MovieChat Forums > A Perfect Spy (1987) Discussion > great american novel

great american novel

posted 16 years ago by jamessko
3 replies | jump to latest

well, if it were american it would be my candidate. the writing is as pure and elegant as i've ever encountered, yet full of dialect and idiom written with a perfect ear for speech and great humor. i recently re-read chapter two of the book and was again left mouth agape at its perfection. the plot is many-layered and tight, giving the reader the benefit of the perpectives of many characters, each with his/her own voice. if you've seen the "movie" and liked it at all, and if you enjoy reading, then the novel is an absolute must read.

as for the movie, i believe it is, as john-verity says, a faithful adaptation of the book, and the acting is superb. in the detective phase of the story, you will encounter many great british character actors whom you will recognize if you are a fan of the various wonderful bbc productions out there. if you like this sort of thing, i highly recommend "smiley's people" and "tinker, tailor, soldier, spy" in both the book and film versions.

[–] pablo-taylor 13 years ago

Quite.

The giraffe is quite my favourite kind of bird, or at least it would be if it was a bird.

[–] GaelicLass 12 years ago

I have loved Le Carre's books for decades and have enjoyed the series done on them, although a movie is too short a time to really tell the whole story, like Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It was best done by the Brits who really get into the story much like reading the book.

This was a A and E network co production with the BBC and Australian TV. That was back in the day when A and E meant Arts and Entertainment and did some wonderful co productions with English co's; quite unlike now with the reality shows. It has gone very downhill.

BTW, he is a British author and not American at all. He worked for MI5 and MI6 during the Cold War and writes the best stories about those times.

IMDb; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...another poster

[–] Miarse 11 years ago

It's far too good, has too much class, is too well written, and is hugely too subtle to be American.