The recent passing of British author John le Carre and the subsequent mention of nearly-40-year-old "The Little Drummer Girl" as one of Stephen King's favorite books led me to track down this novel.
I had kind of forgotten that I saw the AMC series based on this book -- starring the intoxicating Florence Pugh -- but the additional layers included in the novel made this a worthy read.
Described as a "spy book," le Carre manages to elevate this novel to encompass discussion of morality, racism, mistrust of government, and myriad other social issues. The novel follows the arc of Charlie, a drifting actress who is bed-hopping her way across Europe before finally being assigned a purpose by the mercurial agent Joseph.
The book is lengthy and the title is confusing, and translating the British slang that permeates the plot can be a bleedin' slog. There is also a broad cast of characters that can be hard to navigate, plus a few encounters that feel overwrought.
However, le Carre pays it all off with a deep and rhythmic tension that ramps up and down, but is always present. The story feels both prescient and contemporary, as the author's "theatre of the real" permeates almost every headline we are presented with these days.
No comments:
Post a Comment