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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