The Russia House

by John le Carré

Mass Market Paperback, 448 pages

English language

Published May 1, 2000 by Pocket.

ISBN:: 978-0-671-04279-0

(15 reviews)

A story of love, betrayal, and courage. At a small British trade fair in Moscow, a message of global importance is made up of three very fragile human links: a Soviet physicist burdened with a secret knowledge; 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 source of the document.

24 editions

georgewhatup reviewed The Russia house by John le Carré

Review of 'The Russia house' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

3.5

Le Carré's last book was his magnum opus, that's an impossible act to follow.

This was probably the weakest book of his I've read, but that also might be because of what preceded it. And it's still Le Carré, which means it's miles ahead of what most people can write.

Written in 1989 - not a banner year for the USSR - this is his first book explicitly dealing with Russia losing its superpower status compared to the USA. It's an interesting new status quo and gotta give credit to him for immediately exploring it.

Overall, it's fine, but more for the fanboys. Of which I am one.

gimley reviewed The Russia house by John le Carré

Review of 'The Russia house' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I remember when genre novels had to be judged by a different standard than "regular" fiction. This book was (pardon the expression) awesome by any standard.