Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Update: I've read this book now, like, three times, and I do think I finally caught all the little details. Well, most of them. I find it so interesting that le Carre's style varies from book to book. This title is definitely one of the densest, which is probably why it is so popular--so many layers building on each other. Here we are introduced to Karla, as a cold and calculating spy that George basically begs to defect in order to save,, but Karla simply steals George's lighter and goes to his fate which ends up not in the gulag but running a mole inside the Circus. Now George is called out of retirement to try and figure out which of George's friends and contemporaries it could be. Looking back, George sees how Karla used his weaknesses against him, so that the mole was able run under George's radar--and almost destroying the Circus in the process.

I really liked this book. I liked the cadance of the words le Carre uses, I liked the pondorous deliberateness with which the riddle unravels, I liked the humanity of the characters which blinded them to the answers when it was staring right at them. The villian Karla became that much more unlikeable as he twists the knife that he stuck in. I liked the secret language of the spies, (apparently this book introduces the word "mole" as a traitor into the vernacular)even though I sometimes didn't quite understand what was going on. In fact, I think it is a compliment to le Carre that I liked this book even though at the end, I was like, I think this is what happened.

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The Honorable Schoolboy

The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another reread. But reading it right after TTSS, I made more associations and the action in London seemed as relevant and interesting as the scenes of spying in the East. Le Carre's heroes don't always win the day, and this book illustrates how Smiley's obsession allowed him to lose the plot with his agent. It's as if, in this and TTSS, Smiley's ponderous research, his gift for connecting dots, his acute sense of where his quarry will go next somehow undermines his ability to see what is right in front of him. Perhaps it's no quirk that keeps Smiley's eyes half closed, or his habit of constantly cleaning his glasses with his tie--there surely is a bit of myopia about him.


I liked that le Carre writes an introduction to these editions of the Karla trilogy, because it helps me forgive the some of the distractions and ramblings in what is the most exciting but also weakest of the three. First of all, le Carre explains that he went on location to gather sights, sounds and experiences for this book, which explains the vividness and a lot of the action. It also explains why there are scenes in the book that, while interesting, don't move the plot forward. It's like he wanted to include an experience he had but didn't know where to put it.
Also, in the forward of Smiley's People, le Carre writes that he had anticipated doing a whole series of Smiley novels, which explains why neither Smiley nor Karla appear very prominently in this book. That being said, this was a great thrill ride with lots of mysterious persons, great loves, bombs, murders, thugs, and horse racing. Of the three, it is the most cinematic, yet it is the only one that didn't get made into a dramatization (yet).

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Smiley's People

 

Smiley's People by John le Carré
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Poor Smiley. Even when he wins he loses. In order to catch Karla, Smiley will have become almost as cold and calculating as Karla was when they first met, using Karla's one love against him as Karla once did to Smiley. So Smiley has finally won, but Smiley might wonder, won what?

It was so nice to get back to Smiley again...le Carre finished his Karla trilogy with an ode to Smiley. Here Smiley is at his best with his small, quiet thoughts and long walks, but gets thrown in the action, too as he tries to uncover the motive behind the murder of a former agent. Everyone gets their cameos, too, from Toby Esterhouse to dear old Connie. I could have used more Guilliam, though, who played a prominent part in The Honourable Schoolboy and who I kind of crushed on a bit (couldn't you see an English Peter Krause playing him?). The ending is strangely anti-climatic, but seemed entirely fitting: sometimes the ending is not nearly as much fun as the chase.

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