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Loading... Nattjänst (original 1993; edition 1994)by John le Carré, Sam J. Lundwall (Translator)
Work InformationThe Night Manager by John le Carré (1993)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/11/2023168-night-manager-john-le-carre.html ( ) Writing this somewhat (several months) after reading it. But it was excellent Le Carré. Really good to see how he branched out after the fall of the Soviet Union. Also nice continuation of themes and characters from The Secret Pilgrim. Somewhat reminiscent of The Little Drummer Girl. A touch more Bond-ish than normal, with all the sneaking around. Lots of the Le Carré human fallibility on display. I really wanted to read The Night Manager by John le Carré because of the miniseries. I'm that weirdo who likes to read the book first. Why not? I found it cheap on Book Outlet and I love a good spy thriller. Or maybe I don't? This book kind of put me off spy thrillers. It was long, slow and boring. I love a good spy thriller that keeps you engaged and isn't written to the point of boredom. There was so much explanation, so much random dialogue and content it just was dull. I couldn't get into it. I kept sloshing through it hoping that it might pick up... and it didn't really until the last quarter of the book. I was bored silly! It's a real shame too because everyone I know loves John! They all talk so highly of his books (including this one). It's just not my type of book, which is totally okay. I think this will be a great miniseries, but the book just didn't translate for me. One out of five stars. Just to be upfront about it, I did not finish this book. This review is based on the first chapter. I saw the Amazon series, and was intrigued. I found the book to be sexist. Specifically, the main character -- who I would imagine is meant to be the sympathetic hero -- had sexist thoughts in an inner monologue. As a result, I had a difficult time engaging when I found the hero not redeeming in this way. Life is too short for such books, full of too many thrillers that don't have such issues, so I set it aside permanently. Had trouble getting interested at the beginning since characters only loosely defined, but coalesced slowly into interesting spy story about a chameleon of a man getting revenge against a crime boss. Full set of Le Carre characters from the bureaucracy of espionage, better drawn for the British than American side.
Is "The Night Manager" up to the best of John le Carré? The equivocal answer has to be: yes, but only where it concerns the worlds of Roper and the London and Washington agencies. Their activities are handled with total assurance and an evident and infectious enjoyment. Elsewhere, however, Mr. le Carré sometimes surrenders to the inescapably sensational nature of the espionage thriller, and also to a romanticism about women that leads to the creation of a pipe-dream fantasy rather than a character in Jed, Roper's mistress. In his superb new novel […] he works familiar territory with the mastery of a brilliant conductor returning to a favorite symphony. […] Through every page, the almost-numb heart and mind of Le Carre's still- honorable protagonist give this novel a heartbreaking gravity. The Night Manager also obeys solid and readable conventions. […] But in seeking to move with the times, Le Carre has produced an adventure of the most old-fashioned and predictable sort. […] Hovering over this extravagant saga is a moralising, allegorical tendency that continues to drain the energy out of Le Carre's natural storytelling gift. Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inHas the adaptationAwardsDistinctions
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * AMC Miniseries event April 19 Tues 10/9c John le Carré, the legendary author of sophisticated spy thrillers, is at the top of his game in this classic novel of a world in chaos. With the Cold War over, a new era of espionage has begun. In the power vacuum left by the Soviet Union, arms dealers and drug smugglers have risen to immense influence and wealth. The sinister master of them all is Richard Onslow Roper, the charming, ruthless Englishman whose operation seems untouchable. Slipping into this maze of peril is Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier who's currently the night manager of a posh hotel in Zurich. Having learned to hate and fear Roper more than any man on earth, Pine is willing to do whatever it takes to help the agents at Whitehall bring him down--and personal vengeance is only part of the reason why. Praise for The Night Manager "A splendidly exciting, finely told story . . . masterly in its conception."--The New York Times Book Review "Intrigue of the highest order."--Chicago Sun-Times "Richly detailed and rigorously researched . . . Le Carré's gift for building tension through character has never been better realized."--People "Grimly fascinating, often nerve-wracking, and impossible to put down."--Boston Herald No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Recorded Books3 editions of this book were published by Recorded Books. Editions: 1470330636, 1470361434, 1470330679 |