Literary Picks "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" by John le Carre

Author: Edward Pickering

John le CarrÈ cuts a patrician figure in the world of spy writing. He has been in the game for a long time - since 1974, in fact, when "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" topped bestseller charts across the globe.
The novel, the first in a trilogy, is simply sensational. Le CarrÈ, a former spy himself, captures the high intrigue and high stakes of Cold War espionage. Regarded as the premier spymaster writing today, le CarrÈ delivers a meticulously paced, tightly woven narrative whose greatest strength is the portrayal of its protagonist.
George Smiley is recalled from his forced retirement to hunt out a mole in the highest circles of the British secret service. In doing so Smiley comes up against an old adversary, Karla, the Russian super-spy in charge of the mole. Smiley and Karla have a long history that includes, among other encounters, an interrogation in India. Englishman and Russian engage in a covert game of move/countermove. Unable to trust anyone in the British intelligence establishment, Smiley persecutes his investigations in absolute secrecy from friend and foe alike.
Smiley's personality and method, both unique, propel the novel forward. Overweight, aging and estranged from his wife, Smiley pursues the mole up and down the Secret Service hierarchy. The mole is well placed - that is to say, very highly placed and privy to the most sensitive secrets. Smiley, unassuming, dogged and even lugubrious at times, narrows the suspects down to four men, codenamed Tinker, Tailor, Soldier and Spy. These are men he knows and worked with in the past - men with whom he shared drinks at the day's end. Smiley's task is both personal and impersonal, for he must investigate these acquaintances but in the interest of his nation. Says Smiley, speaking to an ex-field agent who, betrayed by the mole, barely escaped with his life,
"You're a plain fieldman who lets the other chaps do his thinking. Nevertheless, when you know you have been led into a king-sized trap, betrayed, shot in the back and have nothing to do for months but lie or sit on a bunk, or pace a Russian cell, I would guess that even the most dedicated man [might wonder] how he landed in such a scrape."
The narrative unfolds slowly, not rapidly like some of today's bestsellers in which pages of impossibly dramatic action follow one another. Curious, cerebral readers will appreciate the slower, more nuanced pace of this character driven thriller, a masterpiece of Cold War mystery.