Smiley's People by John Le Carré
Why?
I was in my beloved library van and just having a nose. Did I need any more books to add to my tbr? Quite frankly no but I could not stop myself. My quest to read classics (I write this sitting in the kitchen sink) was on my mind and John Le Carré's work is considered modern classic. Also I did watch The Night Manager on BBC1 and loved it.
What?
Otherwise known as amazon spiel:
The concluding part of John le Carré's celebrated Karla Trilogy, Smiley's People sees the last confrontation between the indefatigable spymaster George Smiley and his great enemy, as their rivalry comes to a shattering end.
A Soviet defector has been assassinated on English soil, and George Smiley is called back to the Circus to clear up - and cover up - the mess. But what he discovers sends him delving into the past, on a trail through Hamburg and Paris to Cold War Berlin - and a final showdown with his elusive nemesis, Karla.
A Soviet defector has been assassinated on English soil, and George Smiley is called back to the Circus to clear up - and cover up - the mess. But what he discovers sends him delving into the past, on a trail through Hamburg and Paris to Cold War Berlin - and a final showdown with his elusive nemesis, Karla.
'An enormously skilled and satisfying work' Newsweek
'We are all Smiley's people, a kind of secular god of intelligence' New Yorker
THE SEVENTH GEORGE SMILEY NOVEL
The first thing to state, and you probably all know this as I must be the last person to read Le Carré, is that his use of language is beautiful. He writes like a man where a thesaurus is not necessary, words are the magic that he touches and expels without effort.
He writes as a wise man ("The people should not attempt to change history. It is the task of history to change the people") who has experienced more than we could ever imagine and perhaps this is true. Smiley is not James Bond, in fact slightly over-weight, tired and a little too normal for the glamour of the spy novel, and this seems to appeal. He comes out of retirement with little persuasion and does what is required.
So where did I go wrong? An author who writes beautifully and an interesting plot but I am not running to get another Smiley/Karla novel or even another Le Carré. I think I would have benefited from reading some of the previous novels particularly Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; starting at the end is not an intelligent move. I just did not feel the love for this book. Perhaps I am lazy? It just felt like it took too much effort and the articulation of the moment became pretentious and the conversations laborious. I do believe that if I had got to know the characters (Smiley's people) in the way that was intended that my relationship with this book would be very different.
Probably she said yes. Afterwards she was not sure. She saw his scared gaze lift and stare at the approaching bus. She saw an indecision near to panic seize him, and it occurred to her – which in the long run was an act of near clairvoyance – that he proposed to push her under it. He didn’t, but he did put his next question in Russian – and in the brutal accents of Moscow officialdom.
He writes as a wise man ("The people should not attempt to change history. It is the task of history to change the people") who has experienced more than we could ever imagine and perhaps this is true. Smiley is not James Bond, in fact slightly over-weight, tired and a little too normal for the glamour of the spy novel, and this seems to appeal. He comes out of retirement with little persuasion and does what is required.
So where did I go wrong? An author who writes beautifully and an interesting plot but I am not running to get another Smiley/Karla novel or even another Le Carré. I think I would have benefited from reading some of the previous novels particularly Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; starting at the end is not an intelligent move. I just did not feel the love for this book. Perhaps I am lazy? It just felt like it took too much effort and the articulation of the moment became pretentious and the conversations laborious. I do believe that if I had got to know the characters (Smiley's people) in the way that was intended that my relationship with this book would be very different.
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