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A Perfect Spy
- BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney, Bill Paterson, Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 2 hrs and 50 mins
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A Perfect Spy
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Summary
Julian Rhind-Tutt is Magnus Pym in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast adaptation of John le Carré’s superb spy novel.
Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile
“Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love.”
So says Magnus Pym, the spy of the title; and he has betrayed a lot in his life - countries, friends, family and lovers. When Magnus disappears after his father’s funeral, MI6 launches an urgent manhunt to prevent his defection. But Pym is on a search of his own - to unravel the mystery of what made him the perfect spy.
Was it the duplicity of his con artist father, Rick? Or his MI6 mentor and father figure Jack Brotherhood? Or was it Axel, the Czech agent he has known since his teens? All have marked him in crucial ways, and as the net closes around Magnus, he attempts finally to make sense of his life and find the source of his talent for deception....
A Perfect Spy is le Carré’s most autobiographical novel, and has been hailed as his masterpiece. This superlative radio production, starring Julian Rhind-Tutt, Bill Paterson, Michael Maloney and Anton Lesser, is a compelling exploration of identity, treachery and the complexities of the human heart.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Bodie
- 05-05-21
Slow and clunky
It's a pity good actors poorly dramatised, drifts back and forth over the decades with loose connections having to concentrate hard on the content. Go for the Peter Egan version much better.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Padraig
- 19-09-17
Great Adaptation
Very good adaptation and each of the actors played their part very well. Enjoyed it very much.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Rufus
- 29-08-17
An excellent follow-up (or should that be prequel) to the 'Smiley' series.
Although George Smiley isn't even mentioned in this audio book, you can somehow seem to relate this book to the Smiley ones.
With a cast such as Julian Rhind-Tut (as Magnus Pym), Bill Paterson (as Jack Brotherhood), Michael Maloney ( as Rick Magnus Pyms con artist father) and Anton Lesser (as Axel, the Czech agent Magnus has known since his teens) this has to be one for the keep shelf.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Nigel
- 29-08-17
Had to rewind - story line a bit complicated
I really enjoyed listening to John Le Carre’s George Smiley dramatisations by BBC Radio 4, all 19 hours of them. This on the other hand was Ok-ish, bearable.
If you do decide to get this I do implore you to read the Publisher’s Summary above - I didn’t - as it will help with the story. It’s a bit complicated, a bit of a jigsaw. And after listening to over an hour I rewound to the beginning once I had got a sense of who and what was going on.
There’s another older dramatised version also by the BBC, and available on Audible UK, which is 3 hours 59 minutes. Not listened to it, so unable to say whether the extra 1hour-9 minutes enhances the story.
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2 people found this helpful