The Little Drummer Girl : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Is It Good vs. Evil, or Evil vs. Evil
Review:
Mr. Le Carre wrote this book about the Middle East in 1983, and it is as timely a novel now as it was then. Charlie, a modestly talented British actress goes to work for Israeli intelligence to try and locate a secretive Palestinian agent. Indoctrinated with a false background of having a romantic affair with the agent's brother, she plays the role with such determination that she begins to believe this fictional experience. At various points in the novel the reader begins to wonder if Charlie will remain an Israeli spy or begin to identify with the Palestinians.

Le Carre skillfully develops the philosophy of the opposing sides. The Palestinian and Israeli characters all feel the righteousness of their cause. Each feels that they are on the side of justice, and even human love, to oppose those whom they feel are motivated by purely evil intent. There is never a consideration of whether the end should justify the means. Anything goes when justice is on your side. You are left with the feeling that there is no resolution to this conflict.

JLC is known for his slow, detailed exposition of plot and character. You read over 100 pages before you get a glimmering of what is probably going to happen. There are some thrills in this novel, but don't expect this to be an edge of your seat ride. The first part of the book involves a bombing in Berlin, and the author, in an updated introduction to the book, admits that maybe he should have shortened this section somewhat. I rather like the book's pace, seeing the development of the characters, and the gelling of the Byzantine plot. He's a skilful, intelligent writer, and that's just fine. One outstanding section of the book involves the chief Israeli agent, an expert manipulator, jousting with a British intelligence officer. The description of the pompous, controlling Brit is priceless, and the two characters' verbal fencing is immensely funny.

This almost 500 page book could have been written in 200 pages by the typical mystery hack, but I enjoyed every word of this fine novel.


Rating:
Summary: well, what you know. I've translated it into chinese,
Review: and have found this so-called novel sucks big time. totally implausible plots, wordy writing, endless blahblahblah. self-fulfilled scenario. lousy style. i've to force myself to finish the translation since i've signed the contract to do it. what a torture! brain-dead story. i've thrown the book against the wall so many times that almost cracked and ruined it completely. don't know how this writer who once wrote 'the spy who came in from the cold' would have become such a lousy writer. horrible, simply horrible. the translation of this terrible book had been one of the worst experiences i've ever encountered in my life. i still hold a deep grudge against this writer, even it's a longtime ago experience, 'cause he'd wasted about one month of my life to finish the translation. the movie was even worse than this worst novel.

Rating:
Summary: Le Carre at his best
Review: I cannot believe there are no reviews on this wonderful work. John Le Carre is a gifted author and this, in my opinion, is his absolute best work ever. Written more than 20 years ago, his cautionary tale of espionage and terror in the Middle East- and played out on a world stage- will grab you from page one and enthrall. It is as timely and topical today as when it was first published. I re-read it after 9/11 and was amazed at how little changes in the Middle East, and how those events impact us in the West today. But beyond the topical interest- this is a strikingly beautifully written story, a love story, an espionage story, that stands as Mr Le Carre's most luminous work yet.

Rating:
Summary: A difficult book to evaluate
Review: I enjoyed this novel quite a bit, but I'm not sure if I should be embarassed to admit it.

Le Carre is said to know something about intelligence operations in the real world, but the plot seems a bit implausible to me. Everything hinges on Charlie, even though no one knows what she will do, or even what she believes. I can't believe that governments would conduct business that way, not if the stakes were high.

The book functions best as a romance. Charlie's pretty appealing, in a sexist way: A beautiful, smart, talented woman who is more or less waiting for a man to come around and mold her; she's Kim Novak in Vertigo. That's the problem -- her appeal is rooted in her plasticity, and in the way she responds to abuse by redoubling her efforts to please. When I responded to the character I was simultaneously entertained and, I'm afraid, a little diminished.

Politically, the book is sort of puzzling. In the novel (I don't mean this to be a comment on reality in either direction), the Israelis don't have much justice on their side, but they are decent and compassionate people. The Palestinians, conversely, seem to have legitimate claims, but their national champions are bloodthirsty monsters.

It's an odd juxtaposition which tends to produce a sense of balance for the reader, but whether or not it has any basis in reality is something I'll leave to people who know more about the region. My guess, though, is that both sides are shortchanged pretty substantially, in different ways.

On one hand, we have the Jewish conspirators, puppet masters of consumate skill, manipulating everyone with whom they come in contact. They control everything secretly, using methods so subtle the rest of the world doesn't even know it's being led. On the other hand, we have the passionate and violent Arab terrorists, primitive and sensual, extraordinarily beautiful, but lacking a nuanced sense of morality. The noble savage incarnate. Offensive stereotypes all around, in other words.

But having said all of that, I enjoyed reading the book. I've just finished it, and I'm sorry it's over. As entertainment it works, but if you think about it too much it's not so sturdy.

Rating:
Summary: Few old men, no cardigans, but still Le Carre
Review: This is a Le Carre novel for people who don't want to read of old men in cardigans sitting in dingy offices piecing together intelligence reports. The characters here are youthful, sexy, passionate. There are bombs and there is bloodshed. There is a hint of sophisticated sex, and there are lovers seeking comfort in each other's arms. We are a long way from George Smiley's Circus, but the novel is filled with the same brooding atmosphere as Le Carre's Karla novels.

We meet Charlie, an out-of-work young bohemian actress with a somewhat violent boyfriend. She is recruited and offered a part in an Israeli secret-service production: she plays out the role of lover to a terrorist and is then sent out into the field to trap the terrorist's brother. As usual, Le Carre's style is to develop characters slowly and indirectly. For instance, rather than read that Charlie's boyfriend is violent, we just read what he tells Charlie as he bosses her about: "Carry my bag. Men don't carry bags, see".

Also following his formula, Le Carre sets his characters in a dark joyless world. Amazingly enough, he manages to infuse lively Greek islands with the bleakness of the Yorkshire moors. Charlie is not happy on Mykonos and is easy to recruit.

The novel is somewhat dated. There are no suicide bombers, there is no infatida. The Palestinatian terrorists and their allies are sophisticated Marxist socialites, a common portrayal in the 70s and 80s. But it works as a story, as character development, and as a snapshot of the Palestine-Israel conflict in the early 80s.