Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Russia House

The Russia House
The Russia House
Author: John Le Carre
From premier spy novelist John le Carre, a magnificent thriller, a love story and an ethical puzzle for our time. — We are in the third year of perestroika and glasnost.  The place is Moscow.  The man is Barley; a derelict, English publisher with a passion for jazz and a penchant for booze, who visits the Moscow Book Fair. — Th...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780394577890
ISBN-10: 0394577892
Publication Date: 5/22/1989
Pages: 353
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 23

3.7 stars, based on 23 ratings
Publisher: Knopf
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
Read All 21 Book Reviews of "The Russia House"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

keeponreading avatar reviewed The Russia House on + 122 more book reviews
A magnificent thriller, a celbration of courage, a novel of hope for our time.
reviewed The Russia House on + 495 more book reviews
A classic from the Master.
reviewed The Russia House on + 813 more book reviews
The case of the reluctant spy. And why not? Hes just another Joe, recruited because he moves in certain business circles.
reviewed The Russia House on + 15 more book reviews
For lovers of John Le Carre's works, one of the best! He combines the thrill of the best spy novel with real-life characters with whom the reader becomes emotionally involved.
reviewed The Russia House on + 192 more book reviews
From the cover....New York Times Book Review

"An exciting spy story, which is at the same time a lively international comedy...A well-informed, up-to-minute political parable, incisive and instructive...rich poignant and fascinating."
reviewed The Russia House on + 18 more book reviews
On the book jacket:

A mysterious manuscript purporting to prove the Soviet defense system is unworkable is smuggled out of Moscow. It was intended for a flaky English publisher, a womanizing saxophone-playing boozer, but the smuggler has turned it over to British intelligence. In order to prove its authenticity, they recruit the publisher as an amateur spy and send him to Moscow to reestablish contact with the author. But the "truth" Barley Blair finds there is love and a purpose for his shambles of a life. As always with le Carre, this is a compelling spy story, a marvelous entertainment that is also as intelligent, witty, and brooding as many more self-consciously and less satisfying literary novels. It may not be the equal of The Quest for Karla trilogy or of a A Perfect Spy but it bears all the marks of a master, of the man who has both redefined and reanimated the espionage genre.
BOMC main selection.
- Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
reviewed The Russia House on
In John's usual triller till the end. Don't cheat and skip to the end.
reviewed The Russia House on + 725 more book reviews
John le Carre has earned worldwide acclaim with extraordinary spy novels, including THE RUSSIA HOUSE, an unequivocal classic. Navigating readers through the shadow worlds of international espionage with critical knowledge culled from his years in British Intelligence, le Carre tracks the dark and devastating trail of a document that could profoundly alter the course of world events.

In Moscow, a sheaf of military secrets changes hands. If it arrives at its destination, and if its import is understood, the consequences could be cataclysmic. Along the way it has an exploisive impact on the lives of three people: a Soviet physicist burdened with secrets; a beautiful young Russian woman to whom the papers are entrusted; and Barley Blair, a bewildered English publisher pressed into service by British Intelligence to ferret out the document's source. a magnificent story of love, betrayal, and courage, THE RUSSIA HOUSE catches history in the act. For as the Iron Curtain begins to rust and crumble, Blair is left to sound a battle cry that may fall on deaf ears."
reviewed The Russia House on + 62 more book reviews
Great story, great characters, interesting setting . . . what more could you ask for? A perpetually drunk literary agent at a trade show in Russia gets handed more than he bargained for -- state secrets.


Genres: