The Secret Life of John le Carré
- Downloads：3622
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-10-30 00:19:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Adam Sisman
- ISBN：0063341042
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Charlotte
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Loving le Carre's books as much as I do I was also intrigued by his personal life and I wasn't disappointed。 I appreciated the preface about being restricted as to what to publish during le Carre's lifetime but as a consequence this was a book almost entirely about his affairs which was very eye opening and interesting as a fan of his work but less rounded as in his life in general although his biography is cited for those who haven't read it。 A compelling look at the life （mostly loves） of a wr Loving le Carre's books as much as I do I was also intrigued by his personal life and I wasn't disappointed。 I appreciated the preface about being restricted as to what to publish during le Carre's lifetime but as a consequence this was a book almost entirely about his affairs which was very eye opening and interesting as a fan of his work but less rounded as in his life in general although his biography is cited for those who haven't read it。 A compelling look at the life （mostly loves） of a write of incredible talent。 The narrator was engaging and I would listen to another audiobook as read by himThank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Beata
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Having enjoyed le Carre's books， I was hoping to read about his life as I had just a vague idea of what he did。 I did not realize that this book is a kind of a supplement prepared after David Cornwell's death。 An even bigger surprise was his secret life， I admit。 Extramarital affairs， high in number， conducted in accordance with the best undercover techniques was not what I expected to learn， however， learning about them was more than interesting。 One thing is certain: David Cornwell had a most Having enjoyed le Carre's books， I was hoping to read about his life as I had just a vague idea of what he did。 I did not realize that this book is a kind of a supplement prepared after David Cornwell's death。 An even bigger surprise was his secret life， I admit。 Extramarital affairs， high in number， conducted in accordance with the best undercover techniques was not what I expected to learn， however， learning about them was more than interesting。 One thing is certain: David Cornwell had a most exciting life against all conventions。 Now I am more than eager to find traces of his affairs in his books。*Many thanks to Adam Sisman， Profile Books Audio， and NetGalley for a free audiobook in exchange for my honest review。* 。。。more
Vivienne
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“Nonetheless he restricted what I was able to write about his affairs in his lifetime， … My biography of John le Carré， published in 2015， was the truth， insofar as I was able to ascertain it， but not the whole truth。 While David was alive， I was obliged to suppress some of what I knew。”My thanks to Profile Books Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of ‘The Secret Life of John le Carré’ by Adam Sisman。 It was narrated by Sean Barrett。In 2015 Adam Sisman wrote the definitive biography of John le “Nonetheless he restricted what I was able to write about his affairs in his lifetime， … My biography of John le Carré， published in 2015， was the truth， insofar as I was able to ascertain it， but not the whole truth。 While David was alive， I was obliged to suppress some of what I knew。”My thanks to Profile Books Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of ‘The Secret Life of John le Carré’ by Adam Sisman。 It was narrated by Sean Barrett。In 2015 Adam Sisman wrote the definitive biography of John le Carré （David Cornwell） that provided a revealing portrait of this fascinating man。 Yet some aspects of his subject’s private life remained secret。 Cornwell was able to control what Sisman wrote about him in his lifetime， though accepted that the truth would eventually become known。 Following his death in 2020， those aspects that had been withheld can now be revealed…Sisman doesn’t assume that his readers have read ‘John le Carré: the Biography’ and provides some details for context。While this was an interesting addendum to Sisman’s biography， I certainly didn’t condemn Cromwell for his extramarital affairs。 I did find it fascinating that he had utilised the tradecraft that he had learned as a spy to manage them。 These clandestine activities appear to have brought an element of danger to his relatively quiet life as an author。 Sisman’s final chapter outlines the agreement between himself and his subject not to reveal details of his extramarital affairs in the original biography。 Concluding Sisman asks: “if his wife was willing to forgive his transgressions， who are we to judge him？” I would agree。With respect to the audiobook， Sean Barrett is an accomplished narrator who brings his considerable acting experience to each of his audiobook projects。 He has a warm voice that is a pleasure to listen to and has been one of my favourite narrators for years。Overall， I felt that while ‘The Secret Life of John le Carré’ did contribute to my understanding of le Carré’s writing process， I was quite content to allow him and his family their privacy and enjoy his novels for themselves。 。。。more
Peter Fleming
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I am not a fan of biographies， I read perhaps one a year and I have not read the author’s previous well received biography on John le Carré。 What drew me here was the fact that it was dealing with the private world of a seemingly very private man and was approved by his son。 In it the author explains how it came about， its plan to be seen as an annex， then a follow up， with its long gestation period。 David Cornwell himself appears to have been ambivalent about certain things being written about I am not a fan of biographies， I read perhaps one a year and I have not read the author’s previous well received biography on John le Carré。 What drew me here was the fact that it was dealing with the private world of a seemingly very private man and was approved by his son。 In it the author explains how it came about， its plan to be seen as an annex， then a follow up， with its long gestation period。 David Cornwell himself appears to have been ambivalent about certain things being written about him once he had passed on， but his son wanted it publishing to provide an insight into his fathers writing。 The result is jaw-droppingly shocking at times， though never overly salacious， but does go a long way to explaining his body of work since the late 1960’s。 Cornwell was a low-level spook posted to Germany when he started writing and having affairs even with the wives of his colleagues。 It was the world-wide success of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold which prove to his breakthrough， allowing him to become a full-time writer and move into the big league of international best sellers。 From this point there was no stopping him in both a literary and womanising sense。The book is meticulously researched from first hand sources， both in person and through correspondence， making this a serious work， not some tawdry kiss and tell。 The author has also shown great sensitivity towards the women concerned， keeping the anonymity of some and ensuring content has been approved。 As the author remarks he probably knows Cornwell as much as any man alive and it appears that he has tried to create as honest a portrayal of the man as he was able。 So， what do we learn？Well， he was a liar throughout his life， saying what though he needed to at the time， and certainly never spared friends or family。 We discover his father was a conman which had some influence as did his stint in espionage where betrayal is their everyday bread and butter， but there is much more to it than this that we never quite get to the bottom of。 Certainly， the constant lies and betrayal are themes throughout his work， as is the situation where the only way out seems to be suicide。His philandering was unusual and serious。 They usually weren’t mere dalliances or casual sex， but full blown ‘love affairs’ with periods of wooing and much secret correspondence。 The woman all appear to have been younger， much younger， several being half his age， and many seemed to be content with the arrangement。 There was the power imbalance of the older rich man with the younger woman but on the face of it not coercive control， these women were willing partners seemingly charmed by him。 One thing made clear is how much of these women and their experiences comes through in the individual books。 It is suggested that each one was a muse， one he needed to inspire him to write， only to be discarded for the next novel。 A fascinating observation that on the face of it appears to hold some truth。The amusing aspect of the book is the description of how he conducted the many affairs by employing ‘tradecraft。’ Coded address books， cut outs and dead letter drops all figure as does a secret credit card held by his Swiss publicist。 Was this a game， a substitute for spying？ Despite all this his two wives got to know of his affairs， it seems that there were simply so many that it would have been impossible not to。 His treatment of his wives seems to be somewhat callous （I qualify this comment here having not read the biography for a fuller picture） to the extent that I wonder why they remained with him。They say never meet your heroes， this being no exception， just try to separate the man from his work。 This book certainly opened my eyes to the man he was and goes a long way to explain some of the connections to his work， which for me still represents the pinnacle of the genre。 。。。more
Stefan
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