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Absolute Friends (Paperback)

by John Le Carre (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
Price: £7.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
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Product details

  • Paperback: 383 pages
  • Publisher: Coronet Books; New edition edition (1 Sep 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340832908
  • ISBN-13: 978-0851441931
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 339,804 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #78 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > L > Le Carre, John > Complete List

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Product Description

Product Description

Absolute Friends is a superbly paced novel spanning fifty-six years, a theatrical masterstroke of tragicomic writing, and a savage fable of our times, almost of our hours. The friends of the title are Ted Mundy, British soldier's son born 1947 in a shining new independent Pakistan, and Sasha, refugee son of an East German Lutheran pastor and his wife who have sought sanctuary in the West. The two men meet first as students in riot-torn West Berlin of the late Sixties, again in the grimy looking-glass of Cold War espionage and, most terribly, in today's unipolar world of terror, counter-terror and the war of lies. Deriving its scale from A Perfect Spy and its passion from The Constant Gardener, Le Carre's new novel presents us with magical writing, characters to delight, and a spellbinding story that enchants even as it challenges.


About the Author

John le Carre was born in 1931. He attended the universities of Bern and Oxford and later taught at Eton. He spent five years in the British Foreign Service.

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A prophetic novel, 27 Jun 2005
By I. D. Miller "ian_miller6" (Solihull) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
For some reason, I'd left this book on the shelf for around a year before I got around to reading it, but in some ways actually improves its reading. There are parallels here with some of Le Carre's other novels (The spy who came in from the cold; The perfect spy; Our game) and is a fine thriller by any standards. However what differentiates it from these and makes it a very important work is the obvious anger running throughout the book that the author feels regarding the current politics of fear eminating from the US and UK administrations.
Le Carre emphasises the climate of propaganda, lies and illegality of governmental decisions throughout the book. It was finished shortly after the Iraq war; a time in which one by one, the reasons given for the war in the first place have crumbled and its bloody aftermath lingers on and on.
A prophetic and very important book.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars He's still got it, 24 Nov 2006
By Donaldo "Book lover" (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
As with any author you read frequently, you do often get the sense that the same type of book is just being written over and over again. Whilst I don't think this one is a world away from what Le Carre has written before, it is certainly different in that it is the bravest novel he has written to date. Whilst in other books he was content to snipe the odd remark at our leaders, or to puncture the western world's self-satisfaction at being less evil than the Soviet Union, in this book, it's an all-out political attack on the American Neo-cons, and the unquestioning, uncritical helpfulness of Blair and his chums towards our American friends. At the time it was published, this book had some pretty mixed reviews. A few were probably because the political climate of the time polarised people into for or against the war, and such a passionate, angry anti-war book was hardly going to find favour in the pro-war camp. But perhaps now we can look at it more dispassionately, as nearly everyone agrees the whole war was a total disaster anyway.

I think this is a strong work by Le Carre - not his best, but better than average. Post Cold War, Le Carre has been sniffing out issues that have been overlooked by the popular media, be it the struggle of the ethnic minorities in the Caucasus (Our Game), gangsterism being exported from the former Soviet Union, with the connivance of western financiers (Single and Single), or cynical pharmaceutical companies `testing' products on poor Africans who no-one cares about in the west anyway (The Constant Gardener). Absolute Friends feels slightly apart - more like Our Game or The Perfect Spy in its flashback structure. Some of it creaks a little, as other reviewers have pointed out - it feels a little bit artificial and inauthentic at points. I think this would be the only criticism. Otherwise, it's fast paced, and unpredicatable.

The denouement is as excellent a one I have read, and not as unbelievable as other posters have stated. The more the political and intelligence failures and shenanigans following the war come into the light of day, the less and less unlikely the ending seems. When this book was published, it was a pretty risky ending to throw in. Now, it just pretty much falls into line with what we already know about the lead-up to Iraq.

I think the problem Le Carre has is that he has written another good book, but once you've read his greatest works - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Tinker Tailer, Secret Pilgrim - it doesn't really compare. But think for a moment about how many other authors are writing intelligent political thrillers today, and I think you will agree there is very few. And even these few would probably be delighted to have this novel against their name. Five stars.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A timely novel, 10 Oct 2004
By A Customer
The previously restrained Le Carre spits out a scathing attack on Global Corporate Imperialism in what I consider his finest novel. The novel spans some fifty years and reflects how old codes of conduct have given way to a new and more sinister set of rules.

In Mundy he creates a truly tragic character who is paradoxically old-fashioned and progressive at the same time. A stereotypical English Gent but kind and self-effacing.

The novel is often very funny, acutely observed and prescient. He has clearly been enraged by current events.

It works on many levels: as a story of friendship, a spy thriller, and a social commentary.

The most alarming aspect of the novel is just how relevant it is today.

Thank you John LeCarre

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars So you're against the Iraq war then, Mr. Le Carre?
There are several serious flaws in this book. Firstly the characters are unbelievable: it is hardly described what makes the character of Sasha so magnetic that he lures his... Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2007 by Caterkiller

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Le Carre's best
This is a stunningly accomplished novel, an accolade that sounds somewhat condescending when used in connection with one of the most accomplished novelists of the 20th century... Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2006 by fkoepping77

3.0 out of 5 stars Beyond mainstream mediocrity
I have always been apprehensive towards spending my time reading novels by authors who seem to churn out their works at a rate of knots. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2006 by Dicky

3.0 out of 5 stars not one of Le Carre's best
Not one of his best. I count myself as an admirer of Le Carre's work. The Honorable Schoolboy, for instance, is a brilliant novel: subtle, ingenious and so on and so on... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2006 by Ganja Flaneur

4.0 out of 5 stars The quintessential dupe
ABSOLUTE FRIENDS is perhaps John le Carré's most elegant construct in some time. By its conclusion, it also reflects the author's anger against America's and... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2006 by Joseph Haschka

2.0 out of 5 stars A political characature
Firstly let me say I am a great admirer of Le Carre's work, owning most books and all DVDs. There are 2 main prblems with this effort. Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2005 by GeeJayBee

5.0 out of 5 stars The limits of friendship
The cliche about le Carre's novels used to be, where does the doyen of Cold War novelists go when the Cold War ends? For le Carre this was never really an issue. Read more
Published on 4 April 2005 by Mr. David Cheshire

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly plotted thriller
Even without the immediately relevant political commentary 'Absolute Friends' is a superb read. The plotting, dialogue and particularly the characterisation are wonderful and... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2005 by David McGloin

5.0 out of 5 stars Another success for Le Carre
As a huge Le Carre fan, I had been disappointed by his recent books, finding "The Constant Gardener" unconvincing and "Single and Single" lacking in his usual bite. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2004 by Dylan

3.0 out of 5 stars Your Resume Can Become Your Fate
In the beginning of Absolute Friends, I found myself wondering why Mr. Le Carre had put together such an unusual resume for his main character, Ted Mundy. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

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