TOFall now officially seems to be John Le Carré season, and as 2020 marks the fourth consecutive year since the writer's death, we have a new book about him: first it was a posthumous novel. SilverviewA later edition of his letters, along with a memoir written by his lover Sue “Suleika” Dawson (secret heart), before his biographer Adam Sisman continued exposing last year, The secret life of John le Carré, The spy writer documented other lovers during her life that she did not want to mention.
Given the trend of such books, it is not surprising that we have lost sight of le Carré's achievements as a novelist, especially in his early years. His first great success, A spy from the cold (1963), which mapped thwarted romance to geopolitical intrigue in divided Berlin, accelerated the spy genre's move away from jingoistic dub and 20th-century kung-ho adventure. by time Tinker Taylor Spy Soldier (1974), an ensemble psychological drama in which the British conspire against the Soviets, le Carré's narrative energy is generated more by grim workplace tensions than by conventional exploits, although this is found at the end of the book that falls apart .
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Carla's choicePerhaps the most impressive of the Le Carré-related publications that appeared after his death brought these achievements to the fore. Then set it up A spy from the cold but before Tinker Taylor Spy SoldierIt's a new task for spymaster George Smiley, from the pen of novelist Nick Hargaway, son of Lee Carré, who makes it clear that even if it is the book he was born to read, it won't be easy. He describes sending the manuscript to writer Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, “one of the few people on earth who can claim to understand the extent of my fear of this book,” and that it was a family affair. Page frisson who had no qualms about a successful presentation. (Will the book be successful? “We're about to find out.”)
Set in 1963, it centers on a missing Hungarian émigré, Panaty, a Soviet spy who is abandoned by a Moscow assassin after a failed attempt to impersonate a London literary agent. While this incident raises alarm bells in the circus (Le Carré's fantasy MI6), Smiley is brought out of retirement in an attempt to turn Bonati into a British asset (not the first time, we know). The attempt, predictably uneventful, involved a German double agent seen previously planning a climactic double murder. the spy came Inside from the coldAlso – this is not a spoiler, given the title – Carla, the first Russian infiltrator seen Tinker Taylor Spy Soldier.
In true Le Carré style, Carla only appears two-thirds of the way here; Hargaway faithfully recreates his father's rhythms in the volume of sentences and plot, the slow-burning tension that leads to painful danger, the cat-and-mouse games that erupt into hand-to-hand combat or street shootouts. Budapest has a scene of stubborn cinematic escapism and talk of “Englishness” (geopolitical ignorance, basically). Of course, there are the lingoes of the spy trade – “handwriting,” “babysitting,” “grooming” – and what lessons to learn: “hundreds of different types of bathrooms” (“None,” one notes about training in a refuge… the inability to fight with the bathroom facilities that you are supposed to have used since you were born is more likely to ruin you than”). Between waves of dry humor: a Soviet spy, who is asked a price for defecting, says he wants to star in a movie with Peter Sellers.
The attempt to expand the boundaries of the original books is clear – although not exclusively masculine as sometimes portrayed – but Harga himself does not miss the opportunity to bring the women of the circus into the spotlight. Panati's employee for most of the process is Susanna, another Hungarian, an assistant at a literary institute, left to pick up the pieces after her disappearance. She learns the ins and outs of espionage as Smiley drags her into a plot to impersonate his former boss, a neat way to avoid a complicated exposure for a first-time reader to le Carré's world. Harkaway does not rely heavily on delivering plot twists through nested Conradian monologues involving remembered interrogations or minutes and reports, a staple of Smiley's original novels. (Don't worry, though, they're still here – expertly negotiated – not to mention Le Carré's occasional reader-fox flinch when referring to the same character by first and last name.
For fans, there is a lot to enjoy. The collusion seen here between the circus crew (Toby Esterhase, Jim Prideaux, Bill Hayden and company) is pathetic in terms of conflict and paranoia. Tinker Taylor Spy Soldier; A painful scene in Vienna in which Smiley tries to make up for the loss of a vacation with his wife surprises her in Vienna, only to be told by her hotel receptionist that she is busy with her husband, a sign of further distress. However, you don't have to be a Le Carre fan to enjoy it, and we're certainly onto something with sequels and reboots, far from unimaginable fanservice. A loving tribute to a troubled father (as recognized by Hargaway's dedication), as well as a great novel, and only the first novel in a new series, at least judging by the overall note that is dropped at the end. I can't wait.
