John le Carré

Lately, I've been reading a lot of John le Carré, the former intelligence officer and author of spy novels.

I read his first novel, Call for the Dead (1961).

This is the first time we meet George Smiley, the veteran case officer, who together with Special Branch inspector Mendel solve the apparent suicide of a Foreign Office diplomat.

Call for the Dead is crude by le Carré's standard, and the book feels more like Agatha Christie if she had written cold war spy novels. I don't mean this in an overly negative way, don't get me wrong. It's just that having read some of his other books, I know he can be smoother. Call for the Dead is well worth reading.

Next we have The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963). This is his third novel and it is a masterpiece. We meet Alec Leamas, the former station chief for West Berlin who goes on the hardest mission he's ever known. I don't want to talk more about the plot for fear of spoilers. From beginning to end, it is tense, sharp and kept me on edge until the brilliant finale. If you only want to read one cold war spy thriller in your life, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a good choice.

Last night I finished The Honourable Schoolboy (1977). This is the second book in the Karla trilogy that starts with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974) and ends with Smiley's People (1979). The first and third books were made into TV series starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley, but the second book, The Honourable Schoolboy wasn't, and for purely economic reasons. Most of the book takes place all over south east Asia, like Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Laos. Much of the plot follows Jerry Westerby, a sports journalist and spy, as he chases down a mystery for Smiley. The rest deals with the tensions between Smiley's Circus (MI6), Whitehall and the CIA.

The Honourable Schoolboy is brilliantly written which is lucky because it clocks in at over 600 pages. I do think it's bloated and could have been pared down for a sleeker story. A lot of time is spent on background color, which le Carré does masterfully, but isn't really needed for the main plot. Overall, I liked The Honourable Schoolboy, and I'm glad I read it, just be aware that despite how well written it is, the last 200 pages or so were a slog to get through. It is also the weakest ending I have read from le Carré.

Overall John le Carré was a fantastic writer. He rarely does melodrama, in fact a lot of what happens is understated in a very British way. His first hand experience of intelligence work and espionage allowed him to craft stories that are absolutely believable. This isn't the over the top style of Ian Fleming, you won't meet James Bond anywhere. It's slow, methodical and even inevitable, and when action does happen it hits harder for its general absence. If you want proper cold war espionage, John le Carré is your man.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!