The Perfect Novel

If a true novel is a vehicle for self-discovery via the author’s own journey of awareness then A Perfect Spy is surely that.

There’s little point outlining the plot and the comparisons between Rick and Ronnie Cornwell. You know all of that. Magnus Pym’s development as a boy, man, son, father and spy are superbly covered with many tricks and linguistic flourishes that launch this book so high above many other works of fiction. Le Carré was simply a genius. He also captures the post-war years where respect for the ‘establishment’ was a sine qua non.

Yes I learned much about Europe whilst Yugoslavia still existed and Czechoslovakia was part of the ‘enemy’ but I learned far more about myself as the book progressed.

Michael Jayson has the perfect voice and pitch for Le Carré. He gets 5 stars too. But why does he never finish the words “box” and “watch”?? Is it some kind of private joke? It reminded me of his voice-over for the Revels TV adverts way back when.

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Confusing narrative

The switches between narrator and first person, time and place and the identities of the characters made this hard going at times. I love Le Carre and narration by Michael Jayston or the great man himself but for the first time, in these wonderful spy novels, I found it hard to resist skipping to the inevitable denouement.

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What a lot of words for not much action

I wasted hours of my life on this book. Lovely descriptions but what a waste of paper! It was hard to follow who was who and what was happening. I didn’t enjoy it much at all.

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Another good one.

Really enjoyed it. Good characters and story as usual. I'd recommend it if you like the authors other work's.

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Five stars

Great story and Michael Jayston, like all his Le Carre performances, is excellent. Highly recommend.

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sort of just finishes at the end, a bit anticlimac

a nice book, great storytelling. bit disappointed at the ending, after 21 hours hours, it just finished.

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LeCarre’s best work.

Yes, it is wonderfully narrated, so much so that it is difficult to believe that one person can do such an amazing job, but this is surely John LeCarre’s his best work is it not?
Fabulous plot, supposedly, partly autobiographical, terrific characters, vivid depiction of the different settings, and of course, beautifully written.
Other reviews say that it is not an easy read, and you have to concentrate, and so on, and I think if I had read that beforehand, I would probably have skipped this book, which would’ve been a great loss. Even rewinding occasionally to check out just what’s going on is a joy, you get to hear the same passages twice, so you get the same pleasure twice over!
As Philip Roth said, this is surely one of the best postwar novels in existence isn’t it?

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A few false starts and I’m still not sure

After three years and several restarts, today I finally finished A Perfect Spy and I really don’t know what to make of it. I’m fairly new to Le Carré and chose this because I enjoyed the Night Manager and Little Drummer Girl and had been told the Beeb were going to remake A Perfect Spy (I think that might be wrong) so wanted to listen to the book before watching it.

I love listening to Michael Jayston, but I now wonder if he was the best voice actor for this book. I think A Perfect Spy is quite dark and Jayston is bright and cheery, especially when recounting the backstory of young Rick and even younger Magnus, which I felt was sending the story in a completely different direction to it’s ending.

Ultimately it wasn’t the book I thought it was going to be, but I did enjoy elements. Especially the nostalgia and character of Rick.

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Prepare Yourself For a Little Heartache

I've read this twice before and seen the TV series. It gets better with repetition, but there's always a bit of heartache with LeCarre. I enjoy the way this particular novel switches about between time periods, points of view and between first and third person, but I suppose this could be annoying to some listeners.

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3 people found this helpful

Spy thriller for grown-ups

Le Carré is a skilled writer. Of this there is no doubt. This story unpeels with a sort of inevitable fascination. I loved the clever non linear nature of the storytelling filling in gaps as you go and delivering on the questions you have about Magnus and his world. I have been listening to Mick Herron's Slough House, which are great, but sorry Mick, JLC is the master. JLC shows again that he has a depth of understanding of human nature, and the mastery of the craft of the novel format that allows him to perform such wonderful magic with it. I had not expected to be drawn in so quickly to a story-line that requires you to have patience and figure things out for yourself. You get fascinated by details and points of view. The narration is top shelf - absolutely perfectly matched to the writing. I have never before got such a sense from a narrator that they are so thoroughly enjoying the material.

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1 person found this helpful