as absorbing as it is intriguing.
SPY is a book based almost entirely around its plot, and while I usually give a storyline summary in my reviews, I don't think I'll be doing that this time. You see, the novel relies so much upon its double-crosses and back-stabbings that even the parts in the beginning (which are usually fair game for reviewers to spoil) can be puzzling and fun to follow. Every part of the story is interesting. Where other novels would still be setting up the premise, SPY has already started playing the game.
Apart from the deviously clever plot, there is one additional thing I want to single out for praise -- the relationship that takes place between two of the main characters. On paper, it's a fairly standard idea: an older male spy paired with a younger, idealistic, innocent woman. But in execution it's a very nicely unstated bit of romance. It felt real, in part because Le Carré didn't beat us over the head with the details, merely sketched in the broader strokes and let the reader's imagination do the rest.
SPY isn't a story where the characters trade artificially witty banter in between their death-defying action sequences. The protagonist spends most of the book tired, battered and confused. It can be a mystery at times guessing whether he really knows what's going on, whether he is the chess-player or the pawn. When one of the book's villains tries to engage him in a verbal battle over whose society and philosophy is the superior, he can only grumble and offer insults in reply. It's this sort of likable realism that makes the book the success that it is. At the time he wrote this, Le Carré had already joined and left Her Majesty's Secret Service, so I can't help but wonder if the plot, which seems intricate and elaborate in a fictional context, was actually a straightforward retelling of a standard spy-game.
(above is taken from Amazon)
I must admit, I like this book a lot. I have read and re-read it. There are 2 things I particularly like about the book, 1 – the incredibly complex plot, and 2 – the high quality of the writing.
The plot is amazingly complicated. It is best not to put out any PLOT-SPOILERS. Suffice it to say, the author has written an angry book here, full of dealings, and backstabbing of the worst sort. I continuously come back to read it, simply to admire the plot.
The writing is very good indeed. That is what impresses me the most. With the best will in the world, spy thrillers do not have a very good reputation, usually being full of wooden characters, impossible plots, and unsatisfying endings. Well, that is certainly not the case here. For example, when the author writes about Leamas, the main character, he describes his descent into alcoholism very memorably indeed.
The copy of the book I have for swapping comes with an Introduction by William Boyd. Because of a few PLOT-SPOILERS, this Introduction is best left to read at the end of the book.
Good Reading,
Polish6
