Monday 3 June 2013

The Tailor of Panama by John le Carré

"For a tailor, Harry Pendel is unexpectedly physical. Perhaps he is aware of this, because he walks with an air of power restrained."



Normally, I would expect to be waxing lyrical about how much I enjoyed my latest foray into Le Carré's literary body of work. This, however, really isn't the case here. There was something all a little too distant with this particular novel. I didn't loathe it, nor am I compelled to overwhelmingly recommend it.

I think the mention of Graham Greene's   Our Man in Havana in the author's acknowledgement really was the straw the broke the camel's back. In this case a clear comparison with that far superior work, cast this one in a poor light.

As usual with these kinds of spy novels there are a lot of plots and intrigues, but I couldn't help but see what was going to occur from the get go and that made it a trifle unsatisfactory.
3 out of 5 great tailoring but better works on the runway.

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