Smiley's People by John Le Carré
Of the many things that can be said about John Le Carré’s George Smiley series — and there is a lot to be said — the overarching lesson is how you can never really “win” at espionage. Oh sure, you can occasionally foil the enemy, maybe draw some large gains or uncover revelations. Espionage helps win war when an actual war is going on. But when war is fought in the shadows — and the Cold War most certainly was — one’s never going to […]
The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carré
With the United States in steep (and willing) decline globally, surrendering its power on the world stage, I’ve looked to the works of John Le Carré for inspiration. Le Carré’s greatest gift as an espionage writer was chronicling the decline of Great Britain as a world power and doing so with a combination of wistful attitudes and thrilling writing. Yes there’s a lot of talking, a lot of musing in the books and it can take a while to set the stage. But when it […]
Craven Manor by Darcy Coates
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré
Craven Manor (Darcy Coates) *** Daniel is down on his luck. He’s a decent guy (this is made abundantly clear) but the only thing keeping him from homelessness is his slob of a cousin. One day, a letter is pushed underneath the door of Daniel’s apartment, mysteriously offering him a job on a mysterious manor that Daniel has never seen even though he grew up in the town. With great trepidation, he makes his way over to Craven Manor, an abandoned home in the middle […]
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre
I don’t have good luck with standard best sellers or literary fiction. I decided to try Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy because the premise sounded interesting and I hear the author do a radio interview for the latest installment in the series not too long ago. My first reaction to this novel was: “How could something this boring have possibly been a best-seller?” George Smiley spends a lot of time thinking about the past, doing paperwork, and talking to random acquaintances. He used to work for […]
