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The Honourable Schoolboy
- The Karla Trilogy, Book 2
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Series: Smiley, Book 6
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Thriller & Suspense
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Smiley's People
- The Karla Trilogy, Book 3
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
George Smiley was summoned from his dubious retirement by two seemingly unconnected events - an old woman in Paris is promised the return of a daughter she will never see, and a handover is to take place on a steamer in Hamburg.
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A satisfying conclusion to a great series
- By David Robinson on 15-07-2015
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Mr George Smiley is small, podgy, and at best, middle-aged. He is disillusioned, wrestles with idleness, and has been deserted by his beautiful wife. He is also compassionate, ruthless, and a senior British intelligence officer in short-lived retirement from the Circus, the British Secret Service organisation situated in London. But Moscow centre has infiltrated a mole into the Circus, and it's more than likely the perpetrator is Karla, Smiley's old adversary and his opposite number in Moscow.
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Sigint and comint
- By j on 13-01-2021
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The Looking Glass War
- By: John Le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Once, the distinctions were clear: the Circus handled all things political while the Department dealt with matters military. But over the years the power and influence had passed to the Circus. Now suddenly the department had a job on its hands. Uncertain evidence suggested Soviet missiles being put in place near the German border, while vital film had gone missing and a courier was dead.
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Bleak but compelling, fantastic narration
- By B L Cornwell on 19-06-2020
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The Secret Pilgrim
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Berlin Wall is down, the Cold War is over, but the world's second oldest profession is very much alive. Smiley accepts an invitation to dine with the eager young men and women of the Circus' latest intake; and over coffee and brandy, by flickering firelight, he beguilingly offers them his personal thoughts on espionage past, present, and future. In doing so, he prompts one of his former Circus colleagues into a searching examination of his own eventful secret life.
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Alright, I guess.
- By Shawn Pickard on 04-07-2018
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A Murder of Quality
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
George Smiley is one of the most brilliantly realised characters in British fiction. Bespectacled, tubby, eternally middle-aged, and deceptively ordinary, he has a mind like a steel trap and is said to possess 'the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin'. Miss Ailsa Brimley is in a quandary. She's received a peculiar letter from Mrs Stella Rode, saying that she fears her husband – an assistant master at Carne School - is trying to kill her. Reluctant to go to the police, Miss Brimley calls upon her old wartime colleague, George Smiley.
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A Murder of Quality
- By jenny on 29-03-2022
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Call for the Dead
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This novel, set in London in the late 1950s, finds George Smiley engaged in the humdrum job of security vetting. But when a Foreign Office civil servant commits suicide after an apparently unproblematic interview, Smiley is baffled. Refusing to believe that Fennan shot himself soon after making a cup of cocoa and asking the exchange to telephone him in the morning, Smiley decides to investigate – only to uncover a murderous conspiracy.
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Enjoyable first book in the series
- By Bevan Lewis on 22-10-2015
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Smiley's People
- The Karla Trilogy, Book 3
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
George Smiley was summoned from his dubious retirement by two seemingly unconnected events - an old woman in Paris is promised the return of a daughter she will never see, and a handover is to take place on a steamer in Hamburg.
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A satisfying conclusion to a great series
- By David Robinson on 15-07-2015
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mr George Smiley is small, podgy, and at best, middle-aged. He is disillusioned, wrestles with idleness, and has been deserted by his beautiful wife. He is also compassionate, ruthless, and a senior British intelligence officer in short-lived retirement from the Circus, the British Secret Service organisation situated in London. But Moscow centre has infiltrated a mole into the Circus, and it's more than likely the perpetrator is Karla, Smiley's old adversary and his opposite number in Moscow.
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Sigint and comint
- By j on 13-01-2021
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The Looking Glass War
- By: John Le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, the distinctions were clear: the Circus handled all things political while the Department dealt with matters military. But over the years the power and influence had passed to the Circus. Now suddenly the department had a job on its hands. Uncertain evidence suggested Soviet missiles being put in place near the German border, while vital film had gone missing and a courier was dead.
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Bleak but compelling, fantastic narration
- By B L Cornwell on 19-06-2020
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The Secret Pilgrim
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Berlin Wall is down, the Cold War is over, but the world's second oldest profession is very much alive. Smiley accepts an invitation to dine with the eager young men and women of the Circus' latest intake; and over coffee and brandy, by flickering firelight, he beguilingly offers them his personal thoughts on espionage past, present, and future. In doing so, he prompts one of his former Circus colleagues into a searching examination of his own eventful secret life.
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Alright, I guess.
- By Shawn Pickard on 04-07-2018
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A Murder of Quality
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
George Smiley is one of the most brilliantly realised characters in British fiction. Bespectacled, tubby, eternally middle-aged, and deceptively ordinary, he has a mind like a steel trap and is said to possess 'the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin'. Miss Ailsa Brimley is in a quandary. She's received a peculiar letter from Mrs Stella Rode, saying that she fears her husband – an assistant master at Carne School - is trying to kill her. Reluctant to go to the police, Miss Brimley calls upon her old wartime colleague, George Smiley.
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A Murder of Quality
- By jenny on 29-03-2022
-
Call for the Dead
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This novel, set in London in the late 1950s, finds George Smiley engaged in the humdrum job of security vetting. But when a Foreign Office civil servant commits suicide after an apparently unproblematic interview, Smiley is baffled. Refusing to believe that Fennan shot himself soon after making a cup of cocoa and asking the exchange to telephone him in the morning, Smiley decides to investigate – only to uncover a murderous conspiracy.
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Enjoyable first book in the series
- By Bevan Lewis on 22-10-2015
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A Legacy of Spies
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Tom Hollander
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, is living out his old age on the family farmstead in Brittany when a letter summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself are to be scrutinised under disturbing criteria by a generation with no memory of the Cold War.
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outstanding
- By Hugo on 08-01-2019
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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Alec Leamas has ended his time in Berlin. Or his time has ended him. The last of his Eastern agents has been killed, like the others, by the Abteilung. Back at the Circus, Leamas is put on the shelf. He turns to drunkenness and dishonesty and finally disappears from view, a seemingly broken man. But unknown to anyone except George Smiley and his master, Control, Leamas has been given his toughest mission ever. He will have to be himself but more so.
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Third reading and listening ....still most brilliant.
- By david x kelly on 09-03-2016
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A Perfect Spy
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 20 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Magnus Pym, counsellor at the British Embassy in Vienna, has suddenly vanished, believed defected. The chase is on for a missing husband, a devoted father, and a life-time secret agent. Pym's life, it is revealed, is entirely made up of secrets. The race is on to find the perfect spy.
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Dreary
- By KillerRooster on 01-07-2022
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The Russia House
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It is the third summer of perestroika. Niki Landau, philanderer and travelling rep, attends the first Moscow audio fair and is asked by beautiful young Katya to take a parcel back to England. It’s addressed to Barley Blair, jazz-player and drinker, and contains information vital to the defence of the West. But times and heroes are changing. And Barley Blair is a man who makes his own rules of engagement.
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Enjoyable listening
- By Anonymous User on 02-02-2018
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The Little Drummer Girl
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 20 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Lured by Israeli intelligence into the world of espionage, Charlie, a young actress, is plunged into a deceptive and delicate trap to ensnare an elusive Palestinian terrorist.
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Terrific
- By Amazon Customer on 15-11-2020
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The Tailor of Panama
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Harry Pendel is the charismatic proprietor of Pendel and Braithwaite Limitada of Panama, through whose doors everyone who is anyone in Central America passes. Andrew Osnard, mysterious and fleshy, is a spy. His secret mission is two-pronged: to keep a watchful eye on the political manoeuvrings leading up to the American handover of the Panama Canal on 31st December 1999; and to secure for himself the immense private fortune that has until now churlishly eluded him.
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Silverview
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Toby Jones
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the City for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian's evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian's family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise. When a letter turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning him of a dangerous leak, the investigations lead him to this quiet town by the sea.
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One of the best
- By Linda on 09-11-2021
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Berlin Game
- Penguin Modern Classics
- By: Len Deighton
- Narrated by: James Lailey
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Embattled agent Bernard Samson is used to being passed over for promotion as his younger, more ambitious colleagues - including his own wife, Fiona - rise up the ranks of MI6. When a valued agent in East Berlin warns the British of a mole at the heart of the Service, Samson must return to the field and the city he loves to uncover the traitor's identity. This is the first novel in Len Deighton's acclaimed Game, Set and Match trilogy.
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Worth persevering with
- By Sam J on 14-06-2022
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A Small Town in Germany
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The British Embassy in Bonn is up in arms. Her Majesty's financially troubled government is seeking admission to Europe's Common Market just as anti-British factions are rising to power in Germany. Rioters are demanding reunification, and the last thing the Crown can afford is a scandal. Then Leo Harting - an embassy nobody - goes missing with a case full of confidential files. London sends Alan Turner to control the damage, but he soon realises that neither side really wants Leo found - alive.
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Poor Le Carré, great Jayston.
- By Anonymous User on 18-03-2020
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The Night Manager
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Story
The night manager is Jonathan, a veteran of clandestine operations. In flight from a failed marriage and his own past, he has taken refuge in the luxury hotel trade. Yet he finds no escape from his demons. Driven by a desire for atonement and by an inherited patriotism, Jonathan allows himself to be recruited as a British secret agent with a mission to expose the murderer of the woman he himself betrayed. His odyssey takes him across Britain and Canada to the Caribbean and the jungles of Panama. But there are more treacherous jungles still in Whitehall and Washington.
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Lost at Sea
- By Anna Spencer on 07-11-2017
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The Constant Gardener
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
The beautiful Tessa Quayle is murdered near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, the birthplace of mankind. And her putative African lover and travelling companion has vanished from the scene of the crime. Tessa’s husband, a career diplomat and amateur gardener at the British High Commission in Nairobi, sets out on a personal odyssey in pursuit of the killers and their motive. On his way he meets terror, violence and conspiracy, but his greatest discovery is the woman he barely had time to love.
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Fascinating story
- By Paddington on 26-02-2016
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The Pigeon Tunnel
- Stories from My Life
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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'Out of the secret world I once knew, I have tried to make a theatre for the larger worlds we inhabit. First comes the imagining, then the search for reality. Then back to the imagining, and to the desk where I'm sitting now.' The Pigeon Tunnel, John le Carré's memoir and his first work of nonfiction, is a thrilling journey into the worlds of his 'secret sharers' - the men and women who inspired some of his most enthralling novels - and a testament to the author's extraordinary engagement with the last half century.
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A writer, actor,story teller of rare talent & compassion.
- By john m blandford on 31-07-2018
Publisher's Summary
George Smiley has become chief of the battered British Secret Service. The betrayals of a Soviet double agent have riddled the spy network, and Smiley wants revenge. He chooses his weapon: Jerry Westerby, "The Honourable Schoolboy", a passionate lover, and a seasoned, reckless secret agent. Westerby is pointed east, to Hong Kong. So begins the terrifying game.
Critic Reviews
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What listeners say about The Honourable Schoolboy
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 28-01-2020
So good, Reading them all.
Le Carré & Jayston are a dream combination. Fantastic plots, wonderful writing, engaging characters - and Jayston’s rich voice and understanding of the material make him a master. Could not be better.
1 person found this helpful
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- Bevan Lewis
- 02-11-2017
Fantastic Smiley story, the best yet.
As always Michael Jayston's performance is flawless. This complex story features a really broad cast of interesting characters, wonderful settings and a suitable ending.
1 person found this helpful
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- Karin
- 16-10-2017
loved it
Brilliantly read by Michael Jayston. Michael uses his voice to bring to life diverse and rich characters.
1 person found this helpful
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- dave
- 11-01-2016
The honourable schoolboy
Brilliant story by the excellent Le Carré. This story has been a favourite of mine for years. Michael Jayston brings the story to wonderful life.
Looking forward to enjoying to Smiley's People
1 person found this helpful
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- Harold B
- 09-08-2022
The Honourable Schoolboy
Thie narrative slowly, clearly and cleverly drops trails of breadcrumbs that pull you along unraveling an interlacing web of characters, linkages and events that finally come together to expose an ugly, and for George Smiley, a perhaps unsatisfactory but not unexpected conclusion.
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- Craig
- 25-07-2022
Brilliant in parts, tedious in much
This story has brilliant parts of action, dialogue, and descriptive setting. And I do love the main character, Jerry Westerby.
But much of the story is tedious and boring, especially the legend building/character backstories. Some of it also seems like a travel diary of Southeast Asia, with no tension in the narrative. And the ending is such a letdown.
I love the narrator overall for his rich tone and characterisations, but don’t love his attempts at an Australian accent.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-10-2020
Perfect book to get lost in
Incredible characters and wonderful storyline with a rich backdrop in exotic spies and the underbelly of the Southeast Asian scene
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- Declan
- 31-08-2020
Not as Smiley
Dialogue still good but the story sags, and the setting hasn't aged as well as others of this time. If you've never read a Le Carré, try The Spy Who Came In From The Cold instead. If you've just finished Tinker Tailor, go A Perfect Spy.
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- Kevin
- 04-04-2020
Excellent Rendition
Michael Jayston reads well He is the Smiley reader par excellence Hard to put down
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- marian coffey
- 25-05-2018
brilliant espionage novel
This is one of Le Carré 's best!.
plot, characterisation and dialogue are all brilliant.
it makes an excellent audiobook.
The first chapters , setting the scene in Hong Gong are a little over the top but persistence is rewarded.
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- Pita
- 16-08-2012
Great story, but not Le Carre's best
This is an engaging and involving spy story that begins where Tinker Tailor ends. The characterizations are brilliant and the plot intricate and involved. However the plot doesn't capture the reader in the same way as Tinker Tailor or The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and the ending was somewhat predictably disappointing. Michael Jayston once again is absolutely superb reading this story and I can't even imagine reading Le Carre without hearing his voice. Still a good buy for those Le Carre fans, but those wanting to start off on the spy game i would definitely recommend The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and then Tinker Tailor first.
2 people found this helpful
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- Alan Johnson
- 05-04-2018
A ripping yarn!
I fiund it's complicated twists and turns quite hypnotic. Indeed, I had to listen to some parts a couple of times before I got the drift. However, the story telling is so good, this was no hardship ...
1 person found this helpful
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- Teresa
- 11-09-2012
An important book in the Karla Triology
What made the experience of listening to The Honourable Schoolboy the most enjoyable?
Michael Jayston usual excellent performance.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
I really don't think the plot or the story was as strong as tinker tailor. It is an important in between book in the Karla Triology but I feel the plot got lost somewhere in the middle.
The was a lot of extra in the middle but just didn't seem to gel together like other Le Carre books.
Have you listened to any of Michael Jayston’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Michael Jayston always gives a top class performance, this book was no different.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, Unlike the previous book it just didnt have the same pull.
Any additional comments?
I liked the book but it felt like some vital ingredient was missing. Without ruining the plot for anybody the ending was a complete anti climax.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 19-07-2021
Another Le Carre classic
Very well read, all characters were easily recognizable. The story line was quite gripping especially towards the end.
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- Anonymous User
- 24-09-2020
carré at his peak
loved every moment, takes you back to a time when the fear and lack of knowledge of China characterised its relationship with the West - fascinating how things have changed so much and yet so little. All intertwined with Soviet intrigue and international drug trafficking, this novel uses the revolutionary South East Asian theater of the early 1970s as a colorful backdrop to a timeless and fast paced spy story.
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- Karl
- 27-05-2015
The honourable story
A great story! A slow starter I feel, but it grows on you all the way through!
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- Alistair & Carmel Hill
- 21-05-2012
George Smiley - a quintessentially English spook
Would you listen to The Honourable Schoolboy again? Why?
I read the book years ago and found this recording gripping
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Deepest English reserve mixed with Asian intrigue. A complex plot that will always stand another listen
What about Michael Jayston’s performance did you like?
Well told - handles the complexity well and brings the drama to life.
Any additional comments?
Listened to in order - Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy - Honourable Schoolboy - Smilies People. I have always been a fan of the story and the characters. Very English in context with the diminishing place of that country in world affairs whilst its legacy echo is still heard far and wide. A brilliant portrait of context in a world of changing priorities but with real characters and a stunning plot.
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- THOMAS
- 03-09-2011
LeCarre's most literate novel; narrator improves
I've probably read this novel in print -- oh, I don't know, maybe 20 times. It remains my favourite LeCarre. There are just these little, subtle touches, like referring to the "traditional fake Rosewood veneer" of the CIA ("cousins") offices that are at once sophisticated, witty and exact. Michael Jayston -- who is British -- makes an OK fist of the first part, except that he "does" voices, and his efforts for women make them sound vague and bit daffy, especially Phoebe -- Craw's "little ship". But in the second part of the recording there is just a superb rendition of the scene between Westerby and Charlie Marshal which makes you fortive Mr Jayston the flaws in the rest of his reading.
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- Brodie
- 27-11-2010
Chipper Spy Story
Great fun overlaid with the musk of the Orient with a damp Emgland as a delightful counterpoint. Almost Boy's Own but Smiley brings it together in a way that takes the smile off your face.
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- Bruce
- 13-02-2011
The Honourable Shoolboy
What a wonderful introduction to the world of Audible Books. We ordered the book with the firm intention of listening on a long and planned car journey across Europe, we decided to test the system but soon, very soon, found we drove everywhere at a snails pace and then would park and wait 'till chapter end to listen to the book. And what a great book, wonderfully read by the well paced and distinctive voice of Michael Jayston, the book has a wide cast but MJ conjures up the characters well and in a very distinctive way - there can be no doubt who the character is, itself a great advantage with this book with its complexities.
The book is the one not seen on TV or film, its the missing book and for those that love the other two in Smiley trilogy this is unmiss-able.
Would I recommend, without a doubt, provided you are happy to drive slowly or wait on stations with your iPod clamped to your ears!
26 people found this helpful
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- Lynn
- 10-09-2011
Heaven
Absolutely sublime. I don't know why I waited so long to come back to John Le Carre. The prose. The dark humour. The insights.
And the narrator is perfect for the text. Just perfect.
19 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 05-04-2010
After Gerald the Mole
This book falls between Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People. Smiley reasons that actions taken by Gerald the mole at Karla's behest may reveal some insight into Moscow Centre's machinations, and perhaps a weakness. Having exposed the mole, Smiley is faced with the task of restoring the Circus's tattered reputation, and to do that he must go on the offensive. A golden thread is revealed in the Far East, and Gerry Westerby, the Honourable Schoolboy, is despatched to tease it out.
This is a wonderful trilogy, and hopefully Audible will make unabridged readings of the other books available too (though the recent BBC radio adaptations are becoming available---it would also be good to see the older BBC Bernard Hepton adaptations as well). Le Carre is an exceptional author, and his unabridged works are magical, even Dickensian.
Michael Jayston, who featured in the BBC television adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is delightful as the narrator, and even brings something of Alec Guinness' thoughtful intonation to his reading of Smiley.
This rich and complex middle novel was not adapted for television, so the audio book sits nicely as a bridge between the two faithful adaptations.
25 people found this helpful
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- Kim
- 23-12-2012
An excellent piece of literature
Bridging the gap between Tinker tailor and Smiley's People, the Honourable Schoolboy is a classic example of Le Carré's superb style, although it doesn't actually tie the other two books together, it covers events that occur during that time, mainly in the era of the early 70's during the Vietnam war and the rise of the Kmer Rouge, the main action being set in south east asia, it not only follows the exploits of the min character, Gerry Westerby, (who we first met briefly in Tinker Tailor) but also captures the terrifying situation on the ground in Cambodia under the emerging threat of the Kmers.
Michael Jayston as a reader does what can only be described as a top quality job, the vocalizations of different characters make it a pleasure to follow and easy to discriminate one from another, his George Smiley could just as well actually be Alec Guiness!
If you do not have this book in your collection, do no hesitate to acquire it, it will be worth every penny, and is well deserving of the 5 star review.
10 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 07-07-2014
For all fans of Ripley, Smiley or decent character
Would you consider the audio edition of The Honourable Schoolboy to be better than the print version?
I've read/listened to both. I enjoyed both. But I think I preferred the audio edition.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Jerry Westerby of course. He's not likeable as such, but he's well drawn by Le Carre and somehow you can imagine a man making his choices.
Which character – as performed by Michael Jayston – was your favourite?
Jerry again - brought to life by Michael Jayston (Peter Guillam in the BBC's Tinker Tailor adaptation). One assumes Michael Jayston's exposure in Tinker Tailor has assisted him, but regardless of that his characterisation works (even the difficult Chinese characters aren't too over the top or false) and Jerry feels alive and driven towards his fate.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The ending, it's a little anti-climatic for me, but I think that is it's strength. It doesn't give you the neatly tied up ending of a Tom Clancy novel, but it's all the better for that. It made me want to read Smiley's People almost immediately.
Any additional comments?
This is not as popular as Tinker Tailor or Smiley's People (perhaps due to the BBC not making an Alec Guinness version?) however it's good and well worth your time. If you've read or seen Tinker Taylor or Smiley's People you should listen to this. It's the stepping stone between them, and while I have always felt it wasn't as strong as the other 2 parts of the Karla Trilogy, it's a good book in it's own right and merely shows how brilliant the other two parts are.
If you like Bond, Bourne, Tom Clancy's creations, Ripley, et al then you should read this and the other two in the trilogy (preferably in order, but it's not essential).
6 people found this helpful
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- Martin
- 08-05-2012
Labyrinthine masterpiece
Never mind if you can't follow the complex twists and turns of this superbly written Cold War spy thriller. This is LeCarré at his peak with well fleshed out characters, an utterly believable Secret Service and a typically dark and rather grim storyline. Cleverly told with insight and surprising humour, the descriptions of people, places and events are fulsome and expert. Certainly not a sparse writer, but I could listen to Michael Jaystons rendition of this superlative work for another 20 hours and not tire of it.
This is the second in the so-called "Karla trilogy", following on from Tinker Tailor, and that's certainly where you should start. Brilliant.
5 people found this helpful
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- Martin
- 11-12-2013
Made me sit in the car to listen
What did you like most about The Honourable Schoolboy?
Another superb offering from John Le Carre. with his usual tight plotting and tight characterisation.
Michal Jayston's reading of this book is absolutely superb. Highly recommended.
3 people found this helpful
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- Roderic
- 04-11-2013
Excellent story and narration
What other book might you compare The Honourable Schoolboy to, and why?
I have now listened to all the George Smiley books with Michael Jayston as narrator. All are excellent.
3 people found this helpful
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- Momo
- 15-12-2011
The Circus gets back at Karla
A brilliant book, the reading by Michael Jayston adds enoromously. I have got more out of listening to it than I got out of reading it. I would suggest that you listen to Tinker, Tailor as it will help you make sense of the characters, etc.
3 people found this helpful
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- Christine
- 31-03-2010
Chris from the West Mids
This is the third novel of the 'Karla trilogy' following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. Not made at the time by the BBC because of prohibitive costs, as I understand it - more's the pity! I am a total Le Carre addict anyway but I consider this novel to be his best and it must surely rank also as one of the very best of its' genre.
This is a heady mix of espionage, humour, pathos and brutality and is equally rich in characters, not least of whom are George Smiley and Gerry Westerby, and it's all so beautifully crafted and told as only Le Carre can.
The next superlative I will save for the narrator, Michael Jayston who is nothing less than a genius in this field. I have listened to many, many audio books with some excellent narrators but none are his equal.
I absolutely never tire of listening to this and I'm certain that I never could. I can passionately recommend you listen and experience it too! beta inappVoteInfo
11 people found this helpful
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