Apart from the rare scathing review, The Little Drummer Girl has won well-nigh universal praise. In some respects the praise is deserved, for the novel moves at a brisker pace than most Le Carré novels while retaining their characteristic virtues: it is carefully plotted, well written, has a strong sense of place, and offers a credible portrait of the mechanisms of clandestine intelligence struggle….
[However, the] novel suffers from Le Carré's weakness in characterization. He makes elaborate efforts with Charlie, his first female protagonist, but the end result is a mass of contradictions. (p. 24)
This is a free excerpt of 94 words. There are 969 words (approx.
3 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Le Carré, John 1931–: Critical Essay by Rael Jean Isaac and Erich Isaac Access Pass.
