
The Pigeon Tunnel
Stories from My Life
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Narrated by:
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John le Carré
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By:
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John le Carré
About this listen
'Out of the secret world I once knew, I have tried to make a theatre for the larger worlds we inhabit. First comes the imagining, then the search for reality. Then back to the imagining, and to the desk where I'm sitting now.'
The Pigeon Tunnel, John le Carré's memoir and his first work of nonfiction, is a thrilling journey into the worlds of his 'secret sharers' - the men and women who inspired some of his most enthralling novels - and a testament to the author's extraordinary engagement with the last half century. The listener is swept along not just by the chilling winds of the Cold War or by the author's frightening journeys into places of terrible violence but, most importantly, by the author's inimitable voice.In this astonishing work, we see our world, both public and private, through the eyes of one of this country's greatest writers.
©2016 John le Carré (P)2016 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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A lawyer from the London finance house of Single & Single is shot dead on a Turkish hillside by people with whom he thought he was in business. A children's magician is asked by his bank to explain the unsolicited arrival of more than five million pounds sterling in his young daughter's modest trust. A freighter bound for Liverpool is boarded by Russian coast guards in the Black Sea. The celebrated London merchant venturer "Tiger" Single disappears into thin air.
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Performance
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By: John le Carré
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John le Carré Value Collection
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- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Night Manager: Enter the new world of post-Cold War espionage. Penetrate the secret world of ruthless arms dealers and drug smugglers who have risen to unthinkable power and wealth. Our Game: With the Cold War fought and won, British spymaster Tim Cranmer accepts early retirement to rural England and a new life with his alluring young mistress, Emma.... Tailor of Panama: Le Carre's Panama is a Casablanca without heroes, a hotbed of drugs, laundered money and corruption. It is also the country which on December 31, 1999, will gain full control of the Panama Canal.
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you want to know what I think?
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By: John le Carré
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- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie.
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Who writes “unlistenable etc. “
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The never-before-seen correspondence of John le Carré, one of the most important novelists of our generation, is collected in this beautiful volume. During his lifetime, le Carré wrote numerous letters to writers, spies, politicians, artists, actors and public figures. This collection is a treasure trove, revealing the late author's humor, generosity, and wit—a side of him many listeners have not previously seen.
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Save Time and Listen. Don't read
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The Constant Gardener
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Every Man for Himself and God Against All
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Overall
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Performance
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Absolutely incredible, memoir of the year
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The Secret Life of John le Carre
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Secrecy came naturally to John le Carré, and there were some secrets that he fought fiercely to keep. Adam Sisman's definitive biography, published in 2015, provided a revealing portrait of this fascinating man; yet some aspects of his subject remained hidden. The Secret Life of John le Carré reveals a hitherto-hidden perspective on the life and work of the spy-turned-author and a fascinating meditation on the complex relationship between biographer and subject. “Now that he is dead,” Sisman writes, “we can know him better.”
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A perfect spite
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By: Adam Sisman
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The Secret Hours
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Overall
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Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
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Just about perfect
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A Spy Among Friends
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Who was Kim Philby? Those closest to him—like his fellow MI6 officer and best friend since childhood, Nicholas Elliot, and the CIA’s head of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton—knew him as a loyal confidant and an unshakeable patriot. Philby was a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain’s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union. Together with Elliott and Angleton he stood on the front lines of the Cold War, holding Communism at bay. But he was secretly betraying them both: He was working for the Russians the entire time.
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The narrator is incorrectly identified.
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Critic reviews
"No other writer has charted - pitilessly for politicians but thrillingly for readers - the public and secret histories of his times." (Guardian)
"John le Carré is as recognisable a writer as Dickens or Austen." (Financial Times)
"When I was under house arrest I was helped by the books of John le Carré...they were a journey into the wider world.... These were the journeys that made me feel that I was not really cut off from the rest of humankind." (Aung San Suu Kyi)
What listeners say about The Pigeon Tunnel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Nola Bernstein
- 12-15-16
Best audiobook of the Year
Would you listen to The Pigeon Tunnel again? Why?
Fantastic story, beautifully read by the author himself. Very entertaining and I laughed out loud in many places.
What did you like best about this story?
The honesty of David Cornwall, his insight into both himself, his family and his colleagues and acquaintances. His descriptions of his larger-than-life father are hilarious.
What about John le Carré’s performance did you like?
His voice is strong, Can imitate voices authenically and beautifully
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
An Author Reminisces
Any additional comments?
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Anniebligh
- 10-29-16
Thank you John le Carre
Having read and enjoyed so many of le Carre's books, hearing this, in his own voice, was a grand treat.
The book is delivered in segments not strictly chronological, peppered with personal anecdotes and descriptions, observations of events and places. This is not a fireside chat and in it's own way does shed light albeit a passing ray of light, on some very influential people and major world events of the time. In its own way this book traces the background of le Carre's books and what has influenced the focus of his writing.
The wonderful description of his mission to Paris as his father's envoy at age 16 is just one glimpse into 'another world'.
It is the kind of book I could dip into again and again. However the advantage of hearing the author reading it to me as an audio book far outways the convenience of bookmarks in a hard copy.
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