'Karla's Choice' by Nick Harkaway (son of John le Carre)

[Poignard]

Being a great admirer of the late John le Carre and his novels, I looked forward to reading 'Karla' s Choice' written by his son. I finished reading it this morning but in the end I 'lost the plot' and couldn't understand the ending. I think I'll have to read it again.

Has anyone else here read it?

If so, what did you think of it?

 

[LittleSister]

I've not read it, nor even the originals, but it strikes me that the chances of a son (or daughter) inheriting the skills and talent of their parent is tiny (and even if they did the culture and styles they absorb will have moved on). On the other hand if they have significant control of an estate with ownership of not just individual books (or whatever) but a series remaining in high demand, there is a significant financial incentive to exploit that.

I deduce from those that while it's not impossible that the output of the son is a cracker, it's highly unlikely, while the chance of it being lucrative is rather good.

 

[Cuan]

I have been reading Karla’s Choice, but haven’t got to the end yet. I’m a big Le Carre fan, especially of the Smiley books.
This definitely has an ersatz feel to it, and hasn’t drawn me in like a real Le Carre book. It’s hard to put my finger on what it is that different, and the feeling is no doubt exacerbated by the knowledge that he didn’t write it.
All of the usual characters are there, and this probably doesn’t help either. I think it would have been better to have set the stage some other than London, with only a glimpse of the Circus staff

 

[Gargleblaster]

I struggled with this book and kept going for its familiarity of characters. If I am not enjoying a book by the end of the first 60 pages I normally discard it, but read this to the end. The last 50 pages were good when they were in Budapest and escaping, the rest not worth the paper.

Little Sister makes a comment on the son not inheriting his father's skill. I would disagree when it comes to Dick Francis novels, Felix is just as talented as his father. And Andrew Child (brother) seems to be as good a lee.

 

[Poignard]

The BBC will be serialising a sequel to their version of Le Carre's "The Night Manager" starting on 01 January.

I am looking forward to seeing that, and hoping I won't be disappointed.