The Return of George Smiley

Back in the days when I used to be a bookworm I was going through some bookshelves in a library hoping to find something decent to read. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy seemed decent. So, I gave it a shot. It blew my mind. It was sooo good. I've been a huge George Smiley fan ever since and believe I've read everything he's in. Course nothing was ever as good as T, T, S, S though "A Murder of Quality" and "Call for the Dead" are really good and in some ways the closest to being in the same vein as T, T, S, S especially with regards to the Lady Ann stuff. He has a cameo in "The Looking Glass War" and shows up in "The Spy who came in from the Cold" (probably Le Carre's most famous book - though there is a difference between being his most famous book and being his best book) as well. These were all Le Carre at his peak. So, I guess I can't be too critical. "The Honourable Schoolboy" and "Smiley's People" round out the Karla trilogy of which T, T, S, S is a part, and I was faintly disappointed in both books to be honest. More than faintly if I'm to be really honest, especially in Smiley's People and its closing act, though the book itself does have its saving graces. I think I was mostly just indifferent towards The Honourable Schoolboy.

"A Perfect Spy" came out when Le Carre was 65 and here Smiley is a shadow of his former self. So, I can only imagine how bad he's going to be in the new book Le Carre will be releasing when he's 85. I'll probably still get and read this new book - whatever it's called. No promises though!

So, what made T, T, S, S so special (to me) going back to what was the original idea behind this article. There was the English Boarding School backdrop which always works when done well - see Harry Potter. There was the Cold War backdrop, which makes things feel sinister and important, I suppose. There was the love story - the love of his (Smiley's) life, who somehow, unbelievably he won, but was slipping away from his grasp as the book began. Shades of the Scarlet Pimpernel here if you think about it though perhaps not all the way. There's the mystery, the tale of revenge, all masterfully plotted, and rendered. One of the true joys of my life was discovering and reading this book. Good times, as the saying goes. Now, that I look back on those days, I remember it to be a time of angst (I guess some things never change) and what this book was was a refuge, a welcome refuge from the tortures and pains of everyday existence. For a few brief hours every day for some days I was able to just lose myself in this fictional world.

Reviews

[The Grappler]

OK... well written, and probably right. We all have variations in our style and quality of writing between different books in a 'set'.

Austin Powers' dad is a sendup of Smiley... Michael Caine once or twice played Smiley.