I guess the
library restocked this, and put it on the “new books” shelf because there is a
movie adaptation being filmed as I type.
I am happy all this occurred. The
book came out in 2008 and I was wrapped up that time almost exclusively with
the radio station, KGGV.
Le Carré is one
of my favorites; my taste for him taken to an extreme when I found myself
working in England for close to a decade.
Now it is nostalgia for me, those OxBridge men with their funny quirks
who populate the management of British corporations and other positions of
power.
For a lover of
Carré, this is an exquisite book, a spell-binding read that will make a great
movie. The author is aging, as I
am. The author pulls into the story lots
of characters, and scenes that have been his trademark stable of ideas over
half a century of writing. There are
bits of stories retold, like the Russia House escape from the inescapable grasp
of the spook community; the interview methodology of George Smiley along with
his deeply thought out strategies to entrap his enemies. As always the spies are conflicted:
conflicting with other spies, some home team, some visitors.
Le Carré is a
masterful story-teller. The best. This tale is riveting. It’s freshly updated with Chechens, Turks,
and Arabs, but with generational back-looks to Russians, Germans, and
Brits. Interestingly, the Americans are
still a powerful force, but only introduced at the last minute, despised by
all, and really not that relevant to the entire story other than as an ultimate
bad guy to take on a lot of the blame for a situation gone wrong.
The characterizations
are compelling. I’m sorry that the BBC
didn’t get the rights to do this film.
“Tinker Tailor” and “Smiley’s People” each were 6-hour adaptations of Le
Carré’s works and show-cased the author’s ability at personality
characterization. That will be missing
in the American movie. Culture and
ethnicity are such important factors in these sorts of novel’s dramatizations. American film-makers tend to blend all
foreigners into the “all Asians look alike to me” mindset. In the smallish world of the EuroZone,
French, Italian, Greek, and German national and cultural traits are extremely
important and subtly recognized by other members of the European community.
Because of the
thoughtful interweaving of old plotlines with new, older generation characters
with younger ones, I think this story will survive as one of Le Carré’s
best. It captures the hint of what our
elders told us was the evil, bad old days of the cold war, with the reality of
today’s jihad.
A captivating
read – 10 out of 10 for this, still interesting author.
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