Rating: 
Summary: a good read
Review: le carre delivers as usual a novel with good character development that shows how complicated and confilcted people can be. Here he deals with issues of commiting eveil acts for good outcomes it was good to see two characters from previous books here. One is the inhouse lawyer for the circus (he was in the russia house) the other is a peer who is discussed at the end of the secret pilgrim
Rating:
Summary: a good read
Review: le carre delivers as usual a novel with good character development that shows how complicated and confilcted people can be. Here he deals with issues of commiting eveil acts for good outcomes it was good to see two characters from previous books here. One is the inhouse lawyer for the circus (he was in the russia house) the other is a peer who is discussed at the end of the secret pilgrim
Rating: 
Summary: Superb plot and character development; perfectly paced.
Review: Le Carre presents a cerebral, articulate and stimulating story rich in colorful, intelligent dialogue and descriptive detail. The characterizations, even of minor figures, are executed with great craftsmanship and credibility. All the requisite visceral action but also with plenty to challenge even the most alert of intellects. Le Carre deserves all the kudos so frequently bestowed upon him. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: All characterization, no plot, no interest
Review: Le Carre spends far too much effort on his characterizations and too little time on developing much of a theme or course for this novel to follow. What is this novel about? Having read it about four years ago, my answer (prior to reading some of the reviews) would be "I don't remember." However, if I was asked that same question immediately after completing the book, my answer would have remained the same. This novel seems to follow the same trend of most of Le Carre's novels of the past dozen or so years: whole chapters without an action verb; constant flashbacks; characters that are unique among fiction in their detail, yet completely unremarkable and forgettable. Le Carre gags the reader with so much stylish yet pointless introspection that it requires a full pot of coffee to complete each chapter. Each of these recent novels is merely a poor caricature of the preceeding novel, replaying old themes and failing to develop original ideas. I have read nearly all of Le Carre's novels and felt that they were all brilliant or close to it through our last views of Smiley fading into the distance. The characterization in those novels and underdramatization of Smiley was perfectly set and required no further plot action, resulting in a novel that was not light reading but was imminently satisfying. In contrast, TOP and his other, more recent works are mindnumbingly tedious. Reading this book is like eating gruel served upon the finest Royal Doulton china - from first spoon to last, it is still gruel notwithstanding the elegant presentation.
Rating: 
Summary: Searching for the post Cold War devil
Review: LeCarre is undoubdtedly a spellbinder and a writer with true literary gifts. He ranks with top 20th. Century writers based on The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. With The Night Manager, however, he seems to be foundering in bestilled waters. There's no question LeCarre still has all of his tradecraft. He just has lesser evils these days. Like The Secret Pilgrm before it, LeCarre's post Cold War world here suffers from a severe lack of mystique. Roper is a well-crafted villain--LeCarre's doing the best he can--but it all feels like Mata Hari had dropped her last veil and revealed a rather common face.
Rating:
Summary: His Best To Date
Review: Let's face it. John's works (or should I say David's?)is not for everyone. Other reviewers suggested a pot of coffee to get through a chapter. Yes, if your particular area of interest in books lies with action-follow-action-follow-some-more-action-and-for-a-change-a-little-action, then JLC is not your writer. And if you're trying to get into JLC, for god's sake, don't start with The Perfect Spy. Almost made me quit. But Our Game, Night Manager, Russia House and Tailor of Panama are the top of his line and are to be enjoyed to the max...if you happen to like his slow but thorough character development. There is the old saying from Hitchcock that a movie is "life, with the boring parts cut out". John's art is in putting in the boring parts and making them sound interesting and the least bit exciting. I, for one, have fallen in love with Jed, got to know Dicky so well (can you see Roger Moore?), and leared to relate to Pine in so many ways, it's emberassing. I'm a writer myself, and if I maybe so bold, The Night Manager is my bible. Read it if you are taken aback by the fast-paced story lines of Clancy and his clones. Spying is waiting. Spying is taking in life, gruesome inch by gruesome inch, seeing characers rise and fall and be tossed half-dead into boats while evil sails on. Spying means that the only thing you will get after spending a day being a different version of yourself is love...and only maybe. Oh, boy....see how JLC gets to you? /Alec Corday
Rating:
Summary: His Best To Date
Review: Let's face it. John's works (or should I say David's?)is not for everyone. Other reviewers suggested a pot of coffee to get through a chapter. Yes, if your particular area of interest in books lies with action-follow-action-follow-some-more-action-and-for-a-change-a-little-action, then JLC is not your writer. And if you're trying to get into JLC, for god's sake, don't start with The Perfect Spy. Almost made me quit. But Our Game, Night Manager, Russia House and Tailor of Panama are the top of his line and are to be enjoyed to the max...if you happen to like his slow but thorough character development. There is the old saying from Hitchcock that a movie is "life, with the boring parts cut out". John's art is in putting in the boring parts and making them sound interesting and the least bit exciting. I, for one, have fallen in love with Jed, got to know Dicky so well (can you see Roger Moore?), and leared to relate to Pine in so many ways, it's emberassing. I'm a writer myself, and if I maybe so bold, The Night Manager is my bible. Read it if you are taken aback by the fast-paced story lines of Clancy and his clones. Spying is waiting. Spying is taking in life, gruesome inch by gruesome inch, seeing characers rise and fall and be tossed half-dead into boats while evil sails on. Spying means that the only thing you will get after spending a day being a different version of yourself is love...and only maybe. Oh, boy....see how JLC gets to you? /Alec Corday
Rating:
Summary: John le Carre on the upward swing
Review: Mr le Carre seems to blow hot and cold, one good book, one pot boiler. The Night Manager definitely falls into the former category. Jonathan Pine is the manager of a hotel in Switzerland, formal, correct, impeccable. But, like all le Carre's characters his placid exterior hides a multitude of depths. His mission is to bring down the "worst man in the world." Roper, the millionaire, gun runner, invulnerable friend of government ministers, philanthropist, doting father. Pine must infiltrate, seduce, outwit and destroy the empire that Roper has built. The tension is maintained perfectly and the everyday manner in which the characters go about their deadly business makes the book all the more riveting. If the final denouement is slightly disappointing, as if perhaps the author found himself in a cul de sac with no way out, overall, the story holds together wonderfully. And let's face it, at least he didn't finish with, "And then Jonathan woke up."
Rating: 
Summary: SLOW
Review: not as gripping as his other books, well detailed and a nicely written story, but not as fast paced. i'd give it a miss.
Rating:
Summary: -
Review: Pleasing spy novel for times when spies should be outdated.
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