Regular marked price: $28.00Discount Price: $16.80
Cost Savings: $11.20 (40%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9781416594888
ISBN number: 1416594884
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: October 07, 2008
Publishing house: Scribner
Sale Popularity Level: 156
Studio: Scribner
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
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.
A half-starved young Russian man in a long grey overcoat is smuggled into Hamburg at dead of night. He has an improbable amount of cash secreted in a purse around his neck. He is a devout Muslim. Or is he? He says his name is Issa.
Annabel, an idealistic young German civil rights lawyer, determines to save Issa from deportation. Soon her client's survival becomes more important to her than her own career -- or safety. In pursuit of Issa's mysterious past, she confronts the incongruous Tommy Brue, the sixty-year-old scion of Brue Frères, a failing British bank based in Hamburg.
Annabel, Issa and Brue form an unlikely alliance -- and a triangle of impossible loves is born. Meanwhile, scenting a sure kill in the 'War on Terror,' the rival spies of Germany, England and America converge upon the innocents.
Thrilling, compassionate, peopled with characters the reader never wants to let go, A Most Wanted Man is a work of deep humanity and uncommon relevance to our times.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
Well-written in most places, but...
The characters (especially the Americans) are cardboard cutouts, the plot plods along toward an all-too-predictable ending which you can see coming from miles away, and it has been done before - by le Carre himself in The Honourable Schoolboy. Sad to see a master stylist in decline.
Rated by buyers -
Unfortunately, John Le Carre has as many problems with modern asymmetrical warfare as do European and American intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Thankfully, his problems are limited to the literary world. There is much missing from Le Carre's classic Cold War novels. He is also up against a very formidable spy novel standard; his own, established in his previous novels.
A young abused Chechen immigrant named Issa Karpov arrives illegally in Hamburg. He has traveled to Hamburg from a Turkish prison through Sweden with the objective of obtaining an inheritance which he wishes to donate to Muslim charitable causes. He is at very first housed by Melik and Leyla Otay, legal Turkish expatriates living in Hamburg. Issa eventually is represented by Annabelle Richter, an idealistic lawyer working for a German organization dedicated to helping illegals.
Issa's inheritance is located at Tommy Brue's private bank in a special account. Annabelle represents Issa in his approach to Brue. Issa's illegal entry into Hamburg, however, has not gone unnoticed by German authorities. Issa is suspected of being a terrorist or a tool of them. One of Germany's best intelligence operatives, Gunther Bachman, has plans to use Issa to gather intelligence about unnamed Muslim terrorist fronts masquerading as Muslim charitable organizations in Germany. This involves Issa's decision to use a local, well-respected Muslim imam to disperse the funds to appropriate charities.
Tommy Brue and Annabelle Richter are happy to help Issa claim his inheritance for different reasons. This sets the scene for the inevitable clash between spy and law enforcement agencies after they learn of Issa's charitable intentions. Should arrests be made immediately or should certain people be run as agents in order to gain information on higher-ups?
Two of Le Carre's strengths that set him apart from other spy novelists are missing here. First, there is not enough description of the city of Hamburg, the ambience of the private bank which Tommy Brue owns, the headquarters of the intelligence services or anything else. In past Le Carre novel's description is all-important in setting the mood and tone. The lack of it in this novel detracts from the story.
The second element missing is the depth of characterization that would provide the reader an insight or clue to their eventual actions. This failure also deprives the reader of the ability to empathize with any of them. This may be due to the unnecessary plethora of characters introduced in this story unlike Le Carre's other novels which focus on a few people, in depth. Read "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" in comparison.
The most obvious example of weak characterization is the American spies. In past Le Carre novels CIA agents were portrayed as overstaffed and overly obsessed with gadgetry in any intelligence operation. This was a credible criticism of the CIA's overreliance on technology at the expense of running live agents. However, in "A Most Wanted Man" the Americans are incredibly conceived caricatures; evil, foaming-at-the-mouth amateurs and thugs as fanatically ideological as any terrorist.
Le Carre's lack of knowledge of Muslim countries and culture are marked when compared with his knowledge of the old Soviet Union. Like the Americans the Muslim imam is portrayed without much depth and the treatment of Islam and the tenets of Muslim charity are superficial at best. Melik and Leyla Otay go to Turkey for a wedding and never reappear even though a number of chapters are used to develop their relationship with Issa. It is curious why Le Carre even introduced Melik and Leyla.
The secret bank account which Tommy Brue inherited from his father at their private bank is a good vehicle to bring the various characters and agents to the same place at the same time in order to end the story. The ending, however, is neither remarkable nor exciting.
Rated by buyers -
John Le Carre was the true master of the Cold War spy novel. Beginning with The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, and contining thorough the Smiley novels, Le Carre has been synonymous with the inner spy, the brooding, betrayed spook who is both entrepreneurial and bureaucratic as the dangerous game is played out.
For years I have wondered, who is the new Le Carre? Sadly, it is not Le Carre.It is not for want of talent or imagination, because this book displays his prodigious talent. It is just not very interesting. I do not think modern day terrorists and their chasers are within Le Carre's world. It is something editors and publishers want, and to some extent the author himself may want, but it does not work on the level we expect.
Rated by buyers -
It's amazing that LeCarré is still turning out top-quality fiction, but there it is. This is hard for Americans to read, as we are the new bad guys == bad women, too.
Le Carré makes the most of his info file on Hamburg (big in the Smiley series) as he gives us two Germans of considerable charm and various degrees of moral fiber. The hapless Muslim characters are carefully crafted as victims of _everyone_, while the earnest Germans try hard to do the right thing.
The plot is a bit thin, but the characters will pull you along, even if you are Brit or American, the new black-hats. Even amid all the moralizing, it's a good yarn.
Rated by buyers 
-
Anyone who likes John LeCarre's books will also like this one. Reminded me a little of the "Little Drummer Girl", but was not so elaborate and refined in the description of the protagonists. Enjoyed reading it and would definitly recommend it. Make probably a good gift too for Le Carre beginners.
Find other books like this one:
