Next Up: The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

March 16, 2016

NPR review

A Perfect Spy...Discussion

Thanks to B.B. here are notes on discussion:

Eight of us met on a dark and stormy night to discuss the perfectly marvelous A Perfect Spy. Our sponsor gave a rundown of John Le Carre aka John Cornwall’s life--important as this book is considered his most autobiographical. She also provided a link to an interview with the author.

John Le Carre Website

Those of us who haven’t read A Perfect Spy for a second time are about to. It’s so dense, so layered, so beautifully written that a second read is an enhanced experience of the first. The psychologist in the group said that Magnus spends his whole life seeking what his parents had failed to give him and that that’s a doomed endeavor for anyone. Tom, the beloved 12-year-old son of Magnus and Mary, is the hope for the future. Rick, Magnus’s father, we decided, fits the definition of a sociopath, but not Magnus himself because that shape-shifter at least possesses a conscience. No one except Tom is an innocent here, including Mary, and yet our heart goes out to her because, although her marriage was engineered, she loves her family—not only Tom but also Magnus, whom she has come to view not as a cover but as her husband. We thought this more of a psychological novel than a spy story. It’s only in the last 150 of the 600 pages that a chase sets in.

Several members emailed that they couldn’t attend because they hadn’t read enough of the book. This is not a book the reader can breeze through. Some of us tried to skim through a second time and found that we had to read word for word all over again. And it’s worth it!