Traitors like us

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Traitors like us (Original title: Our Kind of Traitor ) is a novel by the British writer John le Carré about a high-ranking money launderer of the Russian mafia who wants to move to Great Britain because he fears for his life. The original edition was published on September 16, 2010 in London, the German translation by Sabine Roth on October 27, 2010 by Ullstein Verlag in Berlin. A film version of the novel was released in theaters in 2016.

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During a vacation in Antigua , the British Oxford lecturer Perry Makepiece and his girlfriend, the lawyer Gail Perkins, met the supposed Russian businessman Dimitri, known as "Dima", Vladimirovich Krasnov, who, as it later turns out, was the top money launderer of a syndicate, while playing tennis of seven Wory brotherhoods . Dima asks Perry to establish contact with the British secret service because he wants to leave for Great Britain with his family. Dima fears for his life after the murder of a good friend who has fallen out of favor with the leader of the syndicate, the so-called “Prince”. In return for asylum, he offers the British secret service extensive information about his syndicate and its money laundering activities, in which numerous business people and government officials from Western countries are also involved.

Due to the explosive nature of the revelations to be expected, the British secret service reacts hesitantly and transfers an unofficial operation to Hector Meredith. He hires Luke Weaver, a disgraced agent who desperately wants to rehabilitate himself, and recruits Perry and Gail, whose participation Dima insists. You made contact with Dima at the final of the French Open 2009 in Paris . He wants to evacuate his family to Great Britain as soon as possible, as his life is in extreme danger after a planned transfer of assets to the "Prince". But in Great Britain they keep a low profile and want to check the information first, while influential circles in London's financial world refuse to interfere with their transactions with the Worys financial institution. Dima travels to Bern to sign the business papers and then meets with Luke. Both reach the charter plane that is supposed to bring them to Great Britain with the greatest of efforts. Shortly after take off, the machine explodes. Nobody takes responsibility for what is happening, which is shelved as an inexplicable accident.

Reviews

In the English-language review, the book received mostly positive reviews. Christopher Tayler from the English newspaper The Guardian praised the credible representation of the Russian criminal milieu, but at the same time criticized the too long and too detailed introduction to the book.

The reviews of the German-language edition were also largely positive. So Sebastian Hammelehle sees in the mirror is "a crisscrossed by virile purring, almost muscular told story," Thomas Wörtche on Germany Kultur Günther Grosser reading the "masterly dialogues that only so sparkling with wit, wit and allusion wealth." Berliner Zeitung a " Masterpiece of age wisdom ”, Antje Deistler finds the novel on WDR 2 “ simply great, refreshing, very amusing ”. For Sylvia Staude in the Frankfurter Rundschau it is a “fine new novel”. For Burkhard Müller in the Süddeutsche Zeitung "[the novel] suffers from a sad lack of cynicism".

Thomas David interviewed le Carré on the occasion of the novel for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Denis Scheck the author for Deutschlandfunk .

Movie

A film adaptation of the novel was released in 2016 under the same title. Directed by Susanna White , the script was written by Hossein Amini .

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christopher Tayler: Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carré . In: The Guardian of September 11, 2010.
  2. ↑ Sebastian Hammelehle: Forsyth versus le Carré: Are we wimp or villains? In: Der Spiegel from November 16, 2010.
  3. ↑ Thomas Wörtche: Bad story, told charmingly . In: Deutschlandradio Kultur from November 8, 2010.
  4. ↑ Günther Grosser: Slimy Lemurs. Money laundering, gangsters and secret service agents: John le Carré's espionage thriller about the financial scene . In: Berliner Zeitung . No. 276/2010 , November 25, 2010, features section . Books, p. 32 ( berliner-zeitung.de [accessed October 1, 2017]).
  5. ↑ Antje Deistler: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Books: John le Carre: Verräter wie wir ) . On WDR 2 from November 7, 2010.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.wdr.de
  6. ↑ Sylvia Staude: The dream of Eton . In: Frankfurter Rundschau from November 1, 2010.
  7. ↑ Burkhard Müller: Where on earth is the traitor? . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of November 30, 2010.
  8. ↑ Thomas David John le Carré: To the tea dance with world destroyers . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of October 26, 2010.
  9. ↑ Denis Scheck: "Nobody knows exactly when black money becomes white" . In: Deutschlandfunk from October 29, 2010.

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