This is the odd-le-Carré-out - the only one that doesn't have some connection to the world of espionage. I only read it for completeness, thinking it was a sort of romance story but really it's literary fiction. It's about a middle-aged, highly successful, somewhat unhappy businessman (Cassidy) who becomes entranced by an anarchic, charming, child-like writer (Shamus) and also the writer's wife (Helen). I understand that this is generally derided or just ignored by le Carré fans, but I still found it a great fun read. It's funny and engaging, and le Carré's prose is as readable as ever. It's better than some other literary fiction books by more respected purveyors of the genre.

But it's not perfect. It is certainly unnecessarily long, and sometime's the strength and endurance of the relationship between Shamus and Cassidy stretches credibility a little bit. The denouement felt a little forced, although it was satisfying. And I don't like the title at all.

A note about the book itself. I had to order it on Interlibrary-loan as there wasn't a copy in all of New York's Five Boroughs. For an author of le Carré's stature, I think that says a lot about how the book is regarded. When it turned up, it was a hard-back first edition; a blue cover with the top of the pages coloured a pinkish-purple (but not the side or bottom of the pages - maybe they'd faded). The dust-jacket was no longer associated, except that someone had cut out the blurb from the inside flaps and stuck them into the back of the book. Finally, it had £2.50 scribbled in pencil in the top corner on the first page or so. I wonder how it made its way from Britain into the US library system. ( )

I am not very sure what I just read. I almost aborted it but plowed on, hoping there's a plot twist or an epiphany that would turn the book from a 2-star to a 3-star read. It never came. If I interpret this book correctly, it's the story of a lonely and rich young man who went on an adventure and finally found bliss and peace in his family. Could be a good story but Le Carre wrote 500-plus pages of mystery to get there. ( )

The Naive and Sentimental Lovers is plodding and takes forever to get to its end point. The culture clash between the bohemian couple and the businessman (Aldo Cassidy, "pram" manufacturer) could have been interesting, but Cassidy just goes along with whatever Shamus and Helen do. The dialogue is interminable and meandering. Shamus is not as interesting as he thinks he is, which is Le Carre's point (I think), but having to read his verbal diarrhea was not fun. ( )

Spymaster's strange excursion. ( )

Read during: Summer 2002

This is the only non 'tradecraft of espionage' novel that I've read by John LeCarre and I did not enjoy it at all. I'm very suprised, I've really loved his other novels but this one completely did not work for me. I found the writing style very disjoint and I excessively disliked every single character. Disliking a few is okay but I could not stand any of them. Apparently, Aldo Cassidy is going through a life crisis, aided and abetted by a once time famous writer and his oddly devoted wife. His life as a very rich inventor of brakes for prams is upset and he goes on drunken binges in Paris but then returns quietly to his previous life and doesn't think about the past. Didn't move me an inch.