A Perfect Spy: A Novel

This was my first John Le Carre novel. I had some trepidations going in, and so I consulted a wide swath of Le Carre fan sites to figure out how to jump in (read: I Googled a bunch of stuff, but with a keen eye). From what I could find A Perfect Spy seemed pretty high up on everyone's list and received strong accolades from various individuals who had dived into the Le Carre literature at the same place.I can tell you, the writing style is ... jarring. Since it shifts perspective, the reader follows behind the lens of one of the following:The main character in the present.The main character's recollection of the past.The main character's spy boss.The main character's wife.I think that's it, from what I remember. Now, here's where it can get a little confusing: sometimes, the main character, Magnus Pym, uses the third person to discuss his past. Sometimes, he uses first-person. It could get incredibly disorienting as a reader--if this doesn't bother you, then skip to the next paragraph. But for me, it constantly interrupted the flow of the book and drove me absolutely batty. We all carry in our own baggage, so this might not bother everyone. Fair warning, though.Beyond that, the book is an absolute masterpiece. If you've ever craved a spy novel that fleshes out the entire back-story of a master spy, then this is perfect. The characters are flawed. They have motivations. They have traumas. They have purpose--both thematically and in the story itself. And through it all, Le Carre guides the reader through the life of Magnus Pym. You can actually see how he becomes the man who exists in the present-day chapters. It's a blast. It lets you empathize with him and at the same time question his judgment.That kind of challenge is exactly what I crave from fiction. I want to understand the character and empathize with them. I want them to challenge me and frustrate me and occasionally please me. Magnus Pym does all of this, and in writing his "explanation" to his son he lets us see the world he grew up in, and a father who both loved him and disadvantage him.

Schedule some psychological therapy soon after you read this unusual installment of Le Carre's many works.Enjoyable to read, it was obviously even more enjoyable for the author to write. Filled with interesting and vivid descriptions, along with engaging dialogue, the storyline follows a convoluted path reminiscent of Slaughterhouse Five, amid the human conflicts of an Elmer Gantry.The author's Year 2000 introduction provides essential insights and contexts needed for the reading experience and interpretation. Where many books used people to tell the story, in this book, the people are the story.Read carefully to get it all; otherwise, critical information might get missed. A long, but worthwhile read, motivating much personal introspection. There are many underlying themes often contrasting and conflicting with each other, thickening the storyline, and shaping the ending.Much of the ambiguity of the author's own troubled youth and emergent adulthood seem well reflected in this cathartic outpouring, while also suggesting the similar unstable backgrounds of those who become involved with spycraft.In many ways, this novel expresses more honesty and completely a more serious and believable presentation of the story advocated by Graham Greene's "Our Man in Havana" in a more tragic and expanded form.The Audible narration served well to emphasize many critical elements of the story possibly missed with a casual or hasty read.This volume is an essential part a minimal Le Carre review or collection.

While I normally enjoy Le Carré's work, this was the exception. For over 600 pages, the reader is subjected to droning scenes more appropriate to a psychoanalyst's couch than to a spy novel.Anyone who has read Le Carré's foreword or bios will know he has no love for his father.In this novel, he apparently decided to make a buck off of a catharsis. The readers should be compensated for being ad hoc therapists.The characters are cliché and, by the time you get to the end, you are glad of the outcome, if for no other reason than it can serve as a little payback for the text's monotony and whining tone.Surely there had to be a better venue for Le Carré to resolve his "daddy issues" - one that didn't drag the unsuspecting reader into a morass of self-pity and paternal loathing.

Not much to add to the well-deserved praise this novel has received. I've ready many of LeCarré's novels but always skipped by this one. I took the plunge and it was well worth the trouble. I hesitated because the book has a formidable reputation. I can tell you that it is deserved. This is a long, difficult book that rewards patience and trust on the part of the reader. You will be lost at times -- unsure if you are in the past or present, young or old, Pym or his father Ricky. And that's how Pym lives his life -- he's as unstuck as Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim. The effect is mesmerizing but if you're epecting a quick Len Deighton novel you're going to be in for a shock.Some readers have expressed surprise at the ending. I don't know how. LeCarré telegraphs it in a hundred ways. But I can give this massive, confusing, complicated and difficult book my highest praise -- I slowed down my reading as I approached the end. I didn't want to get to the forgone conclusion and leave this oh so British world, these people or this maddening book. You won't either.

Where to start? I had read The Pigeon Tunnel, Le Carre's life stories, and been smitten by his father, conman extraordinaire, described as the inspiration for Rick T Pym in A Perfect Spy. Le Carre treats all his characters with utmost respect and love; downright criminals are allowed their own justification, everyone is permitted a degree of mixed thought and dissembling, their private and their public persona need not accord. This thorough analysis of the genesis of a spy and how a basically good man might become a traitor with the assistance of family, friends and his own intelligence bosses is salutary.I am a slow reader and would normally avoid heavy novels, but the beautiful descriptions, the carefully crafted dialogue and the vivid characters kept me with it all through. I think I understand people better now.

I’m nearing the end of The Perfect Spy by John Le Carré and am already mourning the impending end of an amazing book. It’s an old ’un but many say his best. If you’ve read some Le Carré but not this one, I’d highly recommend it…If you’ve not read any of his books, start with a recent one - A Delicate Truth, which is shorter but exquisitely crafted. And if you like audiobooks, it is a great one as the author narrates it himself and you can quickly tune in to his singular voice (which I used to find quite hard to tune into).As for The Perfect Spy, as Mark Kermode said about the film adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - it’s not about spies. Well it is, but mainly it is about how we invent and reinvent our many selves…

I have seen many adaptations of le Carre stories on tv and film but this is the first one I have read. I know his prose style is admired by many people but I found it not to my taste. I was frequently confused by the way the narrative jumped from present to past and back with little or no warning. It interrupted the flow for me. I found the dialogue a bit confusing too. There were times when I wasn't sure who was speaking and had to backtrack to work it out. I suppose I'm just not tuned in to his style of writing. Maybe if I tried another story I could get a better insight into his work.

The Perfect Spy is a masterpiece of its genre: Le Carre is renowned for his skill and expertise in creating characters and scenarios in this spy-thriller arena and The Perfect Spy is as near perfection as is likely to be achieved for this type of novel.How the Book Awards bodies such as Man-Booker overlooked the Perfect Spy in favour of lesser literary works will always be to their discredit.The high-brow intellectual claims, but in essence snobbishness of the literary elite publishers, agents and critics who annually rejected Le Carre's brilliant work primarily because of their misconceived notion of what constitutes 'popular, contemporary, literary fiction' is something only they will ever understand.The reading public will I am sure regard The Perfect Spy as an outstanding story, a superb narrative exploration of a remarkable character displaying a level of description, analysis and evocative development of themes that may never be matched by any other tome for this genre.No spoilers by me: This Perfect Spy, as any thoughtful reader will grasp from the outset, is anything but that exemplary, supreme Intelligenceagent, however, his story encapsulates the intellectual, philosophical and psychological aspects of that unique Cold War creature - the humanity of those that through choice and force of circumstance must bury their true self from everyone about them - theirs is a story we actually can never know, however, Le Carre in this story surely gives us insight to what creates the sort of person for whom that desperately isolated Life becomes a 'normal' existence.Le Carre at his height of his story-telling powers conveys a depth of sensitivity that will affect every reader.

I try not to get influenced by reviews or sound-bites but the cover proclaims this to be Le Carre's finest novel and so being a massive fan of the great mans I couldn't but help get excited. For the first half of this I was underwhelmed. Where was this masterpiece, his finest novel. It wasn't here. As time passed and I kept reading I began to forget about the expectation and enjoyed it for what it was a very good novel and decent by the very high standards set by this fantastic writer. This story unravels slowly, split between the past and the present and as much as I liked the back story it didn't have that profound quality that Le Carre's best writing has. personally I found the back story of Pyms childhood (which gets far more pages than the spy story) didn't really didn't deserve the time that it got, but that is just me and my take on it. Overall, good but by no means great Le Carre.