- Paperback: 464 pages
- Publisher: Sceptre; New edition edition (2 Dec 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340766549
- ISBN-13: 978-0340766545
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 789,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Tailor of Panama
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Product Description
Review
'Arguably his best book since The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. A masterful portrayal of human weaknesses' -- Brian Morton in Times Educational Supplement 'Delightfully pointed and hilarious ...a well-crafted tale whose thread is studded with funny and moving episodes, as well as pointed asides' -- Richard Norton-Taylor in The Guardian 'This is a book with a momentum of its own, a romantic delirium for troubled times...The le Carre of his new book is a tough talker.' -- Karl Miller in The Observer 'Le Carre is on top form - rich, subtle and powerfully imaginative.' -- Maxim magazine
Brian Morton in Times Educational Supplement
'Arguably his best book since The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. A masterful portrayal of human weaknesses'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This begins with a brilliant, virtuoso first 100 pages as Osnard meets the eponymous tailor to have a suit fitted and they banter back and forth. It's the best part of the book and since it occupies the first quarter or so, everything after fails to quite live up to it. There are still plenty of clever moments and shady, ambiguous characters but this ended up dragging for me towards the end. Loving that sucking on the teeth though!
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book for the first time two months ago, and now I've read it again. My second reading was inspired by the fact that I was part way through the book the first time before I realized what an incredible book it was. So I wanted to read it again from the start with a proper sense of appreciation.
"The Tailor of Panama" is purportedly a spy thriller, but the spy story is actually just the framework on which John le Carré weaves his amazing study of human nature. And the human characteristics which are dominant are not ones that the human race should be proud of. We are presented with large amounts of greed, dishonesty, jealousy, cruelty, selfish lust, corruption, apathy, frailty and stupidity. On top of that we are presented with some of the less attractive conditions for human existence: poverty, suffering, guilt and sickness.
But the amazing thing is that John le Carré writes about these human characteristics and conditions with a great deal of humor and understanding. And he does provide a few glimpses of love, altruism and generosity.
So even though the story ends tragically it is for the most part a funny and touching story, and this makes the book very readable.
Another strength of the book is John le Carré's masterful command of the English language. He writes beautiful descriptions, and has a surprising and inventive way with words. I often found myself delighted with one sentence after another, each one saying something in a way I hadn't realized was possible.
The way in which the plot is slowly but surely expanded is also very satisfying. We start out with the daily lives of a few seemingly ordinary people. But then the seemingly ordinary people are shown to be less and less ordinary, and at the same time more and more people are added to the story, and the scope of the story expands until high-level international politics of the worst sort get involved.
Yet another positive aspect of the book is the large amount of very interesting information about life in Panama and how Panama society works. In this respect the book can be considered to be an insider's tourist guide to Panama.
Highly recommended - and to be read slowly and savored.
Format:Paperback
This is not a Le Carre spy thriller. If you come to this book expecting another of his great spy books then you may be disappointed. In fact "The Tailor of Panama" is a sort of homage to Graham Greene's "Our Man in Havana", and the books are probably best read as a pair so you can understand where Mr Le Carre got his idea from, and how the two great writers develop the idea differently. Graham Greene's book is a lightweight and gentle romantic comedy. Not his best book by a long way but enjoyable enough. John Le Carre develops the characters and the idea much more fully, with a much darker twist. To be honest the mixture of styles didn't really work for me. The books starts as a bit of a farce - very much along the same lines as "Our Man in Havana" - but subtly changes into tragedy as people begin to take the tailor's stories seriously. Unfortunately I found the book too long, with too many side shoots and diversions, and I found I was just reading it to finish it for much of the second half. The ending is moving but I found it quite confusing. Where is the tailor going? His wife has finally realised she loves him; and he realises he loves Marta; so why does he do what he does? While it is interesting for one great writer to take on another great writer's idea, I felt that Mr Le Carre played it out too much. The book could have been much better and much sharper at half the length and still delivered a moving ending.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Unexpected
With a storyline perhaps a little too close to Our Man in Havana, the story is not quite the sort of spy thriller one usually associates with le Carre. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Gastronaut
Disappointing
A rather disappointing novel - not up to Le Carre's usual standard. Set in Panama, a garrulous and imaginative tailor to the great and good is recruited as a spy. Read more
Published on 6 July 2008 by BookWorm
A tangled web...
Interesting spy thriller set in Panama after the collapse of the Noriega regime. Excellent sense of time and place and of the desperation of the characters making the best of a... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2008 by Caroline Cormack
If you saw the movie, Do not read
The plot though rather good, could not keep my attention. Some of the characters are well written, but others, seem to drag the book down. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2007 by M. A. Ramos
What's all the fuss about?
I'm surprised by the rave reviews on this site. I bought the book expecting to like it, but I was disappointed. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2004 by Flashman
Le Carre Does "Our Man in Havana"
If you read and liked Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana, I predict you will like The Tailor of Panama. Read more
Published on 27 May 2004 by Donald Mitchell
Le Carre Does "Our Man in Havana"
If you read and liked Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana, I predict you will like The Tailor of Panama. Read more
Published on 27 May 2004 by Donald Mitchell
one of the best
I agree with the second reviewer this book is one of Le carre's
best not a Tinker, tailor, soldier ,spy effort to be sure but good characterisation and outstanding plot make... Read more
best not a Tinker, tailor, soldier ,spy effort to be sure but good characterisation and outstanding plot make... Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2002
A great book
I have just been browsing through various reviews on the Amazon site and in particular reviews on le Carre's recent efforts. Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2001
boring!
I asked myself if thriller writers from the cold war era would have a future after the nineties. Well, they have, but not mr. le Carre with this book. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2000 by erik@goedhart.demon.nl
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