Customer Reviews
Le Carre may know his characters, but I don't have a clue who they are - By: Hombre M, 16 Sep 2008 
I have to disagree with the other reviewers of this book. In fact, I can't even claim to have finished the book - I made it to page 149 before giving up. (Incidentally the only other book I had given up on before this was Catch 22.) It's not that Le Carre's writing is poor; he really has quite a good ear for the sound of his prose. It's just that I could not, despite my most strenuous efforts, keep pace with the plot. There are far too many characters, who after a while all seem to blur into one another & a good deal too many code names & operations. By page 149 I was totally & utterly confused by his Tolstoyesque myriad characters & diverging plot lines. I'm afraid there are much better books out there than this.
Le Carre at his considerable best - By: Mr. S. Harris, 13 Feb 2008 
Not only is this probably Le Carre's best work, but I'd rate it as one of the best novels of the 1970s. It perfectly captures the feeling of Britain's post-war decline & nostalgia for a greater time. It is a beautifully written, highly convincing story of the hunt for a high-ranking molein the British Secret Service, with the effect of this on the memorable central characters (not least unlikely hero George Smiley) subtly portrayed. A gripping, immensely satisfying Cold-War thriller. And a great novel.
"I still believe that the secret services are the only real expression of a nation's character." - By: Mary Whipple, 14 Dec 2006 
Followingin the tradition of Graham Greene, who wrote spy novels contemporaneous with his own, John LeCarre uses his experiencein the foreign service & MI6 to add realism to his tales of espionage. Green, however, remained a friend of traitor Kim Philby & continued to send his novels to Philby after Philby defected to Russia. LeCarre, however, was betrayed by Philby to Russian agents, & his career was ended. This betrayal gives added realism to his novels, which show real disillusionment with the system and, sometimes, with its agents & officials.
Writtenin 1974, this novel draws on the real life LeCarre (real name David Cornwell) & many of his associates who were unmasked by Philby & the "Cambridge Five." Here LeCarre creates a vivid & morally sensitive storyin which his hero, George Smiley, is called out of his enforced retirement to unmask a Soviet "mole" highin the British secret service, referred to as "the circus." Five men (asin the real betrayal) have been suspected. Drawing on his friendships with some of the agents who were dismissed when he was, Smiley investigates the security leaks which have led to humiliation for British intelligence & real danger for some of its agents. As he tries to identify the mole, he receives peripheral help from Sir Oliver Lacon of the British Foreign Office.
Writtenin formal & polished prose, the novel is full of Cold War complexities. Karla, the legendary head of Soviet intelligence, continues to control a small group of Soviet "defectors" & disillusioned Communists, whom the British mistakenly regard as double agents providing them with secret information. At the same time, British Control (who is never identified by name) is trying to uncover the Soviet mole (nicknamed "Gerald") within their own agency. Jim Prideaux, who appearsin several Smiley novels, is working on this operationin Czechoslovakia, but he is betrayed & almost killed, his entire operation shut down, & many of his agents executed by the Russians.
Smiley's investigations are decidedly prosaic, not the exciting shoot-'em-ups of James Bond novels. Slogging through mountains of paperwork, interviewing reluctant former agents, & doing his own legwork, Smiley works at unmasking Gerald the hard way. The complexity of his character (and of the other characters here) make up for the relative lack of dramatic action & highlight LeCarre's skill at creating intriguing characters who see the "grays"in an otherwise black-and-white world. His dialogue is quick-paced, often witty, & revelatory of subtle character traits, adding to the depth of the portraits & to the intricacies of the world of spy/counterspy. n Mary Whipple
Great Old Fashioned Spy Thriller - By: J. E. Parry, 08 Nov 2006 This is a great changein pace against normal spy books. There are no wiz bangs & gorgeous women. It just revolves around old fashioned atmosphere & storytelling.
We follow the expolits of George Smiley, one of the Cold War's heroes, as he is tasked with finding a Soviet mole imbedded within MI6. He was oustedin a shake-up following the overthrow, & demise, of the previous "Control" of MI6 - another name for James Bond's M.
He is outside the current regime that the mole is part of & his search is therefore reliant on old fashioned techniques of infiltarion & intelligence gathering.
I hadn't read thisin about 20 years but was swept back into Smiley's world. Le Carre has a reputation for outstanding work & this is one of his best.
I won't give the game away as I hate plot spoilers. If you want to read an authentic Cold War spy story then this is for you.
