The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas

good reading but can't navigate

You get several novels dramatized over 18 hours, in two massive files. It's impossible to pick one of the novels and listen to it separately. You just have to start at the beginning with Call For the Dead and keep going. The second file starts part way through Smiley's People, so there's no point starting there. God help you if you lose your place and have to find it again in one or the other of these two huge files. That's not quite what I expected from Audible. I like to be able to navigate readily within an audiobook. Audible should've divided this up so that each dramatization is a separate audio file. The production quality is quite decent, a bit hammed up in places, but then many English people do talk that way; also, I don't know that the reader doing Smiley has quite the right accent for a man of his age and social station.

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Outstanding Radio Plays!

While the large cast of characters in John LeCarre's various George Smiley-centered novels can make getting into them a challenge, once you have done that just about all of them, even the baddies, will seem like old friends. I think for those who have not read at least Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy the eight radio plays that are presented here will seem frustrating at first, but even that will pass with time and careful listening. For those thoroughly familiar with Smiley's world, the plays are pure pleasure. You hardly notice the abridgment, and the voicing of each character is spot on. There is some additional dialogue added, mainly as exposition when it is needed, but I believe John Le Carre would wholeheartedly approve- his author's voice is in no way diminished by the additions. I think that these are essential listening, and will only add new fans to this great body of work.

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I don't know how you beat this for value

Where does The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I mean, all the Smiley stories in one purchase with incredible BBC performances. Say no more. Say yes. These got me going back and listening to the full length books and watching the movies as well.

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Superbly done.

Mr Beale as Smiley is perfect. From his breathing to his temperament. Exciting and engaging. The time flew by.

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Utterly compelling

Where does The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Definitely in the top tier

What other book might you compare The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas to and why?

In the pantheon of BBC productions, this ranks with their Lord of the Rings.

What does full cast and Simon Russell Beale bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

George Smiley is such a wonderfully complex character, so frail in some ways and so utterly strong and humane in others. Beale's performance captured this in a way that brings le Carre's masterwork out of the page.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

It's been done, it wasn't as good.

Any additional comments?

The Bbc is justly famous for their radio productions of literature. The entire cast of this sprawling production is excellent, the music is precisely right, the audio production is, of course, beyond compare. All that serves to bring forth a story that was already amazing. I had read the Tinker Tailor books, but the performances here are now my definitive version.

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Not as good as the books

The problem with the BBC radio plays is that the main character, George Smiley, is a subtle introvert. There are scenes where George does nothing but sit there and wait in the novels. How do you do that on radio? The BBC didn't figure it out.

Some of the best bits from the novel were cut out, either for brevity, or because they were nuanced. One of the best bits of dialogue in "The Looking Glass War", where leCarre actually shows you how to convince someone else to do what you want as if it is there idea, was cut.

The audio books are also available on Audible. I have listened to both and recommend the books.

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had to come back to this

What did you love best about The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas?

I love the repeatability of this performance. I own about 80 audio books here at audible and a lot more that I've collected over the years and I've listened to this one over and over and over again. Excellent work.

What other book might you compare The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas to and why?

Possibly the Sherlock Holmes dramatizations but I've still listened to this one more often.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There were unexpected moments when it made me laugh. The accents are very well done and quite a few characters are real ... well characters.

Extreme reactions? I could do with a whiskey. I'm also a bit more partial to frogs.

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Great for leCarré fans

I thoroughly enjoyed these performances. The radio drama presentation is excellent, and the consistent use of actors throughout makes it easy to keep track of who is who by voice.

My only reason for not giving 5 stars is that I think it's (unfortunately?) maybe not the best way to encounter the stories for the first time. Anyone familiar with them or having read them will appreciate the dramatizations I think...but the very fact that they are distillations of the novels means that some of the mood elements that make JlC's novels so interesting are just not quite as well delivered. You might listen to these and think, "that was very good, but what's the fuss?"

Anyway, I highly recommend these to people who are already familiar with at least a couple of the novels.

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Great version of the books

Great version of the books, excellent actors and production, especially The Secret Pilgrim. Even though it was written almost 30 years ago, seems even more relevant today.

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Let Carre brought to life as only the BBC can...

While quite a lot of the little things are glossed over and the Asian accents don't really work for me, this series is riveting, exciting and not a little melancholy given le Carre's deliberately cynical view of the espionage world. Absolutely loved it, would highly recommend to any who love spy stories or anything else be Le Carre...

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