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

Well written and satisfyingly told

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It is a good story that centres on filling out its one central character. The complex narrative is handled well and I remember its details a year after finishing it.

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Excellent

As ever a superb tale from John Le Carre. I've listened to most of the Le Carre books on Audible and the combination of his writing with Michael Jaystons narration is a winner.

Crackerjack!

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Concentration required!

Not a light read. Chopping back & forward through tine - a lot of concentration required.

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A Perfect Espionage Novel

As always with Le Carré an excellent story, dark and believable. Thoroughly gripping.

Can't say much more without spoiling it.

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Fascinating insight into the mind of a spy

Magnus Pym, the resident spy of the Vienna embassy has gone missing after attending his father's funeral. He has gone to ground, secluded in a B&B in a Devon seaside town, he has decided is now time for him to write the great novel of his life and reveal the true Magnus.



Let's get one thing clear here this is not an 'easy read'; Le Carré is the consumate espionage writer, the writing of a man with first had experience as a serving officer in MI6. You are not going to get your Bond explosions and your Bourne fights here, rather an indepth, semi-autobiographical treatise on what makes a Perfect Spy. The narrative is split between the present day search for Magnus by the security services of Britain, USA and Czechoslovakia and Magnus's memoirs and his confessional correspondence to the key people in his life.



The sweep of the novel takes us from a small village in Wales in the early twentieth century where we meet Pym's father Rick who has a dominant role in Pym's life, we see Rick develop into a confidence trickster par excellence and the effect of this transcient lifestyle on the young Pym it's highs and the inevitable lows. We learn about Pym's school life where commits the first of his many betrayals and then his introduction into the secret world at Uinversity of Berne. We see Pym develop into a young officer all the while leading a double life and his progression through the ranks of the secret service to the utopia that is the Washington posting in the present day, i.e. the 1980s.



The depth of the novel and that of the characters inviolved are all immersing and are brought to life by the excellent Michael Jayston who has made the naration of the Le Carré back catalogue his own

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34 people found this helpful

Michael Jayson is brilliant.

excellent narration. great story. enjoyed it. looking forward to more read by Michael Jayson.
well written.

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Slightly different

I found this a bit disjointed with the story centering on the back life of an odd fellow who happened to be a spy & his family.
However I love this way of consuming stories and the narration was outstanding. Very funny in places too.

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A Perfect Spy

Michael Jayston is the perfect reader. His performance of accents and voices makes the story easy to follow and creates atmosphere brilliantly, especially in a novel which is very nuanced, complex and psychological.

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