The Russia House, John Le Carre
The Russia House, John Le Carre
3 Rating(s)
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The Russia House

Author: John Le Carré

Narrator: Gildart Jackson

Unabridged: 15 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/30/2024

Synopsis

"…a well-informed, up-to-the-minute political parable, incisive and instructive." —The New York Times Book Review In the era of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR, a manuscript is meant to be delivered to one Bartholomew "Barley" Blair, a British publisher known for his eccentricity. The manuscript, penned by Russian scientist Yakov Savelyev, contains critical information detailing the Soviet Union's nuclear capabilities and the state of their missile program. Except—it doesn't reach Barley. Instead, after changing hands several times, it ends up in the hands of the British Secret Intelligence Service, and they're quite interested in why Barley was the intended recipient of such a document.After determining Barley knows little more than they do about the manuscript, MI6, in collaboration with the CIA, convince him to act as an unlikely but well-positioned spy. Under the guise of his publishing business, Barley travels to Moscow and meets Katya Orlova, who helped smuggle the manuscript out of the country, in hopes of verifying the authenticity of the author and his manuscript. As Barley navigates the treacherous waters of espionage, he begins to fall for Katya, blurring the lines between the professional and the personal. With the KGB closing in on the two of them, and his Western handlers growing increasingly impatient (both with him and with each other), Barley must determine where his true loyalties lie. A standalone spy novel that sits outside of John le Carré's Smiley chronology, The Russia House is "witty, shapely tale-spinning from a modern master" (Kirkus Starred Review). A No.1 New York Times bestseller, it remained on the list for 21 weeks, and serves as the basis for the acclaimed 1990 film starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer.

About John le Carre

Fiction imitating real life seems to be an apt mantra for British born author, David John Moore Cornwell, or his pen name, John le Carre'. He had a very "un-normal" childhood, having been abandoned by his mother when he was five years old, and his father made and lost fortunes several times by using tricks and schemes, and even landed in jail for insurance fraud. le Carre' was reunited with the mother he never knew when he was 21. Unbeknownst to him, he developed his fascination with secret lives from his observation of his father's unsavory lifestyle.

le Carre' studied and received a degree in modern languages after a few "bumps in the road" along the way. He joined the Intelligence Corps of the British Army stationed in Allied-occupied Austria, serving as a German language interrogator, then worked covertly for the British Secret Service, M-15 as a spy to detect Soviet agents. He taught at Eton College while he was an M-15 officer. He ran agents, conducted interrogations, tapped telephones, and supervised break-ins. He was encouraged to write by other authors, writing his first novel, Call for the Dead in 1961. In 1960, he had transferred to M-16, the foreign intelligence service. His cover for that position was Secretary of the British Embassy at Bonn, and later Hamburg. It was at that time that he wrote, A Murder of Quality, and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. He assumed his pen name when he wrote, since officers were forbidden to publish in their own names.

le Carre's novels include: The Looking Glass, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Smiley's People, The Little Drummer Girl, The Night Manager, The Tailor of Panama, The Constant Gardner, A Most Wanted Man, and Our Kind of Traitor. All of the John le Carre' novels were adapted for film or television.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Candi on January 08, 2018

3.5 stars rounded down "Spying is waiting." I don’t typically read spy ‘thrillers’ anymore, and I would say the word ‘thriller’ is used loosely here. Spying may be waiting, and waiting is what I did for about one-third of the book before becoming nearly fully absorbed. It starts off slowly, and likely......more

Goodreads review by Jake on March 23, 2010

I think it's instructive to read one of Graham Greene's spy novels back-to-back with one of John le Carre's— because, surprisingly, it's instantly clear that le Carre is the better writer. It's not just his plotting, which is always tight and suspenseful- it's the actual strength of his writing- the......more

Goodreads review by S.P. on April 27, 2019

As in most of John le Carré's novels, the characters take center stage, driving the novel forwards, while the plot remains insidiously in the background, though nonetheless potent. This approach emphasizes that whatever happens depends on the personalities and behaviors of the players - remove them......more

Goodreads review by Kate on July 28, 2024

For me this was a good Le Carre because it stands alone from any Smiley related books. The story is set at the time of Perestroika amd Glasnost, Gorbachev and the end of the Cold War, in other words - a time of optimism in the west. I listened to a new audio recording and it was excellent. It certain......more

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