S London

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Terrific book, but a disappointing movie. Despite the excellent cast, the actors are given little chance to convey the depth of the characters or their relationships. The character of Ruth in the book is a deftly drawn girl and woman full of contradictions. The movie draws her as one-dimensional and just uninteresting. And she and Kathy are close friends, not just romantic rivals. In fact the romantic triangle dimension is much less prominent in the book, which is much more about the complexities of friendship. Ironically, though, the book explores what sexuality is like for young adults raised in isolation in ways the movie ignores. I highly recommend the wonderful audiobook version on Audible for people who don’t feel like reading it.

Never Let Me Go

30 likes

Loki

I listened to the audio version and enjoyed the narration. The story felt mostly thin and very predictable, however. When you think about great spy fiction, the author conveys some specialized knowledge of a secret world that they are letting you peer into. This story shows you almost none of that, relying instead on the drive and determination of the young self-sacrificing heroine to propel the narrative. She is a compelling a character, and it’s engaging to see a woman in a conventionally male spy hero role. But there is little of the complexity of character or intricacy of plot that makes a Le Carré novel engrossing. Finally, the book is mostly one long chase scene with few surprising twists and turns. The good guys are mostly really good, and the bad guys - mostly faceless and undeveloped Russian caricatures - are unscrupulous and mean.

Alias Emma: A Novel

4 likes