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Author John Le Carre booklist (click here)

Book Review By Jack Goodstein
A Perfect Spy by John Le Carre

    Magnus Pym, a British intelligence agent, has disappeared after his father's funeral. His agency, tries to cover up the fact that he is missing, while searching for him. He has hidden in a small English seaside town, where he begins writing a long narrative about his life for his son. He tells him about his relationship with his own con man father, how he became a spy and then a double agent. Le Carre alternates between the search for Pym and the narrative of his life. He also paints a picture of both the British and American intelligence agencies as distrustful of one another and very often bogged down in red tape.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - Dry-cynical
Time/era of story:
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 40's-50's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 60's-90's
Profession/status:
The antagonists are: - government bureaucracy
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK - Eastern Europe

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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