Absolute Friends
£0.01
So you re against the Iraq war then, Mr. Le Carre? - There are several serious flaws in this book. Firstly the characters are unbelievable: it is hardly described what makes the character of Sasha so magnetic that he lures his friend Teddy into a lifetime of subterfuge and secrecy. Indeed the two main characters are intensely dislikable: both middle-class pretend socialists who once they have taken advantage of the benefits of a free market society are keen to destroy it for everyone else. The dialogue is atrocious: Sasha s references to the neo-con-capitalist-fascist-state are monotonous and badly written and for a while I thought the book was a satire of the public-school-socialist set but unfortunately Le Carre didn t have the vision and resorts to a Pilgeresque anti-Iraq War diatribe. Indeed the bast part of the book is the last ten pages, when the CIA driven plot to discredit the anti-war liberals is enacted. If only the book had started from this point it might have ended upbeing less of a dirge. For future reference Graham Greene s The Quiet American covers similar ground far more sucessfully than this student-newspaper-style garbage.
He s still got it - As with any author you read frequently, you do often get the sense that the same type of book is just being written over and over again. Whilst I don t think this one is a world away from what Le Carre has written before, it is certainly different in that it is the bravest novel he has written to date. Whilst in other books he was content to snipe the odd remark at our leaders, or to puncture the western world s self-satisfaction at being less evil than the Soviet Union, in this book, it s an all-out political attack on the American Neo-cons, and the unquestioning, uncritical helpfulness of Blair and his chums towards our American friends. At the time it was published, this book had some pretty mixed reviews. A few were probably because the political climate of the time polarised people into for or against the war, and such a passionate, angry anti-war book was hardly going to find favour in the pro-war camp. But perhaps now we can look at it more dispassionately, as nearly everyone agrees the whole war was a total disaster anyway. I think this is a strong work by Le Carre - not his best, but better than average. Post Cold War, Le Carre has been sniffing out issues that have been overlooked by the popular media, be it the struggle of the ethnic minorities in the Caucasus (Our Game), gangsterism being exported from the former Soviet Union, with the connivance of western financiers (Single and Single), or cynical pharmaceutical companies `testing products on poor Africans who no-one cares about in the west anyway (The Constant Gardener). Absolute Friends feels slightly apart - more like Our Game or The Perfect Spy in its flashback structure. Some of it creaks a little, as other reviewers have pointed out - it feels a little bit artificial and inauthentic at points. I think this would be the only criticism. Otherwise, it s fast paced, and unpredicatable.The denouement is as excellent a one I have read, and not as unbelievable as other posters have stated. The more the political and intelligence failures and shenanigans following the war come into the light of day, the less and less unlikely the ending seems. When this book was published, it was a pretty risky ending to throw in. Now, it just pretty much falls into line with what we already know about the lead-up to Iraq.I think the problem Le Carre has is that he has written another good book, but once you ve read his greatest works - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Tinker Tailer, Secret Pilgrim - it doesn t really compare. But think for a moment about how many other authors are writing intelligent political thrillers today, and I think you will agree there is very few. And even these few would probably be delighted to have this novel against their name. Five stars.
One of Le Carre s best - This is a stunningly accomplished novel, an accolade that sounds somewhat condescending when used in connection with one of the most accomplished novelists of the 20th century. I ve read most of le Carre s books, and found the ending all the more devastating for the fact that, as usual, it doesn t seem wholly implausible, and it s hard to put it away as just a gripping thriller - the issues he addresses here concern the basic self-interest of individuals and countries, which unlike Adam Smith le Carre does not see as beneficial.
Beyond mainstream mediocrity - I have always been apprehensive towards spending my time reading novels by authors who seem to churn out their works at a rate of knots. Thus I was a little hesitant in expressing pleasure in having received ‘Absolute Friends’ this Christmas and even more hesitant in eventually reading it. This book does have several faults. Le Carre’s somewhat abrupt style can be frustrating at times and disruptive of any rhythm in the reading of the book. For want of a better phrase he is too downright choppy. In his use of similes there is no need to precede them constantly with ‘like’ – just stating them is sufficient! Another criticism is that at times he labours the point excessively, such as becoming overly mired in 1960s Berlin, and on other occasions skirting the issue too quickly, notably the treatment of Mundy’s post-spy activities in the failing language school (I’m trying not to give away the plot too much here, but all this storyline can be gained from the blurb). Finally the character names are at times overly fiction-esque. That, however, is perhaps to be expected in this kind of novel.Having dwelt on the problems of this book I have to state that I was ultimately presently surprised. The story twists and turns into what sometimes appear to be predictable avenues, but just when you think you have ended up in a disappointing cul-de-sac there is almost guaranteed to be an almost unexpected twist. The greatest redeeming feature of ‘Absolute Friends’ is the excellently provocative and surprising finale.Despite the lack of rhythm to Le Carre’s writing this book is ultimately easily readable and has many a valid political statement to make. For those who rely purely on mainstream media for their knowledge of current affairs and modern history, ‘Absolute Friends’ provides an interesting peek (and useful starting point) into the lies surrounding the invasion of Iraq and those that pervade our everyday existence. The story’s pervasive theme is the ruthlessness of those who hold the reigns in order to maintain the status quo, no matter what guise they present themselves in.An easy to read novel, combined with a significant political message for those who do not normally look beyond the mainstream mediocrity. Readers would do well to seek out some of the ‘worthy’ writers which ‘Absolute Friends’ promotes in a less than subtle manner.
not one of Le Carre s best - Not one of his best. I count myself as an admirer of Le Carre s work. The Honorable Schoolboy, for instance, is a brilliant novel: subtle, ingenious and so on and so on. Absolute Friends on the other hand seems to lack the ironies and tensions and the generally convincing metaphysics of conspiracy that fuels his best work. It also seems to have been written in a kind of narrative shorthand when compared say with the Smiley novels, which were so rich in detail and ambiguity. The final chapters were also bizzarely condensed and you felt like the final 1/3 of the novel had been crammed into a couple of chapters... I offer all this criticism because so much of Le Carre s other work is utterly brilliant and equal to the best - Conrad, Greene, Dickens and the like. If you are new to Le Carre start with The Perfect Spy or the Smiley novels.