A Most Wanted Man

3 Reviews

• 2 people find this helpful

  

  Do I know how to pick 'em!

  Most Wanted Man is my 3rd Le Carre novel, and it followed a familiar pattern with my previous reads. I should say, my struggle to finish the book was familiar. Ironically, I love his writing style. In each novel, though, I simply had to drag myself through the pages. I don't need to summarize th ... (continue)

  Most Wanted Man is my 3rd Le Carre novel, and it followed a familiar pattern with my previous reads. I should say, my struggle to finish the book was familiar. Ironically, I love his writing style. In each novel, though, I simply had to drag myself through the pages. I don't need to summarize the story - that's been done enough on Amazon - but I will say that unlike my previous two selections, MWM was all over the place - it suffered a distinct lack of focus... and it was boring.

  Le Carre was at the height of his literary power when writing about what he knew firsthand - cold war Realpolitik. I have to assume that he's out of his element writing about the "War on Terror". Or, perhaps his confused portrayal of intelligence agencies as much at war with each other as with an enemy they don't understand - that doesn't play by established Cold War rules; afraid to get it wrong, so just rounding everybody up in the same dragnet regardless of guilt or innocence - is more telling than I credit.

  Either way, as a novel it wasn't gripping, it wasn't terribly interesting... it was hard to keep my eyes open. I think I'm done with Le Carre.

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  Andyberschauer said on May 2, 2009 | 2 feedbacks

• 

  Very, very good. One more of his book I enjoyed very much, a few years after The Constant Gardener. I really like Le Carré's way of watching and analysing current affairs through his spy stories. Mr. Cornwell may be almost 80, but he's one of those cases where age is just good because it gives him s ... (continue)

  Very, very good. One more of his book I enjoyed very much, a few years after The Constant Gardener. I really like Le Carré's way of watching and analysing current affairs through his spy stories. Mr. Cornwell may be almost 80, but he's one of those cases where age is just good because it gives him so much experience to draw on. He's so acute and observant that I want to read his books more and more!

  This one's another enticing, clever story. Here, le Carré deals with Western behaviour linked and justified by the War on Terror, as the media call it, and weaves a great story that includes the secret services of three different countries, characters from even more different countries, cultures and ideologies, money laundering, idealistic lawyers and Chechen rebels.
  I must say that while reading I did find myself thinking that, just as his old books are great to feel how the Cold War was for those of us who weren't there or were too young, this is a great representation of the new, fuzzy post-1991 world.

  It is slow at times, especially in the central part, and I personally would have done with knowing a bit less about the character's emotions, but I suppose they were part of delineating them. Definitely deserves four stars though, despite these small shortcomings!

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  natalia said on Sep 25, 2010 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

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  "New spies with new loyalties, old spies with old ones, terror as the new mantra; decent people wanting to do good, but caught in the moral maze". It is simply astonishing that this great English novelist continues to produce work of high calibre! Simply beautifully written, as usual.

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  Lunarossa said on Jun 27, 2009 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Hardcover 448 Pages
• ISBN-10: 1416594884
• ISBN-13: 9781416594888
• Publisher: Scribner
• Pub date: Oct 07, 2008
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, llibres en català, Libri Italiani

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