"Weekend" Book of Ghosts and Horrors: No. 2 - Softcover

Whittington-Egan, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0851441939 ISBN 13: 9780851441931

Publisher: Imprint unknown, 1982

Synopsis

Weekend Book of Ghosts and Horrors: No.2 by Richard Whittington-Egan. Published in paperback by Harmsworth Publications in 1982.

About this title

Review:

John le Carré's Absolute Friends is his best in years, capturing the verve and mastery of the magnificent early work. In fact, as a prelude to the book, you could do worse than reread The Spy Who Came in from the Cold again, and be forcibly reminded how le Carré transformed the spy thriller 40 or so years ago. And the consolidation of his achievement came with the George Smiley sequence (inaugurated with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy). As the Cold War came to an end, le Carré seemed to be in need of a new focus for his literary universe, but this was soon to come as the author explored newer social threats, with The Constant Gardener utilising the power of the pharmaceutical companies as nemesis, and producing yet another critical and popular success.

Absolute Friends, even before publication, had some of the best word of mouth any le Carré novel had enjoyed, and every word of it was justified. As a penetrating character study, it's nonpareil, with the (very different) friends of the title brilliantly realised.

Ted Mundy is the son of a British Infantry officer who left India under a cloud after partition, while Sasha is the crippled son of a religious German family who became a star of Far Left politics in the 1960s, at which point he encounters the ungainly Ted, taught by his father--and a committed girlfriend--to loathe British imperialism and all its current offshoots. In the present, Ted finds himself acting as an eccentric tour guide at Ludwig's palaces in Bavaria. When the two men meet again, they once more become involved in clandestine activities--with lethal results. If the author's own anti-Blair/Bush feelings are sometimes foregrounded, this is still le Carré at his considerable best, and a reminder of what a great talent the UK has in this writer. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

'Absolute friends is classic le Carre and that means fiction of a very high order.' Roy Hattersley, Independent on Sunday

The master has not lost his touch . . . one of his most enthralling creations. ( A.N. Wilson, Telegraph)

No reader, whatever his politics, could fail to be moved by the passion and intelligence of le Carre's latest. ( Publishers Weekly)

'The master has not lost his touch . . . one of his most enthralling creations' A.N. Wilson, Telegraph

'This is ultimately a powerful, passionate and finely-crafted novel, rich in rage and indignation. At 72, the man affords himself the anger of youth at last. It is a timely and perhaps even prescient novel which reflects the concerns of a great many people who remain unconvinced about the war in Iraq' Herald

Angry, pessimistic and deeply romantic ( Joan Smith, Independent)

'Le Carre's theatrical characters and dialogue make this a masterful novel, thematically serious but written with wit, control and breathless pace.' Waterstones Quarterly

Absolute Friends is classic le Carré and that means fiction of a very high order ( Roy Hattersley, Independent on Sunday)

'Truly thrilling' - Financial Times

We need only to read the first page of Absolute Friends to know that once again we are in the accomplished hands of a master storyteller ( P.D. James, Mail on Sunday)

Few could fail to be thrilled by the unbridled rage that fuels his storytelling. If he was seething when he wrote The Constant Gardener, he is now incandescent . . . le Carré brings the thriller face to face with contemporary politics and, in the process has once again demonstrated his mastery of his chosen genre ( Robert McCrum, Observer)

'Absolute Friends is vintage John le Carre: complex, often sardonically funny, always galvanically written. In fact, his best book in years.' - Daily Express

'Le Carre is one of those rare and frequently undervalued novelists who combine a major literary talent with the ability to provide a narrative of compelling power. We need only to read the first page of his new novel, ABSOLUTE FRIENDS, to know that once again we are in the accomplished hands of a master storyteller.' P D James, Mail on Sunday

A literary master for a generation ( Observer)

Thoroughly gripping ( Sunday Times)

'Le Carre's indignation not only gives ABSOLUTE FRIENDS a hard contemporary edge but it also seems to have reinvigorated him. At 72, he is writing with a passion and urgency that were missing from some of the books that followed the collapse of communism. Le Carre's writing is masterful. He has no peers when it comes to evoking the shadowy menace of power and his skill at driving the plot of a thriller forward by the development of character is matchless. But loud and clear through the elegantly savage writing, le Carre's voice is to be heard expressing his moral outrage at the world around him. ABSOLUTE FRIENDS is one of his very best books.' Andrew Vine, Yorkshire Post

'John le Carre has been redefining the conventions of the spy thriller, detective novel and adventure story for 50 years. His stature is now such that he is widely considered to be one of our greatest living novelists. His themes are big: loyalty, betrayal and the impossibility of fully knowing another human being. The fiction he crafts around these themes foregrounds character over plot without allowing the tension to slip.

Throughout his career Le Carre has sought to maintain a low profile: as a narrator, he is as self-effacing as his enigmatic protagonists. In Absolute Friends he comes in from the cold.' Financial Times

This is vintage John le Carre ( The Times)

'Thoroughly gripping' - Sunday Times

Le Carré poses deep spiritual questions about the damage [the human] race has done, and continues to do, both to the planet and to itself. He does so in a page-turner which reminds us that the master storyteller of the Smiley books has lost none of his cunning ( A.N. Wilson, Daily Mail, on THE CONSTANT GARDENER)

'With ABSOLUTE FRIENDS Le Carre is back on form. It is his best book for years, probably since A PERFECT SPY. He has founda worthy enemy, a target for his moral indignation. Moreover he has hit a contemporary tune again. This is an anti-war novel and, very fiercely, an anti-American one. It's written with passion.' Allan Massie, Scotsman

'Absolute Friends is more than just another consummate exercise from a literary master. As a comment on our brave new world, it is a mesmerising roar of outrage.' - Irish Times

'Le Carre is the Pringles of literature: once you've started one of his novels, you'll invariably chomp straight through. The comparison is monstrously unfair of course; le Carre's meticulousness, his mastery of character, his subtlety, his much-mentioned compassion - his trade-craft, you might call it - make him a much more nourishing snack.' Time Out

About this edition

• Publisher: Imprint unknown
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0851441939
• ISBN 13: 9780851441931
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 132