John le Carré Value Collection

Tailor of Panama, Our Game, and Night Manager

By: John le Carré

Narrated by: John le Carré

Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

This collection is sure to please avid LeCarre fans and new listeners alike.

Includes: Night Manager, Tailor of Panama, and Our Game.

Night Manager: Enter the new world of post-Cold War espionage. Penetrate the secret world of ruthless arms dealers and drug smugglers who have risen to unthinkable power and wealth. The sinister master of them all is an untouchable Englishman named Roper. Slipping into this maze of peril is a former British soldier, Jonathan Pine, who knows Roper well enough to hate him more than any man on Earth. Now personal vengeance is only part of why Pine is willing to help the men at Whitehall try to bring Roper down....

Our Game: With the Cold War fought and won, British spymaster Tim Cranmer accepts early retirement to rural England and a new life with his alluring young mistress, Emma. But when both Emma and Cranmer's star double agent and lifelong rival, Larry Pettifer, disappear, Cranmer is suddenly on the run, searching for his brilliant protégé, desperately eluding his former colleagues, in a frantic journey across Europe and into the lawless, battered landscapes of Moscow and southern Russia, to save whatever of his life he has left....

Tailor of Panama: Le Carre's Panama is a Casablanca without heroes, a hotbed of drugs, laundered money and corruption. It is also the country which on December 31, 1999, will gain full control of the Panama Canal. Seldom has the weight of politics descended so heavily on such a tiny and unprepared nation. And seldom has the hidden eye of the British Intelligence selected such an unlikely champion as Harry Pendel - a charmer, a dreamer, an evader, a fabulist, and presiding genius to the house of Pendel & Braithwaite Co. Limitada, Tailors to Royalty, formerly of London and presently of Panama City. Yet there is a logic to the spy's choice, for everybody who is anybody in Cental America passes through Pendel's doors. He dresses politicos and crooks and conmen. His fitting room hears more confidences than the priest's confessional. And when Harry Pendel doesn't hear things as such - well, he hears them anyway, by other means. In a thrilling, hilarious audiobook, le Carré once again effortlessly expands the borders of the spy story to bring us a magnificent entertainment straight out of the pages of tomorrow's history.

©2000 John le Carré (P)2000 Random House Audio

you want to know what I think?

LeCarre is who he is.
love him or yawn stretch ' who'?

Well I do love most of his yarns and have done for decades.
for me to hear a favourite author read his own work is just bliss

So I love Tolkien talk elfish.

and
in this audio
My only grief is the story is abridged,

Carre' reads Carre'

Generally I think it is a terrible mistake to let writers narrate their own books. Not so here. While I've gotten used to listening to Carre' through the voice of the late David Case (aka Fredrick Davidson) Carre's disenchantment with the powers of the Western World suits the cynical outlook of his characters. Carre' is as good a vocal actor as he is a writer of the cerebral thriller. Unlike the Smiley series, The Tailor of Panama is almost a comedy.

Abridged. Very abridged.

I had difficulty understanding part of The Night Manager so I downloaded the text version. I discovered the audiobook is abridged. I don't know if all audiobooks are abridged. I don't even know if the other two books in this group are abridged, but The Night Manager is very abridged. I can't recommend this version.

The only complaint is labels

I may have missed it but there isn't labeling for the three separate titles. Knowing that John personally voices his work adds to the pleasant experience, I feel like a child being read a bedtime story their parents

Very good narration by Author and solid stories

Solid and entertaining stories with great narration by yhe author. One has tonpay attention as flashbacks and bits of infortmation that change the plot can be missed.

Hard to hear!

What did you like best about John le Carré Value Collection? What did you like least?

Mr. le Carre tends to drop his voice to a whisper and I could not hear him, no matter how high the volume in my iphone.

Would you be willing to try another book from John le Carré? Why or why not?

No. His story line is too complicated and if you can hear it or miss a detail, you won't know what's happening.

The Rest, Not The Best, Of le Carre

What would have made John le Carré Value Collection better?

For it to have been a better sampling of the author's books. These are quite possibly the worst three books in the author's repertoire, and are remarkably similar at that.

Would you ever listen to anything by John le Carré again?

I would be hard pressed to, but perhaps I'd give one of his better known novels a shot.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I'm not a fan of author's reading their own books, but le Carre does a generally good job here. Unfortunately these are also all abridged versions of the originals, so it can be hard to keep up with the action when pages at a time are being excised.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from John le Carré Value Collection?

Hard to say. All of The Tailor of Panama (boring book), nearly all of Our Game (nothing much happens, even in the abridged version), but perhaps would have added something to The Night Manager as it jumps around too much.

Any additional comments?

A disappointment. Don't believe the hype.

Great Stories Beautifully Rendered!

Would you listen to John le Carré Value Collection again? Why?

Nothing better than hearing the author read his own works especially in THIS CASE!!!!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of John le Carré Value Collection?

Too many memorable moments to single out one or two.

What does John le Carré bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The insight LeCarre brings to his characters and situations...

The Stories are marvelous

The stories are marvelous but as always we long for a happy ending. The author’s narration gives much to knowing these stories. Le Carre on Audible is very worthwhile.

John le Carré Always Great

All three books are wonderful and wonderfully preformed. I always love hearing the author reading his own works. These three live up to my hopes.

Abridged......

First abridged book I've had.
It will be the last.

Very disappointed
Stick with unabridged

John le Carré is an excellent narrator

What did you like most about John le Carré Value Collection?

I could hardly believe how good the author is at narrating this story. Not only does he get all the accents right, he also delivers each line perfectly and as good, if not better than a trained actor.
Oftentimes when listening to authors reading their own books, I am unpleasantly surprised, not in this case. I hope Mr. le Carré will record more of his books.

Brilliant as always

Would you consider the audio edition of John Le Carre Value Collection to be better than the print version?

As good as if not better being narrated by the author. I have read the books and love the sound of his voice and can now put it to the books.

What does John le Carré bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

John le carre brings a wonderful speaking voice and really sets the tone for all the books he has written

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I could yes I would have but 16 hours is a long time to listen in one sitting

second time through

the second time I have listened to it through and still love them, my favoired been the Night Manager. All thoroughly engaging and a pleasure to listen to

John le Carre is a master of his art

Not only does he write superbly but his talents as a narrator are not to be sneezed at. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to these three stories.

Really liked 2 of the 3 stories

If you’re a fan of Le Carré you’re in for a treat. Plenty for spy/thriller fans too. Lots of suspense with a little unreliable witness stuff throw in.

The Game and The Night Manager are excellent stories. I didn’t get into The Panama Tailor. I’ll try again later.

The Night Manager is sufficiently different from the BBC drama to not feel as if you’ve heard the story before (I saw the programme before listening to the audiobook).

privilege

Having downloaded 2 books by the author and then the radio plays I feel it was a privilege to then find this series read by le carre.

Our Game is a great read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

All 3 books are worth reading but Our Game is so exciting. You actually feel like you are in Ingushetia, living the fight.

What was one of the most memorable moments of John le Carré Value Collection?

When Tim finally catches up with Larry.

Have you listened to any of John le Carré’s other performances? How does this one compare?

The narration is superb as with the Smiley books.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I would not know where to start.

Any additional comments?

No