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The complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carré's best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley. With a star cast including Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville and Lindsay Duncan, these enthralling dramatisations perfectly capture the atmosphere of le Carré's taut, thrilling spy novels.
A Murder of Quality, set in the early 1960s, sees George Smiley investigating a murder in a public school. When the wife of one of the masters is found bludgeoned to death, Smiley, out of loyalty to an old friend, agrees to look into the case. But his investigation raises a multitude of questions. Who could have hated Stella Rode enough to kill her? Why was her dog put down shortly before the murder? And what did Mad Janie see on that fatal night?
Over the course of his seemingly irreproachable life, Magnus Pym has been all things to all people: a devoted family man, a trusted colleague, a loyal friend - and the perfect spy. But in the wake of his estranged father's death, Magnus vanishes, and the British Secret Service is up in arms. Is it grief, or is the reason for his disappearance more sinister? And who is the mysterious man with the sad moustache who also seems to be looking for Magnus? In A Perfect Spy, John le Carré has crafted one of his crowning masterpieces.
The Third Man is one of the truly great post-war films. It's a thrilling story of black-marketeering set against a backdrop of Vienna in the immediate post-war era, when the city was divided into four zones amongst the major powers: Russia, Britain, France, and America.
John le Carré, the legendary author of sophisticated spy thrillers, is at the top of his game in this classic novel of a world in chaos. With the Cold War over, a new era of espionage has begun. In the power vacuum left by the Soviet Union, arms dealers and drug smugglers have risen to immense influence and wealth. The sinister master of them all is Richard Onslow Roper, the charming, ruthless Englishman whose operation seems untouchable.
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. 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.... 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.
The complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carré's best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley. With a star cast including Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville and Lindsay Duncan, these enthralling dramatisations perfectly capture the atmosphere of le Carré's taut, thrilling spy novels.
A Murder of Quality, set in the early 1960s, sees George Smiley investigating a murder in a public school. When the wife of one of the masters is found bludgeoned to death, Smiley, out of loyalty to an old friend, agrees to look into the case. But his investigation raises a multitude of questions. Who could have hated Stella Rode enough to kill her? Why was her dog put down shortly before the murder? And what did Mad Janie see on that fatal night?
Over the course of his seemingly irreproachable life, Magnus Pym has been all things to all people: a devoted family man, a trusted colleague, a loyal friend - and the perfect spy. But in the wake of his estranged father's death, Magnus vanishes, and the British Secret Service is up in arms. Is it grief, or is the reason for his disappearance more sinister? And who is the mysterious man with the sad moustache who also seems to be looking for Magnus? In A Perfect Spy, John le Carré has crafted one of his crowning masterpieces.
The Third Man is one of the truly great post-war films. It's a thrilling story of black-marketeering set against a backdrop of Vienna in the immediate post-war era, when the city was divided into four zones amongst the major powers: Russia, Britain, France, and America.
John le Carré, the legendary author of sophisticated spy thrillers, is at the top of his game in this classic novel of a world in chaos. With the Cold War over, a new era of espionage has begun. In the power vacuum left by the Soviet Union, arms dealers and drug smugglers have risen to immense influence and wealth. The sinister master of them all is Richard Onslow Roper, the charming, ruthless Englishman whose operation seems untouchable.
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. 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.... 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.
In celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fras and suurs prepare to venture outside the concent's gates - opening them wide at the same time to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fra, Erasmus eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected". But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the perilous brink of cataclysmic change.
Perry and Gail are idealistic and very much in love when they splurge on a tennis vacation at a posh beach resort in Antigua. But the charm begins to pall when a big-time Russian money launderer enlists their help to defect. In exchange for amnesty, Dima is ready to rat out his compatriots and expose corruption throughout the so-called legitimate financial and political worlds. Soon, the guileless couple find themselves pawns in a deadly endgame.
Evelyn Waugh's most celebrated work is a memory drama about the intense entanglement of the narrator, Charles Ryder, with a great Anglo-Catholic family. Written during World War II, the story mourns the passing of the aristocratic world Waugh knew in his youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities; in so doing it also provides a profound study of the conflict between the demands of religion and the desires of the flesh.
Abandoned by his parents, Bruno Salvador has long looked for guidance. He found it in Mr. Anderson of British Intelligence. Working for Anderson in a clandestine facility, Salvo (as he's known) translates intercepted phone calls, bugged recordings, and snatched voice-mail messages. When Anderson sends him to a mysterious island to interpret during a secret conference, Bruno thinks he is helping Britain--but then he hears something he should not have.
Our hero is Jack McEvoy, a Rocky Mountain News crime-beat reporter. As the story opens, Jack's twin brother, a Denver homicide detective, has just killed himself. Or so it seems. But when Jack begins to investigate the phenomenon of police suicides, a disturbing pattern emerges, and soon suspects that a serial murderer is at work.
New spies with new loyalties, old spies with old ones; terror as the new mantra; decent people wanting to do good but caught in the moral maze; all the sound, rational reasons for doing the inhuman thing; the recognition that we cannot safely love or pity and remain good "patriots" -- this is the fabric of John le Carré's fiercely compelling and current novel A Most Wanted Man.
George Smiley has become chief of the battered British Secret Service. The betrayals of a Soviet double agent have riddled the spy network, and Smiley wants revenge. He chooses his weapon: Jerry Westerby, "The Honourable Schoolboy", a passionate lover, and a seasoned, reckless secret agent. Westerby is pointed east, to Hong Kong. So begins the terrifying game.
This is an engaging and involving spy story that begins where Tinker Tailor ends. The characterizations are brilliant and the plot intricate and involved. However the plot doesn't capture the reader in the same way as Tinker Tailor or The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and the ending was somewhat predictably disappointing. Michael Jayston once again is absolutely superb reading this story and I can't even imagine reading Le Carre without hearing his voice. Still a good buy for those Le Carre fans, but those wanting to start off on the spy game i would definitely recommend The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and then Tinker Tailor first.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I fiund it's complicated twists and turns quite hypnotic. Indeed, I had to listen to some parts a couple of times before I got the drift. However, the story telling is so good, this was no hardship ...
A great story! A slow starter I feel, but it grows on you all the way through!
What made the experience of listening to The Honourable Schoolboy the most enjoyable?
Michael Jayston usual excellent performance.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
I really don't think the plot or the story was as strong as tinker tailor. It is an important in between book in the Karla Triology but I feel the plot got lost somewhere in the middle.
The was a lot of extra in the middle but just didn't seem to gel together like other Le Carre books.
Have you listened to any of Michael Jayston’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Michael Jayston always gives a top class performance, this book was no different.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, Unlike the previous book it just didnt have the same pull.
Any additional comments?
I liked the book but it felt like some vital ingredient was missing. Without ruining the plot for anybody the ending was a complete anti climax.
Would you listen to The Honourable Schoolboy again? Why?
I read the book years ago and found this recording gripping
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Deepest English reserve mixed with Asian intrigue. A complex plot that will always stand another listen
What about Michael Jayston’s performance did you like?
Well told - handles the complexity well and brings the drama to life.
Any additional comments?
Listened to in order - Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy - Honourable Schoolboy - Smilies People. I have always been a fan of the story and the characters. Very English in context with the diminishing place of that country in world affairs whilst its legacy echo is still heard far and wide. A brilliant portrait of context in a world of changing priorities but with real characters and a stunning plot.
I've probably read this novel in print -- oh, I don't know, maybe 20 times. It remains my favourite LeCarre. There are just these little, subtle touches, like referring to the "traditional fake Rosewood veneer" of the CIA ("cousins") offices that are at once sophisticated, witty and exact. Michael Jayston -- who is British -- makes an OK fist of the first part, except that he "does" voices, and his efforts for women make them sound vague and bit daffy, especially Phoebe -- Craw's "little ship". But in the second part of the recording there is just a superb rendition of the scene between Westerby and Charlie Marshal which makes you fortive Mr Jayston the flaws in the rest of his reading.
Great fun overlaid with the musk of the Orient with a damp Emgland as a delightful counterpoint. Almost Boy's Own but Smiley brings it together in a way that takes the smile off your face.
What a wonderful introduction to the world of Audible Books. We ordered the book with the firm intention of listening on a long and planned car journey across Europe, we decided to test the system but soon, very soon, found we drove everywhere at a snails pace and then would park and wait 'till chapter end to listen to the book. And what a great book, wonderfully read by the well paced and distinctive voice of Michael Jayston, the book has a wide cast but MJ conjures up the characters well and in a very distinctive way - there can be no doubt who the character is, itself a great advantage with this book with its complexities.
The book is the one not seen on TV or film, its the missing book and for those that love the other two in Smiley trilogy this is unmiss-able.
Would I recommend, without a doubt, provided you are happy to drive slowly or wait on stations with your iPod clamped to your ears!
14 of 14 people found this review helpful
Absolutely sublime. I don't know why I waited so long to come back to John Le Carre. The prose. The dark humour. The insights.
And the narrator is perfect for the text. Just perfect.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
This book falls between Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People. Smiley reasons that actions taken by Gerald the mole at Karla's behest may reveal some insight into Moscow Centre's machinations, and perhaps a weakness. Having exposed the mole, Smiley is faced with the task of restoring the Circus's tattered reputation, and to do that he must go on the offensive. A golden thread is revealed in the Far East, and Gerry Westerby, the Honourable Schoolboy, is despatched to tease it out.
This is a wonderful trilogy, and hopefully Audible will make unabridged readings of the other books available too (though the recent BBC radio adaptations are becoming available---it would also be good to see the older BBC Bernard Hepton adaptations as well). Le Carre is an exceptional author, and his unabridged works are magical, even Dickensian.
Michael Jayston, who featured in the BBC television adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is delightful as the narrator, and even brings something of Alec Guinness' thoughtful intonation to his reading of Smiley.
This rich and complex middle novel was not adapted for television, so the audio book sits nicely as a bridge between the two faithful adaptations.
20 of 21 people found this review helpful
Bridging the gap between Tinker tailor and Smiley's People, the Honourable Schoolboy is a classic example of Le Carré's superb style, although it doesn't actually tie the other two books together, it covers events that occur during that time, mainly in the era of the early 70's during the Vietnam war and the rise of the Kmer Rouge, the main action being set in south east asia, it not only follows the exploits of the min character, Gerry Westerby, (who we first met briefly in Tinker Tailor) but also captures the terrifying situation on the ground in Cambodia under the emerging threat of the Kmers.
Michael Jayston as a reader does what can only be described as a top quality job, the vocalizations of different characters make it a pleasure to follow and easy to discriminate one from another, his George Smiley could just as well actually be Alec Guiness!
If you do not have this book in your collection, do no hesitate to acquire it, it will be worth every penny, and is well deserving of the 5 star review.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
Would you consider the audio edition of The Honourable Schoolboy to be better than the print version?
I've read/listened to both. I enjoyed both. But I think I preferred the audio edition.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Jerry Westerby of course. He's not likeable as such, but he's well drawn by Le Carre and somehow you can imagine a man making his choices.
Which character – as performed by Michael Jayston – was your favourite?
Jerry again - brought to life by Michael Jayston (Peter Guillam in the BBC's Tinker Tailor adaptation). One assumes Michael Jayston's exposure in Tinker Tailor has assisted him, but regardless of that his characterisation works (even the difficult Chinese characters aren't too over the top or false) and Jerry feels alive and driven towards his fate.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The ending, it's a little anti-climatic for me, but I think that is it's strength. It doesn't give you the neatly tied up ending of a Tom Clancy novel, but it's all the better for that. It made me want to read Smiley's People almost immediately.
Any additional comments?
This is not as popular as Tinker Tailor or Smiley's People (perhaps due to the BBC not making an Alec Guinness version?) however it's good and well worth your time. If you've read or seen Tinker Taylor or Smiley's People you should listen to this. It's the stepping stone between them, and while I have always felt it wasn't as strong as the other 2 parts of the Karla Trilogy, it's a good book in it's own right and merely shows how brilliant the other two parts are.
If you like Bond, Bourne, Tom Clancy's creations, Ripley, et al then you should read this and the other two in the trilogy (preferably in order, but it's not essential).
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
Never mind if you can't follow the complex twists and turns of this superbly written Cold War spy thriller. This is LeCarré at his peak with well fleshed out characters, an utterly believable Secret Service and a typically dark and rather grim storyline. Cleverly told with insight and surprising humour, the descriptions of people, places and events are fulsome and expert. Certainly not a sparse writer, but I could listen to Michael Jaystons rendition of this superlative work for another 20 hours and not tire of it.
This is the second in the so-called "Karla trilogy", following on from Tinker Tailor, and that's certainly where you should start. Brilliant.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
What did you like most about The Honourable Schoolboy?
Another superb offering from John Le Carre. with his usual tight plotting and tight characterisation.
Michal Jayston's reading of this book is absolutely superb. Highly recommended.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
What other book might you compare The Honourable Schoolboy to, and why?
I have now listened to all the George Smiley books with Michael Jayston as narrator. All are excellent.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
This is the third novel of the 'Karla trilogy' following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. Not made at the time by the BBC because of prohibitive costs, as I understand it - more's the pity! I am a total Le Carre addict anyway but I consider this novel to be his best and it must surely rank also as one of the very best of its' genre.
This is a heady mix of espionage, humour, pathos and brutality and is equally rich in characters, not least of whom are George Smiley and Gerry Westerby, and it's all so beautifully crafted and told as only Le Carre can.
The next superlative I will save for the narrator, Michael Jayston who is nothing less than a genius in this field. I have listened to many, many audio books with some excellent narrators but none are his equal.
I absolutely never tire of listening to this and I'm certain that I never could. I can passionately recommend you listen and experience it too! beta inappVoteInfo
11 of 13 people found this review helpful
A brilliant book, the reading by Michael Jayston adds enoromously. I have got more out of listening to it than I got out of reading it. I would suggest that you listen to Tinker, Tailor as it will help you make sense of the characters, etc.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Brilliant story by the excellent Le Carré. This story has been a favourite of mine for years. Michael Jayston brings the story to wonderful life.
Looking forward to enjoying to Smiley's People
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
As always Michael Jayston's performance is flawless. This complex story features a really broad cast of interesting characters, wonderful settings and a suitable ending.
Brilliantly read by Michael Jayston. Michael uses his voice to bring to life diverse and rich characters.