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The Little Drummer Girl cover art

The Little Drummer Girl

By: John le Carré
Narrated by: Michael Jayston
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Summary

In this enthralling and thought-provoking novel of Middle Eastern intrigue, Charlie, a brilliant and beautiful young actress, is lured into ‘the theatre of the real’ by an Israeli intelligence officer. Forced to play her ultimate role, she is plunged into a deceptive and delicate trap set to ensnare an elusive Palestinian terrorist.

©1983 David Cornwell (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.

What listeners say about The Little Drummer Girl

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fantastic

I have really enjoyed the story and so realistic and full juicy details - truly amazing

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great story well written and we'll told .it kept y

great story well written and we'll told . keep you on the edge off your seat

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The second best book in the world.

And I never award first prizes.

Seriously I think this is the best book John le Carre wrote. It has many layers. There is, as always, a spy who comes in from the cold. A beautiful love story. Lots of literary references, lots of humor, everything very subtle. And perhaps the most nuanced thing anyone ever wrote about the Palestine-Israel conflict.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

author and narrator 5 stars each, editor no star

John le Carre at his best, an Michael Jayston is a fine narrator, badly served by terrible editing. literally hundreds if not thousands of words clipped so the final consonamt or vowel is lost.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Way too slow and long

I usually enjoy John le Carre novels but this one to me lacked tension, moved slowly and just kept going with endless detail that contributed little to the story. The narration was fine.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

More of a personal journey than a thriller

I liked it but the story was more of about the personal journey of the main protagonist, the backdrop of which just happens to be a spy thriller. I haven't read/listened to any other le Carre's so maybe they're all like this and the to version of the night manager gave me false expectations but I was expecting a bit more of an page turner gripping thriller.

That said I still liked it and was a big fan of le Carre's use of language.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

only one thing

The story was excellent keeping my attention for every minute.
Michael Jayston was, as ever, perfect with every character clear, distinct and consistent.
Only one thing took away from my enjoyment of this recording. At the end of many sentences the final sound was cut off. So, for example "watch" would become "wat" or "language" would sound as "langui" . A minor annoyance and a shame for an otherwise excellent audio book.

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13 people found this helpful

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Loved it!

I got this after finishing the recent adaptation so that I could rewatch and understand 100% the little details I 100% will have missed and absolutely loved it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Brilliant but quite some detail!

Phenomenal writing …but be prepared Le C builds the story layer after layer after layer … so sometimes a laborious if brilliant read

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Superb reading of classic espionage novel.

Listening to John le Carre's books adds a new dimension. I have read them all years ago but really enjoyed Michael Jayston's wonderful narration.

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