Reviews

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

walkie_check's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

mariareads2miel's review

2.75

It was a fine book, the story didn't captivate me, and I wasnt invested in any of the characters so I didn't care what happened to them

njk125's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

davidcschafer's review

reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

quinn_fields's review

5.0

So much better than the movie.

lyonsmw's review

challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

jordan_garno's review

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

I loved The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. It is a masterpiece: figured I would give his second most famous novel a shot. 

This book did not make sense. I felt as if I was an outsider constantly reading another group's inside jokes. I thought everything would come together similarly to TSWCIFTC, but I got nothing from this book. I'm sure it will make sense if you read the books chronologically, but this turtle's-slog of a book may have ruined Le Carre for me.

theobobeo's review

mysterious tense

3.25

I need to reread it when I have time to really read it instead of just in bits and pieces, I think it lost a lot because of that.

solem_lectorem's review

challenging funny informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

8797999's review against another edition

5.0

Superb, I would agree with most that between this and The spy Who Came In From The Cold, they are equal top for the two best epsionage novels.

This one is the fifth in the Smiley series and first in the Karla Trilogy. A superb plot and all the charcaters we have come across already in the series. I am very much interested to see where the series goes, next up The Honourable Schoolboy.

I would say that whilst this book could be read standalone I would start from the beginning of the Smiley series to fully appreciate it. Although it could be read on its own or the trilogy as a separate thing.