The Mission Song
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'I imagine this is the first time that le Carré has been mentioned in the same breath as Updike and Roth. They, after all, are Literary Novelists with a capital L and N, whereas Le Carré is . . . well, what is he? Actually he is sui generis. Or, rather, he is his own genre. Quite an achievement that.'
(Sunday Telegraph 20060917)'THE MISSION SONG is meticulously researched, and the tricks and tactics of being a top interpreter are convincingly rendered. You're left with the uncomfortable feeling that perhaps politicians, journalists, civil servants and the businessmen really are the lying, amoral bastards portrayed here. Perhaps it isn't only in le Carré's world, but in the real world too, that we're unwise to believe what we are told.'
(Independent on Sunday 20060917)'Fast-paced and entertaining'
(Times Literary Supplement 20060917)'Exquisitely crafted'
(Daily Mail 20060917)'Le Carre's eye is undimmed, his passion for his craft as strong as it ever was. He delivers a tale that few could equal and none will surpass.'
(Observer 20060917)'le Carre shows no sign of slowing up or losing touch.'
(Spectator )'This thriller exhibits his familiar strengths: superbly realised characters; a succession of knockout scenes nobody else could produce; and a distinctive ability to fuse social comedy and moral anger . . . Mesmerising.'
(Sunday Times )'Bold, vigorous and extremely funny.'
(Evening Standard )'I think it's very good'
(John Sutherland, 'Front Row', BBC Radio 4 )'A formidably sophisticated work of fiction, full of energy, rage and great humour. All the qualities for which le Carre's fiction has been admired - his descriptive powers, his electrifying dialogue, his cynicism in the presence of corporate greed and government power - are visible in THE MISSION SONG. That this great English novelist continues to produce work of this calibre with such frequency is simply astonishing.'
(Charles Cumming, Mail on Sunday )Sunday Telegraph
'I imagine this is the first time that le Carré has been mentioned in the same breath as Updike and Roth. They, after all, are Literary Novelists with a capital L and N, whereas Le Carré is . . . well, what is he? Actually he is sui generis. Or, rather, he is his own genre. Quite an achievement that.'
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Bruno Salvador, with an Irish Missionary father and Congolese mother, works as a freelance interpreter. As well as English, French and Swahili he also speaks a range of less common African languages.
As a loyal British citizen he is proud to be called on by unnamed government departments to assist in sensitive negotiations. But when he is asked to leave at short notice to attend a conference of unnamed people for unknown purposes on an anonymous northern island things go awry for him. As an interpreter he is expected to hold everything in strict confidence but as the conference progresses he sees and hears things that can only be detrimental to peace and progress.
It is very well done how Le Carré portrays Salvo as initially very enthusiastic and naïvely supportive of what is being planned and how he gradually has his innocence ripped away from him.
The Mission Song is well plotted (complex but believable) and whips along at a great pace. An exciting read but without any crazy chases or gun fights. Another great addition to Le Carré's post-Cold War output.
Can businessmen, Civil Servants and politicians be so corrupt and self-serving? Yes, probably.
As a loyal British citizen he is proud to be called on by unnamed government departments to assist in sensitive negotiations. But when he is asked to leave at short notice to attend a conference of unnamed people for unknown purposes on an anonymous northern island things go awry for him. As an interpreter he is expected to hold everything in strict confidence but as the conference progresses he sees and hears things that can only be detrimental to peace and progress.
It is very well done how Le Carré portrays Salvo as initially very enthusiastic and naïvely supportive of what is being planned and how he gradually has his innocence ripped away from him.
The Mission Song is well plotted (complex but believable) and whips along at a great pace. An exciting read but without any crazy chases or gun fights. Another great addition to Le Carré's post-Cold War output.
Can businessmen, Civil Servants and politicians be so corrupt and self-serving? Yes, probably.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In The Mission Song John le Carré re-visits the world of espionage that we associate with his writing. He is a master of the clandestine, the deniable, the re-definable. Bruno Salvador is a freelance linguist. His parentage is complex, his origins confused, but his skills beyond question. By virtue of an upbringing that had many influences, he develops the ability to absorb languages. Having lived in francophone Africa and then England, he is fluent in both English and French plus an encyclopaedia of central African languages. His unique gifts, considerable skills and highly idiosyncratic methods qualify him for occasional assignments as an interpreter. He is trusted. He is also, he discovers, pretty cheap, and already has considerable experience of working for those aspects of government and officialdom which sometimes transgress legality. He is also, therefore, vulnerable. So when a new assignment - so urgent that he has to skip his wife's party - drags him to a secret destination, he initially takes everything very much in his stride.
But Bruno is much more than a linguist, certainly much more than a translator and, as a result of the application of conscience, considerably more than the interpreter his employers have hired. His perception of language is so acute that it provides him with an extra sense, a means of interpreting the world, no less, not just a method of eliciting meaning. But he also has the intellectual skills to identify consequences, to interpret motives. And it is here where he begs to differ with his paymasters.
The Mission Song is the kind of book where revelation of the plot, beyond this mere starting point, would undermine the experience of reading it. Suffice it to say that Bruno's task is both what is seems to be and also not what it seems. Bruno's ambivalence in relation to its aims prompts him to go beyond the call of duty. And, in doing so, he learns more about his near-anonymous employers. But, of course, they learn more about him, a reality that eventually has fairly dire consequences.
The Mission Song is also a love story, or two, one on the way in and one on the way out. It's also about privilege and power, plus their use, misuse and abuse. In many ways it inhabits similar territory to John le Carré's Absolute Friends, but is singularly more successful, especially in the credibility of the eventual denouement.
Fans of John le Carré will need no convincing. For those who have found his work less than satisfying, The Mission Song shows the author at his best, presenting a complex, highly credible plot in a skilful, illuminating, informative and yet entertaining way. Its eventual message about the abuse of power is subtly threaded into the very substance of the plot and makes its point with strength and relevance. We know a little more about the world by the end.
But Bruno is much more than a linguist, certainly much more than a translator and, as a result of the application of conscience, considerably more than the interpreter his employers have hired. His perception of language is so acute that it provides him with an extra sense, a means of interpreting the world, no less, not just a method of eliciting meaning. But he also has the intellectual skills to identify consequences, to interpret motives. And it is here where he begs to differ with his paymasters.
The Mission Song is the kind of book where revelation of the plot, beyond this mere starting point, would undermine the experience of reading it. Suffice it to say that Bruno's task is both what is seems to be and also not what it seems. Bruno's ambivalence in relation to its aims prompts him to go beyond the call of duty. And, in doing so, he learns more about his near-anonymous employers. But, of course, they learn more about him, a reality that eventually has fairly dire consequences.
The Mission Song is also a love story, or two, one on the way in and one on the way out. It's also about privilege and power, plus their use, misuse and abuse. In many ways it inhabits similar territory to John le Carré's Absolute Friends, but is singularly more successful, especially in the credibility of the eventual denouement.
Fans of John le Carré will need no convincing. For those who have found his work less than satisfying, The Mission Song shows the author at his best, presenting a complex, highly credible plot in a skilful, illuminating, informative and yet entertaining way. Its eventual message about the abuse of power is subtly threaded into the very substance of the plot and makes its point with strength and relevance. We know a little more about the world by the end.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I liked this very much and am surprised it isn't marked higher by readers. Ok, it isn't Mr Le Carre's best work (for me) but I enjoyed the story line involving an interpreter and the complexity of relationships (as ever) around the parties attending a conference to discuss Africa
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A bit different....but the same
A slightly different style than other Le Carre's I've read but the usual ultimate betrayal. Very much enjoyed it, the twists and turns of plot and the richness of language. Read more
Published 1 month ago by NHow
old fashioned tale
I have read many of John Le Carre's earlier works and greatly admired them. Unfortunately in The mission song, as happens to many aging writers, he has fallen into the trap of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by H. Rogers
I didn't like it
If you are looking for an authentic book, this isn't the one to go for. It's very prententious and does not at all seem real. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Nill
The Mission Song, John le Carre
I confess to being a devotee of Mr le Carre, so don't expect too much objectivity from me. I found "The Mission Song" directly engaging from the start, and I intend to re-read it... Read more
Published 15 months ago by landroverS3LWB
Original and worthy, though could be more readable
For those who are familiar with Le Carre's books, this novel is in a similar vein to the excellent 'Constant Gardener'. Read more
Published on 22 April 2009 by BookWorm
Idealism and naiveté betrayed
"I'm just not sure who the heathens are." - Bruno Salvador experiencing disillusionment
First published in 2006, THE MISSION SONG has a racially mixed protagonist - half... Read more
First published in 2006, THE MISSION SONG has a racially mixed protagonist - half... Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2009 by Joseph Haschka
Good Thriller
A book about a "whistle-blower" who happens to be an interpreter. I liked the insight given into the world of an interpreter - different from a mere translator - and was... Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2008 by Andy
Will Salvo save the day?
This isn't the type of book I'd usually read - usually I prefer to stick to more light-hearted stuff, or at least, books that don't contain too much politics. Read more
Published on 29 Feb 2008 by Lucy Felthouse
On top form
I cannot understand why other readers of this book have been disappointed. Perhaps they expected a trademark tale of intrigue instead of an accurate description of the tawdry... Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2007 by Pilgrim
Not the best
This maybe is a familiar tale, but Le Carre ensures the reader is left in no doubt that the UK government, big business are at the heart of the coup and the American's are lurking... Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2007 by H. Ludford
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