Thanks for the link Nick. Isn't it funny how we read the same books and ( be damned ) if the review talks about stuff we missed. Case in point, Lizzie. I don't remember a thing about her. She has to be central since Smiley visits her parents. I'll have to go back and look her up. The reason the book is my favorite, always something new. What characters he populates his tales. Who is that old general that stuffs the pack of cigs in the tree just before he is killed? have you read The Night Manager? A tad formulaic but enjoyable none the less

Hello John. That general I remember most vividly from the film version of Smiley's People. Smiley finds it the next day, I think. I always thought Tinker, Tailor was a better book than film (either one, as good as the first one was) and the BBC film version of Smiley's People better than the book (though it's been a long, long time since I read it).

I have read Night Manager. Not quite as polished as some of his others, as I recall, but still good. Tailor of Panama is excellent.

Yes, Lizzie ... femme fatale indeed. Do re-read that. Small wonder Smiley was a spy since he was helpless at everything else, as the scene beautifully shows.

I agree - that scene with Lizzie's parents is the point at which the novel really starts ticking over, I think. A brilliant and under-rated novel. As well as a great spy novel, it was also perhaps the best novel about SE Asia since Greene's The Quiet American.

I've not seen any of the films but I see The Honourable Schoolboy in my head as a most brilliant film: the scenes in Vietnam/Cambodia, the finding of the harmless young journalist's body in his apartment in Hong Kong, the extent to which I was invested in Drake's brother who is never really seen in the book, all the vivid characters, the sad missed life of Westerby, the sad accessory life of Lizzie, and Westerby's "Schoolboy Honour" damning his effort to serve Britannia. Remember him in "Tinker, Tailor...," the clueless part-time spy/journalist getting drunk and repeatedly clowning around with a fake Indian (American) "How." As I've said, I think "A Perfect Spy" is a more haunting book, and certainly "The Constant Gardener" is/was a knockout. And that film I did see; I own a DVD and watch it again from time to time: Ralph Fiennes one of the few actors who seems really to belong in LeCarre. But of the Smiley books, Honourable Schoolboy is tops in my opinion. LOVE Carre.

Joss Ackland gave a great performance as Jerry Westerby in the BBC 6-hour Tinker, Tailor, I can still remember it vividly, but it's not really Jerry, though there is one bit I remember that was very close: when Jerry asks Smiley (Alec Guinness), who's trying to ferret out the mole: Are you hunting alone? And offers Smiley, modest as they are, his talents and resources. And Smiley is very touched by the gesture.

But what makes Honourable Schoolboy such a great book is what makes it an impossible film. All those jungle scenes, the cafes, the daily life .... they never look as good as you imagine them. Vivid already, as you say. (And Lizzie... where would you begin to cast her?)

Constant Gardener was a good film, though I can find Rachel Weisz (sp?) annoying at times. (Academy voters disagreed.) And Fiennes is real good also in The End of the Affair, speaking of brilliant British authors..

John wrote: "Thanks for the link Nick. Isn't it funny how we read the same books and ( be damned ) if the review talks about stuff we missed. Case in point, Lizzie. I don't remember a thing about her. She h..."

The cigarettes in the tree is 'Smiley's People'.

I'm astonished someone could forget Lizzie Worth.

Robert wrote: "As well as a great spy novel, it was also perhaps the best novel about SE Asia since Greene's The Quiet American. ..."

You're damn correct on that observation pal. Its as good as Michael Herr's "Dispatches".

Dang it; Between Nick and Felix, you boys, it's been a few years now and another read is on the horizon. I can feel it coming on. One must always be aware of one's petrol level

Really, when you think about it, his best other efforts (Spy-Who-Came-In, Tinker-Tailor) don't have half the size and scope of this project. In sheer page-count, they're nowhere close to this juggernaut.

And as I suggested in my review: for LeCarre to be writing this story set Hong Kong in the 70s (the twilight of its tenure under the Brits) as well as writing about Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the rest of SE Asia too, as the America adventure there was ending...really, nothing could be more poignant. To my mind, his career could have satisfactorily ended there. He was the right man penning the right story at the right moment. The final Smiley book can be taken merely as a codicil.

'Perfect Spy', and 'Little Drummer Girl' ..eh..both missed-the-mark with me. And nothing else from him later, really sparks my interest. Because its just not the same world. Remember, the world of spying itself changes dramatically after the publishing of this work: intelligence services around the world began shifting away from human-based data-gathering (agents-in-place, informants) and ran instead with open-arms towards computers, databases, spy-satellites and eavesdropping. Digital data and the equipment which produces it is now the bastion of many agency budgets in the modern era. People can always be fired to save money or to avoid leaks, or prevent embarrassing scandals; but satellites? Never. Spies today never leave their offices.

Bah. Its all the more reason why this ('The Honourable Schoolboy') is the last great spy novel ever penned.

All the phone taps in the world don't equal one Connie Sachs!

How is dear Anne, George?

I liked the scene where the MI6 team interview the old China missionary, who keeps wanting to take out some refreshment to the operative recording in the car outside.

The Honourable Schoolboy is one I haven't read (yet!) but I couldn't agree more with your general point. le Carre is an incredibly talented author.

Perhaps my favorite thus far is The LIttle Drummer Girl, about the Israeli/Arab conflict. Set in the eighties but feels scarily modern, and may be the most morally ambiguous novel I've ever read.

And btw, see my review today of "The Russia House", from the late eighties:

https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/201...

Catching you here w The Schoolboy and your review of The Russia House have given me a moment to lean back and ponder an author I greatly enjoy. The Schoolboy is one of my favorites. It's a standalone book and one I think you would enjoy also. le Carre's visuals are outstanding.

Thanks again Lisabet

It's now on my (very long!) list, John!

I loved Smiley's People.

Nice job, Lisabet. I'd forgotten all about that polygraph.

You wrote: 'One of the delights in this book is the author’s rich portrayal of Russia and the Russian people. As they deal with shortages, crumbling infrastructure, corruption and fear of State repression, they remain resourceful, brave, warm-hearted and sociable—even idealistic.'

I'd be remiss if I didn't give you another books and author recommendation, Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko series. He deals w those very things (and apparently Moscow is to Russians what Paris is to the French -- loathed). I recommend Polar Star and Havana Bay most enthusiastically.

Thanks, Nick!

I'd love to see Le Carre get recognized for his genius.