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 A Magisterial View of a Secret War May 11, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The infamous Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989, and the thirty year long undeclared cold war declared at an end. A year later, in 1990, "The Secret Pilgrim," British spy master John Le Carre's thirteenth book, was published. LeCarre, with his first-hand spy experience, had penned the cold war masterpieces "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," and the Smiley-Karla trilogy "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," "The Honourable Schoolboy," and "Smileys People;" he used this book, basically a collection of short stories that opens as the Berlin Wall has been up only two years, to look back. It was his first published post-cold war novel, and a magisterial summing-up of the secret war that was. Le Carre, had been, of course, an actual British spy, for five years, under his birth name, David Cornwell. According to internet biographers, he was, in fact, embedded in Soviet territory when he was blown by Kim Philby, most celebrated of real-life British secret-service traitors. Being unmasked was not fatal to Le Carre, as it had been to others, but it was certainly fatal to his ability to work in the field.
The author sets much of "The Secret Pilgrim," as is his custom, in his German-speaking comfort zone. Particularly in Berlin, "the spy's eternal city," he calls it. He uses as his narrator "Ned," a shrewd, loyal, long-term employee of Le Carre's fictional intelligence service, modeled on the real one. Here, as elsewhere in his writings, the writer calls this service the circus, from its London digs. Ned is currently teaching new recruits at Sarratt, its spy school, on his way to retirement; he's thinking about the secret pilgrimage of his life, spent in the service, wondering whether it's done him, or the world, any good. He invites George Smiley, the heart of the circus, to speak to his students.
The book is certainly episodic; that may annoy some readers. But it has the author's usual virtues, unbeaten spy craft, strong descriptive and narrative writing, complex, if brief, plots. Resonant characters, given good dialogue, a sturdy moral context. As it's told in third person flashback, the action may be a bit anemic for some. But it gives an informative summation of the exciting Smiley-Karla years, when Smiley was chasing the unknown traitor in the circus's ranks, the "mole," as Le Carre termed the man, a usage that stuck. The author gives us "before the fall," as the circus called it, and offers new views of the circus's great knights of old: Smiley and his ever-unfaithful wife Ann; Bill Haydon, whom Smiley unmasked as the black knight; Peter Guillam, Tobe Esterhase. And "after the fall," picking up the pieces, we get precious new nuggets from the author's world. Ned is apparently the desk jockey who ran Barley Blair, central figure of the novel "Russia House." Ned tells us "we were trying to do a deal on him, but Barley wouldn't go along with us. He'd done his own deal already. He wanted his girl, not us."
Several of the component short stories stand out. An early one about Ben Cavendish, the narrator's oldest friend, who joins the circus with him, makes a small,silly mistake, and runs away from its awful consequences. A later one about the Lithuanian Captain Brandt and his beautiful girlfriend Bella, whom Ned eventually shares. The high-ranking Polish Colonel Jerzy, who finds his own way to the service. And Hansen, big, fair Scandinavian, active in Indochina during the Vietnam War; Ned calls Hansen, deep in the Cambodian jungle, his own Kurz, communicating from his own heart of darkness, as in Joseph Conrad's memorable book of the same name. Finally, there's poor Frewin, lonely Foreign Office cypher clerk, with all security clearances, seduced into Russia's service by the early morning radio language lessons of Boris and Olga. And that was the war that was.
Not Free SF Reader September 3, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
An old protege of George Smiley's is close to retirement himself, and is involved in training some new people for the British Secret service.
He asks his old mentor to come in and give some guest lectures, and these talks lead to reminiscences via short stories for Ned, himself a career spy.
A Look Back to the Secret War June 20, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In 1990, a year after the Berlin Wall was torn down, and the thirty year long cold war declared at an end, "The Secret Pilgrim," British spymaster John Le Carre's thirteenth book, was published. LeCarre, with his first-hand spy experience, who penned the cold war masterpieces "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold," and the Smiley-Karla trilogy "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," "The Honourable Schoolboy," and "Smileys People," used this book, basically a collection of short stories that opens as the Berlin Wall has been up only two years, to look back.
The author sets much of it, as is his custom, in his German-speaking comfort zone. Particularly in Berlin, "the spy's eternal city," he calls it. He uses as his narrator "Ned," a shrewd, loyal, longterm employee of LeCarre's fictional intelligence service, modeled on the real one. Here, as elsewhere in his writings, the writer calls this service the circus, from its London digs. Ned is currently teaching new recruits at Sarratt, its spy school, on his way to retirement; he's thinking about the secret pilgrimage of his life, spent in the service, wondering whether it's done him, or the world, any good. He invites George Smiley, the heart of the circus, to speak to his students.
The book is certainly episodic; that may annoy some readers. But it has the author's usual virtues, unbeaten spycraft, strong descriptive and narrative writing, complex, if brief, plots. Resonant characters, given good dialogue. As it's told in third person narrative, the action may be a bit anemic for some. But it summarizes the exciting Smiley-Karla years, and offers new views of the circus's great knights of old: Smiley and his ever-unfaithful wife Ann; Bill Haydon, whom Smiley unmasked as the black knight; Peter Guillam, Tobe Esterhase. And we get precious bits and pieces more. Ned is apparently the desk jockey that ran Barley Blair, central figure of "Russia House." Ned tells us "we were trying to do a deal on him, but Barley wouldn't go along with us. He'd done his own deal already. He wanted his girl, not us."
Several of the short stories stand out. An early one about Ben Cavendish, the narrator's oldest friend, who joins the circus with him, makes a terrible, silly mistake, and runs away from its awful consequences. A later one about the Lithuanian Captain Brandt and his beautiful girlfriend Bella, whom Ned turns out to share. The high-ranking Polish Colonel Jerzy, who finds an unusual way to the service. And Hansen, big, fair Scandinavian, active in Indochina during the Vietnam War; Ned calls Hansen, deep in the Cambodian jungle, his own Kurz, communicating from his own heart of darkness, as in Joseph Conrad's memorable book of the same name. Finally, there's poor Frewin, lonely Foreign Office cypher clerk, with all security clearances, seduced into Russia's service by the early morning radio language lessons of Boris and Olga. And that was the war that was.
A Masterful Summing Up of the War that Was May 29, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"The Secret Pilgrim," British spymaster John LeCarre's thirteenth book, was published in 1990, a year after the Berlin Wall was torn down, and the 30-year long Cold War was declared at an end. It was his first published post Cold War novel. LeCarre, who penned the Cold War masterpieces "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold,"and the Karla trilogy, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," "The Honourable Schoolboy," and "Smileys People," uses this book, several short stories cobbled together, that begin as the looming Berlin Wall has been up only two years, as a magisterial summing-up of the war that was.
The author sets much of it, as is his long-standing custom, in his German-speaking comfort zone, particularly Berlin, "the spy's eternal city," he calls it. The book is narrated by "Ned," a shrewd and loyal long-term employee of LeCarre's fictional intelligence service, modeled on the real one. Here, as elsewhere, LeCarre calls this service the circus, from its London location. Ned is currently teaching new recruits at Sarratt, its spy school, and contemplating retirement. He's thinking about the secret pilgrimage of his life, spent in the service, wondering, as is typical of the author, what it has gained him, or the world. He invites the "eminence grise" of the circus, George Smiley, to speak to the recruits.
The book is episodic; that may annoy some people. But it has LeCarre's usual writerly virtues, unbeaten spycraft, strong descriptive and narrative writing, complex, if brief, plotlets. Resonant characters and dialogue, a sturdy moral context. It is written in flashback, so the action may be a bit bloodless for some. But it gives an informative summation of the Smiley-Karla years. "Before the fall, " as the circus calls it, when Bill Haydon, its secret counterspy, mole in the terminology LeCarre created, is still burrowing from within. And "after the fall," picking up the pieces. And it offers new views of the circus's great knights: Smiley and his unfaithful wife Ann, Haydon, Peter Guillam, Tobe Esterhase. To Le Carre fans, it's all catnip. We even get an unexpected bonus: Ned is apparently the desk jockey who ran Barley Blair, star of "Russia House:" think Sean Connery. Ned reminisces about Blair, "We were trying to do a deal on him, but Barley wouldn't go along with us. He'd done his own deal already. He wanted his girl, not us."
Several of the component short stories are particularly memorable. An early one about Ben Arno Cavendish, Ned's oldest friend, who joins the circus with him and thereafter makes a little mistake with terrible consequences. A later one about the Lithuanian Captain Brandt and his beautiful girlfriend Bella -- also Ned's. A tale about Colonel Jerzy, high-ranking Pole, who finds his own way to Ned. And Hansen, the big, fair Scandinavian, active in Indochina during the Vietnam war: Ned says Hansen, deep in the Cambodian jungle, is his own Kurz, communicating from his own heart of darkness. Finally, there's Frewin, lonely Foreign Office cipher clerk, with all security clearances; seduced into Russia's service by the language lessons of Boris and Olga on early morning radio. This is the war that was, indeed.
 Wonderful glimpses into Smiley December 14, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I agree with one of the earlier reviewers -- this is a magnificent book. But I, also, would like a final novel on Smiley, Karla, Control, et al. To LeCarre's great credit, he hasn't remained stuck in the cold war genre, and has moved on to the moral problem of our time: Africa. And, indeed, one of the wonderful features about the "quest for Karla" series is that a great deal is left to the imagination concerning the characters, i.e. instead of giving protracted psychological explanations for why they are the way they are, we have a description of what they do. Nevertheless, John, if you read this, you'd make our day with one more.
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