"Leaving the envelope to mature for a week or two, therefore, he waits until the right number of tequilas has brought him to the right level of insouciance, and rips it open."Ted Mundy, Pakistan-born English major's son, Germanophile and student rebel, has just about settled into mediocrity at the British Council when a trip in his guise as head of Overseas Drama and Arts (particular responsibility: Youth) becomes an exercise in secret police evasion. A figure from his past appears and he is recruited into double agency.I got to page 260 out of 400 of this. The first 200 pages were really promising - fascinating character development, a cold open that leaves us desperate to get back to it, great student riot atmosphere... and then we get into the spying proper and it bored me to anger. Seriously, I got so angry with the dull plot, dire characters and chronically self-indulgent writing ("redux" 4 times in 2 pages??) that I decided I would rather play Bubble Shooter on my phone than continue reading it. Scathing criticism indeed.The writing is exceptional and so consistent that I struggled to find a quote for the top of this review and shan't waste more time trying to find any more - rather than good writing with exceptional one-liners, this is excellent writing with an unfortunate dollop of smug. The page that finally made me lose my temper was one in which Ted was named "Mundy redux" 5 times over a double page. I don't know what redux was supposed to mean, given that we are already so hopelessly entrenched in Ted's multiple personalities, but it struck me as so pompous, so "I require my readers to have advanced degrees, otherwise they're not good enough", that I was genuinely angry.The characters are impossible to relate to - Ted is dull, mediocre, apathetic; no wonder his wife finds someone else. Sasha is fiery and contrary, but implausibly so. And no one else gets much of a look-in, as this is about the two absolute friends and not anyone else. So character development for the support cast is woeful.And as for the plot - Ted's childhood: fascinating. Student days: engrossing. Berlin riot participation: page-turning. Settling into middle-class mediocrity in Britain/spying: urgh. Bubble Shooter was more exciting.
John LeCarre is one of the best writers of espionage thrillers out there, although his reputation was made in the 1970s and 80s with the Cold War motif. In Absolute Friends, LeCarre seeks to shore up his creditials in the post-Cold War world, and for the most part he does well. This is a great work of modern espionage drama. Starting in the 1960s in West Germany among the idealistic youth movement of the time, two friends, Mundy and Sasha, a British and a German student, exchange ideas and become friends. Their friendship would extend for over three decades, into the Al Qaeda infused world of global politics in the first decade of the 21st Century. LeCarre, as always, takes the espionage novel beyond the "spy versus spy" motif. He brings in all of the intricate details of the world of international politics, from the international corporations that increasingly determine international relations to the arts and culture aspect of international exchange. Through the years, the two friends interact on several occasions, usually without success. Their relationship is complicated, and the situations that face are far from simple. The novel keeps the reader's attention and teaches a lot about international relations.My only criticism of this novel is that it seems that LeCarre is too nostalgic and a little bitter in it. He dwells on the Cold War setting in this novel, perhaps at the expense of its relevance to the modern world. And LeCarre is obviously not happy with the direction of international relations, especially in the Bush era of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. His bitterness colors this novel a bit too much. I think that LeCarre could have used the corporate aspect of his plot to make the later part of the story more interesting. Still, this novel is worth reading. It is a great work from one of the greatest espionage writers in history.
What do You think about Absolute Friends (2004)?
Absolute Friends is one of the most poisonously Anti-American spy novels ever written. That said, I have to say LeCarre is pretty spot on about the way the Americans were running their Intel during the Bush years.Absolute Friends tells the story of two friends, a brit and a German who were radicals together in Berlin during the 1960s and how they subsequently got turned into spies and after serving the West heroically, they ultimately get used by a CIA type operation to invent a terrorist operation they could take credit for smashing. REally cynical stuff. but I recommend it pretty heartily.John Le Carre is a great writer he's got opinions that don't make him a lot of friends and god bless him for it
—Brendan
Sometimes as you look upon some art and ponder, you begin to really see the piece. As you stare and think, you see a depth and the absolute brilliance of the artist.Absolute Friends is not like that. I kept looking for meaning and a reason to continue. Alas, the only reason for rejoicing is that I had completed it. Convinced that I had missed it, I reread the beginning, ending and major portions of the middle. The only thing I missed was time reading another book.To its defense, there was just enough to keep me going, hoping for a little more. There was enough so that I would plow through the wordy descriptions and the non sequiter conclusions. Then there would be just a little more. At the end, there was nothing.At its best, Absolute Friends provides some understanding of the convoluted nature of espionage. Edward is thrust into a role for only he can do and he does it because he needs to do it. It portrays some the cost that can have. Sort of like wanting to see the end of a bad book through, and then finding out that it was for nothing.
—Al
I decided to read other reviewers here on Goodreads before I gave my stars. Turns out they didn't change my first instinct to give it a solid four. Was hard for me to buy the (spoiler alert) probability that Mundy would take up with Sasha a THIRD time in response to his appeal to save the world having had two prior undesirable outcomes. But I could get past it in view of so many salient themes to the modern setting. I found it interesting that it was copywritten 2003, which explains all the references to the Iraq war being declared "over," is if it was fair to render some hindsight in novel form. If those characters only knew...... One thing missing in the reviews I've read (admittedly only a few): Didn't anyone notice the recurring aspect of Blackwater-esque elements in the wars? And the anarchist's horror at the capitalism therein? Corporate mercenaries involving themselves in--or downright sponsoring--wars between states for the sole purpose of their bottom lines, is portrayed here with all the poignancy and disgust appropriate to a war trumped up on false pretenses. Yes the main characters are flawed, human, and compelling, as they can only be in the translucent world of spyhood and survival. Which makes the rather whiplash ending so tragic and affecting. Few works have left me with a sense of futility and despair so complete. Brilliant.
—Gwen
