Book Review: Absolute Friends

I like spy novels, and as such I really like Robert Ludlum’s books. But recently I read an article that mentioned another author, John le Carré, and mentioned that he’s more highly regarded, so I thought I’d give him a try.

I don’t know if all of le Carré’s novels are like Absolute Friends, but this book had a very different pace than Ludlum’s novels. Ludlum’s writing is fast-paced, and action packed, while le Carré writes like someone who enjoys the English language, and takes great joy in meandering through the story. I had already finished one or two chapters before I had to make myself slow down and read the book properly, since I’m so used to rushing through a Ludlum novel.

One of the things I liked about this book was the politics. It takes place in 2003, with the Iraq war prominently featured, and le Carré’s politics seem to match mine. But even better than that, I loved the ending. I can’t say what the ending was, just that I liked it.

Overall, I like this book, but if you don’t like spy novels, you may not like it. (On the other hand, even if you don’t, this book may interest you because it’s not the typical spy novel.) But I’m not going to add it to the Recommended Reading list, because it’s probably not the type of thing most people would read.