John Le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The protagonist at the heart of TTSS couldn’t be further from the James Bond mold, as George Smiley begins the novel in disgrace both at work, where he’s been forced out after a putsch, and at home, where his wife Ann has left him after years of infidelity. When a former agent, presumed defected, resurfaces with a story of a Soviet mole in The Circus (the top tier of what was then known as MI-6), Smiley and a few other folks on the outs at the Circus begin an effort to root out the mole, who appears to have been intimately involved in the palace coup that also resulted in a British agent getting arrested and shot in Brno and in several networks in Eastern Europe blowing up.
The brilliance of TTSS is that the novel is gripping with very little action, and no action in the novel’s present day until the final sequence where Smiley and his group set a trap for the mole. Apprised of the possible existence of the mole – the source for that info is dodgy at best – Smiley sets to work like an old-school detective, unraveling the story by talking to others ousted in the putsch and going after documents related to the compromised operation in Czechoslovakia as well as the Soviet leak who may in fact have been handling the double agent at the Circus. Le Carré carries it off through an intense dedication to realistic dialogue and actions – if there was a false note it fell below my detection threshold – and with flourishes of clever writing:
“Pulling the rug out when we’re all but home and dry.” His circulars read that way, too, thought Guillam. Metaphors chasing each other off the page.
He interlaces personal and professional issues for several of his characters, including Smiley and Peter Guillam, Smiley’s main accomplice in the investigation, the emotional counterpoint to the ironically-named Smiley’s stoicism, yet the book never drags as so many pensive novels do, where the characters’ inner thoughts overwhelm the story at the novel’s heart. There is no question that Smiley and company are detectives solving a mystery and that we are ultimately headed for some sort of denouement – a capture, a confrontation, an attack, whatever, you know that you’re driving towards a finish line, and even those asides into the minds of Smiley or Guillam or another character are just fuel for the engine that’s taking us there.
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
—
One thing that struck me while reading TTSS: Out of the seven main characters, three bear the names George, Percy, and Bill. And on the penultimate page of the book is the line: He wished he had brought her fur boots from the cupboard under the stairs. Anyone else think J.K. Rowling read a little Le Carré when she wasn’t reading Anthony Powell?
Next up: Something current, The Dolphin People
Keith, you should watch the miniseries starring Alec Guinness as Smiley. It is about 6 hours or so, but absolutely worth it. Probably Guinness’ best late career role.
I’ll second (and echo my comment on a previous thread) the recommendation for the miniseries. I had a professor describe George Smiley to us as “the Obi Wan of spies” and point out that both were fittingly played by Guinness.
I’d be interested to hear your take on TTSS 6 months or a year out. I loved it on first read but loved it even more with distance.
Make that three on the miniseries – but I wouldnt watch it until I had read the full Karla trilogy — and then I would make time for both TTTS and Smiley’s People. LeCarre has said that Alec Guinness stole Smiley from him – that he could no longer see the character he wrote, that all he could see was Guinness as Smiley — and that is part of the reason he stopped writing about him (although he did make appearances in later books).
The three books are on my frequently reread list – the way the story carries through the series is truly extraordinary.
I remember that the first time I read the second book (The Honourable Schoolboy) as a teenager I found it slow – it took coming back to it as an adult to appreciate how the storyline is set up and then played out.
And Smiley’s People simply doesn’t make as much sense without the middle book that allows you to see how Smiley revives the Circus and puts it back in business.
The Spy Who Came in from The Cold is probably the best “spy-fic” book I’ve ever read; Le Carre is the antithesis of Tom Clancy (in that he can actually write), and has you invested in his characters. Great book, and great author, though the strong anti-American vibe (just pick up Absolute Friends, or any other recent Le Carre book) is troubling.
Do you think Torsten Krol is actually Stephen King?
Hi Keith,
I’ll go in on the mini-series as well. Haven’t seen it in forever but I remember it as being outstanding. Any plans to read the next 2 in the trilogy?
Hey Keith, when you going to come down and read the “poet laurate of skid row”, Bukowski? Just kidding about the high status. Well, maybe, I only know the public persona and we know what that is worth.
Beerboy
Keith, if you are still in Phoenix and looking for Mexican food, the best Carne Asada in the city can be found at America’s Taco Shop. It’s not far from downtown and easy to get to, easily the best carne asada.
2041 N. 7th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85006
Off topic, Klaw, but I wasn’t aware of the chat, so in reading the transcript, was surprised to see an Ed Yost mention. Hadn’t heard of him and looked it up. Wow, talk about a great example of why batting average means so little (.254 vs. .394 career OBP)! The “walking man” indeed, even before it was fashionable (all you Andre Dawson fans who say he didn’t walk more because they didn’t know it was beneficial…).
I have read the Karla trilogy and found The Honourable Schoolboy to be the best fo the three, so I strongly encourage you to continue the series. Besides adeptly giving the reader an almost palpable sense of place (Asia) during a fascinating period of geopolitical tumult – not unlike the backdrop to Peter Weir’s The Year of Living Dangerously – Le Carré captivates us with a deep and colorful psychological study of one of Smiley’s spy agents, someone who is a polar opposite to the stoicism of George. I loved all three books, but this work has had a stronger lingering effect on my mind. In any case, I much prefer these works to The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, which displays economical precision in building tension and suspense, but which seemed monochromatic in scope and tone – perhaps the drab and desolate backdrop of Eastern Europe in the Cold War period was too pervasive and overbearing for me at times.