The Looking Glass War

The Looking Glass War by John le Carré
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The majority of this book deals with the training of an agent--only not done by the Circus (where Smiley is) but rather by the Department, which feels they have been undercut by the Circus. The Department remembers its glory days of the war and tries to recreate it by recruiting a former agent and retraining him with one of the old masters. Avery is new to the party and he is being trained as much as Leiser, the agent. Only the last third holds any real action, but it is a novel about the relationship of handler and agent--and agent and Department. It is cynical and heartbreaking. Smiley is not directly involved, so maybe he is excused from the amateur-ism and poor decisions of the Department, but the Circus knows full well what is going on and seems content to watch the Department implode with ineptitude.

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