Le Carré Audiobooks For Free!
According to John Le Carré's official website, The Guardian wants to give you the chance to hear seven of his best novels as audiobooks... for free! They'll be giving away one per day in conjunction with AudioGo to celebrate The Guardian and Observer Books Season. You haven't missed out on the first few, however; each book is available for a whole week. That means you can already download Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (a natural choice to begin with, since this whole promotion is tied in with the UK release of that film), Our Kind of Traitor (the author's latest) and The Honourable Schoolboy (the immediate follow-up to Tinker Tailor). Tinker Tailor and Schoolboy are read by Michael Jayston, who played Peter Guillam in the 1979 BBC miniseries of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy opposite Alec Guinness. (Jayston has also read a series of Ian Fleming audiobooks, and even played James Bond once in a radio adaptation of You Only Live Twice.)
So, in summary, The Guardian and AudioGo are giving away seven unabridged Le Carré audiobooks absolutely free! To take advantage of this promotion, you must enter a UK address. Go to the Guardian's website to claim your free spy classics by signing up for an AudioGo account and following the instructions. You do not need to enter any credit card information; as far as I can see, there are no catches. If you've never read Le Carré, this is a great opportunity to catch up with the greatest living practitioner of the literary spy genre. I often cite Tinker Tailor as not only my favorite spy novel (though Casino Royale by Le Carré's antithesis comes awfully close), but my favorite novel period. I highly recommend it! And if you have read Le Carré... well then, what are you waiting for? Audiobooks are a great way to revisit old favorites. Visit The Guardian now to download the first three, and be sure to check back daily as new books are added. I'll be curious to see which ones they choose.
FYI, I've got a review of the film up right here, the climax of a week's worth of le Carre/Smiley blogging...
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Louis! (I say as I bite down on my own lip even harder in exasperation at having to wait four more months to see it for myself...) I'm reading your other Le Carre pieces right now. I'm planning to do the same sort of in-depth examination of the author leading up to the US release of the film...
ReplyDeleteFour months? Is it really that far away in the States? I'd heard it was December... although I guess that's still three months! Do let me know what you think of the le Carre posts, and I look forward to reading yours down the line!
ReplyDeleteYou're right; I'm being a tad dramatic. :) It is just three months. Still, it seems an eternity at this point!
ReplyDeleteBelieve me: it's well worth the wait...
ReplyDelete(You probably knew this already, but just in case...)
ReplyDeleteMr.Jayston was also the television version of Adam Hall's 'Quiller' in the adaptaion/series that aired on the BBC back in the 70's.