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The Little Drummer Girl Audiobook
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(3.00) - 3,466 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
“… sometimes it seems in this irresistible book that this is what we are all fighting for: the beauty of life and nothing else.”— The New York Times
From the New York Times bestselling author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the creator of the iconic spy George Smiley, John le Carré, The Little Drummer Girl is hailed as one of the author’s best, and the favorite of the likes of Steven King and John Grisham.
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"Where does reality become fiction? Where does fiction become reality? Can they exist together? The spy novel genre is not usually one that I choose to read. I was impressed, though, with Le Carre's wealth of knowledge with the inside workings of the world of espionage. How does he know so much and in such detail? On the one hand, I applaud the story's intricacies, the slow reveal of each and every plot detail. At times, I had a hard time hanging on to the intended growing suspense. I felt like I was being lead through a complex maze of reality and quasi- reality sequences with the intent of putting me through what the character, Charlie was going through as she melded her persona into someone entirely uniquely scripted, that of a spy. The book's slow pace with so few clues to boost my energy, made the reading psychologically frustrating. Get to the point already! I had difficulty keeping track of the character's multiple names, too. Le Carre's strength in this novel lies, I think, in his in-depth characterization of Charlie. He was able to brilliantly capture much of her emotional angst during her transformation into the undercover world."
— Karen (4 out of 5 stars)
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A work of enormous power and artistry; no mere ‘entertainment’…but fiction on a grand scale.”
The Little Drummer Girl Listener Reviews
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" Gosh I read this so long ago I really can not remember what I actually thought... "
— Kate, 2/8/2014 -
" This is not one of my preferred genres (spy thrillers) but it held my interest on road trips. This is the Israel/Palestine conflict with the points of view of both sides honored...with the horror of war/revenge/death mixed in. Will it ever end? "
— Lynne, 2/5/2014 -
" Great take on the Israeli Palestinian conflict. "
— Thomas, 2/4/2014 -
" Seems like the forerunner to Daniel Silva's books, but a little slower. Le Carre' was one of the first and best with the espionage spy thrillers, I think this is the first one of his I have read, after hearing what a classic it is. "
— Nancy, 2/2/2014 -
" Picked this up at a used bookstore for the cool cover (not pictured), found out later it was a well known title. Its an ambitious book covering a lot of ground, cheesy at times, but very interesting for the Isreali/Palestinian points of view and locations. I would probably tell most to skip it as I felt let down by the end. "
— Phillip, 1/28/2014 -
" Not Le Carre's best work, IMO. The Quest for Carla trilogy was more intriguing and the characters more real. "
— Raj, 1/23/2014 -
" Another spy saga I read in high. I remember being intrigued by the female main character - so unusual in the genre. "
— Sharon, 1/15/2014 -
" I hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this book. Maybe it's me. But the book went nowhere. The characters were unlikeable (even for a LeCarre novel -- his characters are usually unlikeable, but these really peg the meter). Did I mention I hated this book? "
— Patrick, 1/14/2014 -
" I had not read any of John Le Carre's novels before. I am fascinated with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and this was an interesting take on it. However, it dragged on and on and on. There were huge sections I could have skipped without missing anything important. Good, but not great. "
— Shelly, 1/10/2014 -
" immersive writing, but a bit harder to get through "
— Bonnie, 12/18/2013 -
" I imagine I read this in the late 80's. I thought it was wonderful at the time. "
— Sandra, 12/18/2013
About John le Carré
John le Carré, the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (1931–2020), was an English author of espionage novels. Eight of his novels made the #1 spot on the New York Times bestsellers list between 1983 and 2017. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, his third book, secured him a worldwide reputation as one of the greatest spy novelists in history. Numerous major motion pictures have been made from his novels, as well as several television series. After attending the universities at Berne and Oxford, he taught at Eton and spent five years in the British Foreign Service, serving briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. Being a member of MI6 when he wrote his first novel, Call for the Dead in 1961 in Hamburg, it necessitated the use of a nom de plume, by which he continued to be known. His writing earned him several honorary doctorate degrees and the Somerset Maugham Award, the Goethe Medal, and the Olof Palme Prize.
About Adjoa Andoh
Adjoa Andoh is an Audie Award and Earphones Award–winning narrator and an actress of British film, television, stage, and radio. In 2022, she was awarded the AudioFile Golden Voice Award. She is known on the UK stage for lead roles at the RSC, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre, and the Almeida Theatre, and she is a familiar face on British television. She made her Hollywood debut starring as Nelson Mandela’s chief of staff, Brenda Mazikubo, alongside Morgan Freeman as Mandela in Clint Eastwood’s Invictus.