THE SPY IN HIS PRIME

John le Carré is one of the best author-narrators I have heard. This presentation is one episode from his novel, The Secret Pilgrim. In this freestanding audio production, le Carré has not followed the common abridgment process of deleting whatever doesn't advance a barebones plot; rather, he has deleted shorter episodes in their entirety while effectively maintaining the thematic development of Ned's career played against Smiley's reflections. This is not watered-down literature and should serve as a model for other companies' abridgment techniques. Le Carré's voice is deep, gravelly and Oxford-schooled. He does different voices and accents very well but neglects to give the stoic George Smiley the distinctively slow and rounded sound that is so much a part of this magnificent character. Unfortunately, the narration sounds as if le Carré were in a large lecture hall delivering an amplified speech to a full audience. Since much of Ned's story is confessional in tone, this recording technique is contrary to the novel's intent. P.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG 92]