Publishing Date: 1963
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 4.8/5
Review: This is my second le Carre’ novel and now I know why people rave for this writer the world over. This was originally published when I was one year old and le Carre’ was a Circus desk jockey. What is funny is the prelude he writes for this novel fifty years later-denying that this was a non-fictional account that even made people more entrenched in the idea. His character ideas are borrowed from real interactions with ordinary people and not resident spies within his own organization.
Like the Constant Gardener, sometimes fiction imitates fact and I found most of this novel and the political intricacies relevant today. His prose is poignant and delivered without embellishment which creates a subtle impact through out the story line. The movement is constant and his main character shifts with emotional eddies as the tides turn.
This was at once visceral, haunting and splendid, that having once started there was no putting it down. This will probably be my last le Carre’ novel, as the endings are resolute in termination of the main characters.