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George Smiley #8
The Secret Pilgrim
Nothing is as it was. Old enemies embrace. The dark staging grounds of the Cold War--whose shadows barely obscure the endless games of espionage--are flooded with light. The rules are rewritten, the stakes changed and the future unfathomable.
Ned has worked for the British Intelligence all of his life--a loyal, shrewd officer of the Cold War. Now approaching the end of his career, he revisits his own past. He invites us on a tour of three decades in the Circus, burrowing deep in the world of spies from every corner of the globe.
"Le Carre is simply the world's greatest fictional spymaster!" (Newsweek)
Ned has worked for the British Intelligence all of his life--a loyal, shrewd officer of the Cold War. Now approaching the end of his career, he revisits his own past. He invites us on a tour of three decades in the Circus, burrowing deep in the world of spies from every corner of the globe.
"Le Carre is simply the world's greatest fictional spymaster!" (Newsweek)
375 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 25, 1990
1029 people are currently reading
6893 people want to read
About the author
John le Carré
370 books9,456 followersJohn le Carré, the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born 19 October 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), was an English author of espionage novels. Le Carré had resided in St Buryan, Cornwall, Great Britain, for more than 40 years, where he owned a mile of cliff close to Land's End.
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April 19, 2018
Our narrator, Ned, is instructing a training class at “spy school” or Sarrat, as it is known. He invites George Smiley to give a talk to the class while realizing that it might not happen since Smiley has become quite a recluse in his retirement. To Ned’s surprise, the invitation is accepted and the opening scene begins with George Smiley’s address.
As the talk goes on, Ned’s memories are triggered again and again. Some involve George Smiley himself while other memories involve other principals. What follows is a seamless knitting together of highlights from Ned’s career in the spy business, the life he led, and the people he met whose impact is sometimes haunting and sometimes a lifeline to sanity, all triggered by little nuggets from George Smiley’s discourse.
This book was very moving for many reasons. There are parts that are indescribably raw and terrifying. These are, thankfully, mitigated by knowing that obviously Ned lived through it because he is telling the story to us. There is also an unexpected undercurrent of philosophy, significant and layered meaning and ponderable thoughtfulness running below the surface of this book.
Written in 1990, it addresses many issues that we continue to face in today’s world. I remember reading a review somewhere that boldly stated that John Le Carré deserved to win a Pulitzer and/or Nobel Prize for his writing. After reading this novel, I have to say that I agree 100%. His intelligent and timeless contribution to literature shines through in all of his books, yet I can’t help but feel that in this one he surpasses himself.
And guess what? This is only the 8th novel I have read by John Le Carré, and all of them part of a series that has one more to come. He has written at least 15 other novels that are not parts of a series.
My original intention was to rotate the George Smiley series with my other monthly series and then move on. Now, however, I have a feeling that I will really miss out on something special if I don’t read some of John Le Carré’s other work. Although my reading schedule is over-booked (pun intended) for 2018, there is always next year to start planning for. I have a feeling that John Le Carré’s novels will have a presence in my reading plan.
They already have a presence in my heart and mind.
As the talk goes on, Ned’s memories are triggered again and again. Some involve George Smiley himself while other memories involve other principals. What follows is a seamless knitting together of highlights from Ned’s career in the spy business, the life he led, and the people he met whose impact is sometimes haunting and sometimes a lifeline to sanity, all triggered by little nuggets from George Smiley’s discourse.
This book was very moving for many reasons. There are parts that are indescribably raw and terrifying. These are, thankfully, mitigated by knowing that obviously Ned lived through it because he is telling the story to us. There is also an unexpected undercurrent of philosophy, significant and layered meaning and ponderable thoughtfulness running below the surface of this book.
Written in 1990, it addresses many issues that we continue to face in today’s world. I remember reading a review somewhere that boldly stated that John Le Carré deserved to win a Pulitzer and/or Nobel Prize for his writing. After reading this novel, I have to say that I agree 100%. His intelligent and timeless contribution to literature shines through in all of his books, yet I can’t help but feel that in this one he surpasses himself.
And guess what? This is only the 8th novel I have read by John Le Carré, and all of them part of a series that has one more to come. He has written at least 15 other novels that are not parts of a series.
My original intention was to rotate the George Smiley series with my other monthly series and then move on. Now, however, I have a feeling that I will really miss out on something special if I don’t read some of John Le Carré’s other work. Although my reading schedule is over-booked (pun intended) for 2018, there is always next year to start planning for. I have a feeling that John Le Carré’s novels will have a presence in my reading plan.
They already have a presence in my heart and mind.
April 25, 2021
4 ☆
In The Secret Pilgrim, Ned is the pilgrim who has wrestled with the faith necessary in his particular line of work. After a full career with the Secret Intelligence Service (aka the "Circus"), Ned has been shunted off to the Sarratt / "Nursery" because those who can, do; those who can't, teach. Ned invited George Smiley to speak at his students' celebratory dinner. Smiley is an old-world gentleman who would never be so vulgar as to describe himself in a fulsome manner. As remembered by the Circus' senior secretaries, they
During the long dinner, Smiley addressed the agent-runners-in-training and assured them of future demand for their services.
Smiley elaborated upon post-Cold War geopolitics, especially since this book was published during the implosion of the Soviet Union. Le Carré's words about the Russian Bear were prescient and remain relevant today, about 30 years after this book was released.
The Secret Pilgrim could have been a simple anthology of short stories. But le Carré had chosen an elegant framing device; nearly every chapter began with comments from Smiley's speech and segued into Ned's silent reminiscences. Ned appeared as the callow yet privileged novitiate that he was upon completion of his Sarratt training in the early 1960s.
Although Ned could by now blithely relate glorious exploits by which to dazzle his students, he privately recalled the misadventures -- the ones that had triggered his existential crisis.
At the beginning, I was taken by surprise by The Secret Pilgrim, as an unfettered Smiley was almost unrecognizable; dropping the chains of one's employer will do that. Ned's memories gave the additional benefit of filling in some of the gaps in Smiley's career. I was also leery that le Carré was repeating his parody experiment with The Looking Glass War, which had originally been received with open arms in the US and with closed arms on the opposite side of the Atlantic. But as the plotline concentrated on the journey of only one person - Ned, who had Smiley as his guru - I was more pleased with the resultant novel. Of course, le Carré did not refrain from poking at the self-delusions of the constantly philandering Ned. Many of the misadventures carried le Carré's favored theme of betrayal, while the latter chapters about Hansen and Frewin delivered the author's most potent emotional blasts.
The Secret Pilgrim was published in 1990, immediately after The Russia House in which Ned served as the Head of Russia House. I didn't realize that beforehand, and there was an ambiguously worded yet spoilery allusion to its predecessor's story.
In The Secret Pilgrim, Ned is the pilgrim who has wrestled with the faith necessary in his particular line of work. After a full career with the Secret Intelligence Service (aka the "Circus"), Ned has been shunted off to the Sarratt / "Nursery" because those who can, do; those who can't, teach. Ned invited George Smiley to speak at his students' celebratory dinner. Smiley is an old-world gentleman who would never be so vulgar as to describe himself in a fulsome manner. As remembered by the Circus' senior secretaries, they
spoke of [Smiley] with the old vestal's treacly awe, part as God, part as teddy bear and part --though they were always quick to blow over this aspect of his nature-- as killer shark.Ned, of course, recognizes Smiley as the Circus' legend of the past that he is. But now irrevocably retired, Smiley expressed a never-before-depicted levity because he's attained enlightenment, thus becoming Ned's iconoclastic prophet of the future.
During the long dinner, Smiley addressed the agent-runners-in-training and assured them of future demand for their services.
... most of our work is either useless, or duplicated by overt sources. The trouble is, the spies aren't there to enlighten the public, but governments. And governments, like anyone else, trust what they pay for, and are suspicious of what they don't...
For as long as nations compete, and politicians deceive, and tyrants launch conquests, and consumers need resources, and the homeless look for land, and the hungry for food, and the rich for excess, your chosen profession is perfectly secure, I can assure you.
Smiley elaborated upon post-Cold War geopolitics, especially since this book was published during the implosion of the Soviet Union. Le Carré's words about the Russian Bear were prescient and remain relevant today, about 30 years after this book was released.
The Secret Pilgrim could have been a simple anthology of short stories. But le Carré had chosen an elegant framing device; nearly every chapter began with comments from Smiley's speech and segued into Ned's silent reminiscences. Ned appeared as the callow yet privileged novitiate that he was upon completion of his Sarratt training in the early 1960s.
I was one myself ... the crossbreed Englishman who adopts the Service as his country and endows it with a bunch of qualities it hasn't really got.
Although Ned could by now blithely relate glorious exploits by which to dazzle his students, he privately recalled the misadventures -- the ones that had triggered his existential crisis.
Outwardly, I was my stolid, moderate, pipesmoking decent self, a shoulder for weaker souls to rest their heads on. Inside, I felt a rampant incomprehension of my own uselessness; a sense, that for all my striving, I had failed to come to grips with life; that in struggling to give freedom to others, I had found none for myself.
At the beginning, I was taken by surprise by The Secret Pilgrim, as an unfettered Smiley was almost unrecognizable; dropping the chains of one's employer will do that. Ned's memories gave the additional benefit of filling in some of the gaps in Smiley's career. I was also leery that le Carré was repeating his parody experiment with The Looking Glass War, which had originally been received with open arms in the US and with closed arms on the opposite side of the Atlantic. But as the plotline concentrated on the journey of only one person - Ned, who had Smiley as his guru - I was more pleased with the resultant novel. Of course, le Carré did not refrain from poking at the self-delusions of the constantly philandering Ned. Many of the misadventures carried le Carré's favored theme of betrayal, while the latter chapters about Hansen and Frewin delivered the author's most potent emotional blasts.
The Secret Pilgrim was published in 1990, immediately after The Russia House in which Ned served as the Head of Russia House. I didn't realize that beforehand, and there was an ambiguously worded yet spoilery allusion to its predecessor's story.
May 26, 2025
A final wrap-up to le Carré's George Smiley series is a chronological narrative of short-stories framed around the memories of spy Ned, and the stories of George Smiley, given to a group of trainees selected for the Secret Service. The stories span the 40+ years of the Cold War, and capture the gradual disillusionment of Ned and the ambiguity of the sagacious/perceptive George Smiley.
While this is not the best in the George Smiley oeuvre, it is a nice victory lap. It allowed le Carré the opportunity to publish a few pieces he had worked on, but not yet turned into novels...while also revisiting the themes of morality/love/individual vs amorality/duty/institutions he constantly addressed and returned to in his Circus/Smiley novels.
While this is not the best in the George Smiley oeuvre, it is a nice victory lap. It allowed le Carré the opportunity to publish a few pieces he had worked on, but not yet turned into novels...while also revisiting the themes of morality/love/individual vs amorality/duty/institutions he constantly addressed and returned to in his Circus/Smiley novels.
September 3, 2012
The phrase "invisible writing" kept entering my mind as I read le Carré's last Smiley novel, which consists mostly of a spy named Ned, on the verge of retirement, reflecting back on his career. Christopher Hitchens used it in reference to an Anthony Powell passage wondering what George Orwell (Powell's friend) would have been like in the Army. Hitchens and I are talking about slightly different things - he calls Powell's passage "deceptively dense." I would adapt it to mean writing that doesn't draw attention to itself, that tells you exactly what you need to know without pretense or showiness, propelling you forward without you being aware of the mechanisms of that propulsion.
Le Carré is a genre writer, but it's easy not to notice because he's so much better than so many "literary" writers.
Only our craven legal adviser, Harry Palfrey, seemed as usual to have weathered the changes, and as I entered Burr's shiny executive suite, Palfrey was slipping stealthily out of the other door - but not quite quickly enough, so he treated me to a rhapsodic smile instead. He had recently grown himself a moustache for greater integrity.
*
He interrupted his own flow while he looked me over. It was like being studied by a baby.
*
He was pulling open Frewin's file. I say "pulling" because his doughy hands gave no impression of having done anything before: now we are going to see how this file opens; now we are going to address ourselves to this strange object called a pencil.
Le Carré is a genre writer, but it's easy not to notice because he's so much better than so many "literary" writers.
Only our craven legal adviser, Harry Palfrey, seemed as usual to have weathered the changes, and as I entered Burr's shiny executive suite, Palfrey was slipping stealthily out of the other door - but not quite quickly enough, so he treated me to a rhapsodic smile instead. He had recently grown himself a moustache for greater integrity.
*
He interrupted his own flow while he looked me over. It was like being studied by a baby.
*
He was pulling open Frewin's file. I say "pulling" because his doughy hands gave no impression of having done anything before: now we are going to see how this file opens; now we are going to address ourselves to this strange object called a pencil.
October 31, 2020
In The Secret Pilgrim, Le Carré has given us something different in structure but similar in tone and perspective to the other books in the George Smiley series. Ned, near the end of his career with the British intelligence service, is now head of their training school, Sarrat. In this capacity he has invited Smiley to speak to his students, and to his surprise, Smiley has accepted.
A lesser novelist might allowed the book to take its form from Smiley's reminiscences in his after-dinner speech. Le Carré instead uses Smiley's commentary to trigger Ned's memories, which then form the core of the book. Once again Smiley controls the narrative from the sidelines.
Ned's career has been long and varied, and given the starting point of the book we know that he has survived - at least in the physical sense. The lack of a central plot allows Ned's reflections to focus primarily on the individuals he has encountered through the years. And as always, Le Carré combines an acute understanding of human nature with brilliant descriptive gifts; reading these character studies is richly rewarding.
But again as always, Le Carré shares clear-eyed observations on politics and power. The book was written immediately following the end of the Cold War, and Smiley speculates on what would be the appropriate attitude going forward of the West, the British specifically, toward the Russian Bear. Should it be feared, or embraced and nurtured back onto its feet and the world stage?
In Ned's last official act as an intelligence officer he is asked to convince a wealthy arms dealer who has purchased his extremely comfortable place in the world in part by plying his trade for the benefit of "the Service", to back off. To stop making the world a more dangerous place by making it better armed. His efforts are futile, and the venal, self-serving commentary of this ultimate capitalist presages a different danger for the future from the one Ned has struggled against.
Seen from the vantage point of 2020, Le Carré is remarkably prescient, as there has been a merging of greedy capitalism and political power in both Russia and the west. Putin is not only an autocratic ruler but wealthy beyond measure. The US is enduring an onslaught in all three branches of government against the ordinary man, promoting instead the welfare of an oligarchical class that controls as much as 98% of the wealth of the country.
There is one more Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, published just 3 years ago. I look forward to completing the cycle before the end of the year.
A lesser novelist might allowed the book to take its form from Smiley's reminiscences in his after-dinner speech. Le Carré instead uses Smiley's commentary to trigger Ned's memories, which then form the core of the book. Once again Smiley controls the narrative from the sidelines.
Ned's career has been long and varied, and given the starting point of the book we know that he has survived - at least in the physical sense. The lack of a central plot allows Ned's reflections to focus primarily on the individuals he has encountered through the years. And as always, Le Carré combines an acute understanding of human nature with brilliant descriptive gifts; reading these character studies is richly rewarding.
But again as always, Le Carré shares clear-eyed observations on politics and power. The book was written immediately following the end of the Cold War, and Smiley speculates on what would be the appropriate attitude going forward of the West, the British specifically, toward the Russian Bear. Should it be feared, or embraced and nurtured back onto its feet and the world stage?
In Ned's last official act as an intelligence officer he is asked to convince a wealthy arms dealer who has purchased his extremely comfortable place in the world in part by plying his trade for the benefit of "the Service", to back off. To stop making the world a more dangerous place by making it better armed. His efforts are futile, and the venal, self-serving commentary of this ultimate capitalist presages a different danger for the future from the one Ned has struggled against.
Seen from the vantage point of 2020, Le Carré is remarkably prescient, as there has been a merging of greedy capitalism and political power in both Russia and the west. Putin is not only an autocratic ruler but wealthy beyond measure. The US is enduring an onslaught in all three branches of government against the ordinary man, promoting instead the welfare of an oligarchical class that controls as much as 98% of the wealth of the country.
There is one more Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, published just 3 years ago. I look forward to completing the cycle before the end of the year.
November 15, 2021
This is more a thematically-linked series of short stories than a novel, but what holds it all together is the partial framing device of Smiley speaking to a group of new recruits to the Service as part of their training, and the narrator, Ned, himself a long-time spy, now side-stepped into training. (I only found out when reading this that Ned features in the non-Smiley The Russia House, and wished I'd read that first).
Smiley is uncharacteristically open in this book, and far less enigmatic and tight-lipped than he has appeared before. He's introduced as a Circus 'legend' by Ned, and certainly there's a level of almost hero worship that throws an interesting light on Smiley - and Ned as would-be acolyte.
The stories themselves range in time and geography (including one set in Cambodia) but - not surprisingly - coalesce around those le Carré staples of disillusion and betrayal, of self-aggrandisment and self-delusion.
I'd recommend reading this in order of the Smiley books as it is still reeling from the revelations of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy that reverberated so deeply in the Circus, and dips into Smiley's own on/off marriage. Not perhaps my favourite le Carré because of the fragmented structure, but another fine piece of work.
Smiley is uncharacteristically open in this book, and far less enigmatic and tight-lipped than he has appeared before. He's introduced as a Circus 'legend' by Ned, and certainly there's a level of almost hero worship that throws an interesting light on Smiley - and Ned as would-be acolyte.
The stories themselves range in time and geography (including one set in Cambodia) but - not surprisingly - coalesce around those le Carré staples of disillusion and betrayal, of self-aggrandisment and self-delusion.
I'd recommend reading this in order of the Smiley books as it is still reeling from the revelations of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy that reverberated so deeply in the Circus, and dips into Smiley's own on/off marriage. Not perhaps my favourite le Carré because of the fragmented structure, but another fine piece of work.
February 22, 2025
This was very different from the earlier Smiley books, where George was either a main character or somewhat incidental to the story. The protagonist is Ned, a spy coming to the end of his career and now assigned to training new spies. He invites George to speak to his students. Most chapters begin with Smiley addressing the students and answering their questions, often highlighting the moral ambiguity of their work. Then we leave the class for a ramble down Ned's private recollections, reviewing his entire career with the Circus. Smiley is a sympathetic and likable character, sometimes inexorable and ruthless, but no more so than an Oxbridge examiner. Ned less so. Too many details would give things away. Suffice it to say that Ned lacks both Smiley's personal probity and his high level of competence. Despite that, he manages to be a somewhat effective spy, partly with Smiley's help. My least favorite of the books so far.
Smiley does get off some good lines (some almost certainly reflect LeCarré's own opinions on the cold war and on our contemporary governments). Some of these are in my updates. I will close with two more:
"All I'm really saying, I suppose, is that if the temptation to humanity does assail you now and then, I hope you won't take it as a weakness, but give it a fair hearing."
"We have given up far too many freedoms in order to be free. Now we have got to take them back."
Good advice for us all, spies or not.
Smiley does get off some good lines (some almost certainly reflect LeCarré's own opinions on the cold war and on our contemporary governments). Some of these are in my updates. I will close with two more:
"All I'm really saying, I suppose, is that if the temptation to humanity does assail you now and then, I hope you won't take it as a weakness, but give it a fair hearing."
"We have given up far too many freedoms in order to be free. Now we have got to take them back."
Good advice for us all, spies or not.
July 14, 2019
Written in 1990, when the world found itself at the close of the Cold War and uncertain of the future, The Secret Pilgrim finds Ned, an aging spy, put out to pasture to teach the new recruits at Sarratt how to spy in a world where spying just might now be a second-rate trade. He invites our old friend Smiley to talk to his class, and as Smiley talks, Ned revisits his life as a spy.
As Debra, one of the astute members of our reading group, observed, “this is a spy coming-of-age story.” It is indeed, just that. It traces the decline in innocence of one spy, and in doing so, highlights the deterioration of a system that I believe began in decency and hope and ended in futility and sometimes corruption.
In the words of Smiley, "We concealed the very things that made us right. Our respect for the individual, our love of variety and argument, our belief that you can only govern fairly with the consent of the governed, our capacity to see the other fellow's view--most notably in the countries we exploited, almost to death, for our own ends. In our supposed ideological rectitude, we sacrificed our compassion to the great god of indifference. We protected the strong against the weak, and we perfected the art of the public lie. We made enemies of decent reformers and friends of the most disgusting potentates. And we scarcely paused to ask ourselves how much longer we could defend our society by these means and remain a society worth defending.”
I think these might be observations and questions just as worthwhile asking in 2019 as they were in 1990--perhaps more so.
I believe this was meant to be Smiley’s last appearance in print at the time it was written, although in 2017 John le Carre decided to visit him once again. Had this been Smiley’s last words on the subject of his life, they would have been profound ones. And yet, I wondered as I closed the book what Smiley would have done differently, given the same set of circumstances, and I decided the answer would have been, “nothing”. For Smiley did his best in a world that contained more evil and duplicity than he could ever have imagined--and what more can a person do?
As Debra, one of the astute members of our reading group, observed, “this is a spy coming-of-age story.” It is indeed, just that. It traces the decline in innocence of one spy, and in doing so, highlights the deterioration of a system that I believe began in decency and hope and ended in futility and sometimes corruption.
In the words of Smiley, "We concealed the very things that made us right. Our respect for the individual, our love of variety and argument, our belief that you can only govern fairly with the consent of the governed, our capacity to see the other fellow's view--most notably in the countries we exploited, almost to death, for our own ends. In our supposed ideological rectitude, we sacrificed our compassion to the great god of indifference. We protected the strong against the weak, and we perfected the art of the public lie. We made enemies of decent reformers and friends of the most disgusting potentates. And we scarcely paused to ask ourselves how much longer we could defend our society by these means and remain a society worth defending.”
I think these might be observations and questions just as worthwhile asking in 2019 as they were in 1990--perhaps more so.
I believe this was meant to be Smiley’s last appearance in print at the time it was written, although in 2017 John le Carre decided to visit him once again. Had this been Smiley’s last words on the subject of his life, they would have been profound ones. And yet, I wondered as I closed the book what Smiley would have done differently, given the same set of circumstances, and I decided the answer would have been, “nothing”. For Smiley did his best in a world that contained more evil and duplicity than he could ever have imagined--and what more can a person do?
September 12, 2017
Since the start of 2017 I have read all the George Smiley books with 'The Secret Pilgrim' (George Smiley #8) (1991) being the final book. Or that was the case, until the recent announcement that Smiley is set to return for the first time in 25 years in 'A Legacy of Spies', a new novel by John le Carré that is scheduled for publication on 7 September 2017.
Back to 'The Secret Pilgrim': it’s less of a novel and more a collection of interlinked short stories, it is (or was) a perfect way to conclude the series. The stories are narrated by Ned, a former Smiley protege, and each is prompted by comments by Smiley during lectures at Sarratt, the spy-training college which Ned currently runs. Ned’s tales span the decades of the Cold War, and capture Ned's steady disillusionment and, to a lesser extent, that of George Smiley.
The stories are universally good with a couple being superb. I cannot wait for the arrival of 'A Legacy of Spies’.
4/5
Back to 'The Secret Pilgrim': it’s less of a novel and more a collection of interlinked short stories, it is (or was) a perfect way to conclude the series. The stories are narrated by Ned, a former Smiley protege, and each is prompted by comments by Smiley during lectures at Sarratt, the spy-training college which Ned currently runs. Ned’s tales span the decades of the Cold War, and capture Ned's steady disillusionment and, to a lesser extent, that of George Smiley.
The stories are universally good with a couple being superb. I cannot wait for the arrival of 'A Legacy of Spies’.
4/5
September 27, 2020
‘The Secret Pilgrim’ is a really set of short stories joined together as the reflections of Ned, who after a life of spying now has the role of teaching new recruits. Ned reflects on his life as he listens to Smiley giving a speech to his trainees. I loved the stories, some just simple , gentle, and sad, like the story of Cyril Fruin, the clerk being ‘audited’, and others more powerful like one of a British spy in South East Asia caught during the Vietnam war. Possibly my favorite Smiley so far, but one that is probably best read at the end of the series.
December 20, 2014
This was a great page turner. Once I got sucked into the story I didn't want to stop. Alas, sleep and laundry got in the way.
"The Secret Pilgrim" was a good ending to the Smiley series.
"The Secret Pilgrim" was a good ending to the Smiley series.
May 28, 2025
The Secret Pilgrim by John le Carre is basically a form of reminisces and a memoir in a series of reflections on a long career in espionage during the height of the Cold War as our narrator Ned is now close to retirement and running Sarratt, the training school for new recruits to British intelligence. And as such he has invited the legendary George Smiley to address the soon-to-be graduates at a dinner and following the dinner, the student body of Sarratt spent the night learning more of the past experiences of the legendary spymaster. And in this setting where the responses of George Smiley to their questions allow Ned to think back and recall memories of his own long career in the secret service. Ned’s career in British Intelligence, known as the Circus, proves to be an intricate weave of suspicion, danger, boredom and exhilaration that is the essence of espionage. It is a look at a thirty-year career in the Circus, burrowing deep into the twilight world where he ran spies or “joes” from Poland, Estonia, and Hungary, men and women to whom he gave his most profound love and hate.
It is in the telling of the story of his own secret pilgrimage that Ned illuminates the brave past and even braver present of George Smiley, the reluctant keeper of the flame, as Smiley combines within himself the ideal and the reality of the Circus. And I will end with a quote from the book jacket of The Secret Pilgrim:
“And just occasionally we meet the reality we’ve been playing with,” he said quietly. “Until it happens, we’re spectators. The joes live out our dreams for us, and we case officers sit safe and snug behind our one-way mirrors, telling ourselves that seeing is feeling. But when the moment of truth strikes—if it ever does for you—well, from then on we become a little more humble about what we ask people to do for us.”
It is in the telling of the story of his own secret pilgrimage that Ned illuminates the brave past and even braver present of George Smiley, the reluctant keeper of the flame, as Smiley combines within himself the ideal and the reality of the Circus. And I will end with a quote from the book jacket of The Secret Pilgrim:
“‘The Secret Pilgrim’ holds us galvanized by its storytelling genius, by its perceptions of the moral conundrums at the heart of our society, and by its singular grasp of the myths and fantasies underlying the condition of nations. It is John le Carre’s most magnificent novel.”
November 8, 2012
I always feel sad when I read a John LeCarre but sadness is not always a bad thing. I have the feeling that this was intended to be LeCarre's goodbye to spying so he says a number of things right out in this that needed to be said. He says that spying is needed because governments don't believe anything they haven't paid for, that no one knows who tomorrow's enemies or allies will be so you have to find out the secrets that are always there. The book is really a collection of profiles, almost short stories and some of them have been published separately, but in this trawl through a case officer's memories we find spies who have been recruited because they were lonely, spies who have become disillusioned with some other life, spies who have changed sides and spies who have outlived their usefulness. It is a sad world and Ned says that when you look at yourself in the mirror you won't recognize the person there because you've changed so much of yourself. There are dangers to a spy, not being caught, but losing one's mind, losing one's marriage, losing one's peace. Smiley's last word is that the world is a different place and those who operated in the old one should leave it to the young to develop their own protocols.
Le Carre's style is all there, the fatigue, the brown-ness, the flatness, the details which must be worked out so that things can go smoothly.
Le Carre's style is all there, the fatigue, the brown-ness, the flatness, the details which must be worked out so that things can go smoothly.
March 6, 2023
“I think they want to be caught, that’s my opinion. I think it’s wanting recognition after all the years of being nobody.”
John le Carré schrieb im Nachwort, dass er in diesem Buch mit dem Ende des Kalten Krieges selber einem Abschluss kommen wollte. Was passiert als nächstes, nachdem der Westen dem schurkischen Kommunismus Einhalt geboten hat? Kann/muss man dem schurkischen Kapitalismus gleichermassen die Stirn bieten?
George Smiley, der unscheinbare Meisterspion aus der Feder le Carrés adressiert hier eine Klasse zukünftiger Spione in einem letzten ‘Fireside Chat’. Er erzählt, was einen Spion ausmacht, gestern und heute und dabei lösen seine Beispiele Erinnerungen aus beim Schulleiter Ned, bekannt aus The Russia House. The Secret Pilgrim ist nicht eine gewöhnliche Spionagegeschichte, in der die Verschwörung die Hauptrolle spielt. Hier geht es darum, den Spion an sich zu betrachten. In mehreren Kurzgeschichten, die als Reminiszenz des alternden Spions Ned zum Besten gegeben werden, kommt le Carré darauf zu sprechen, dass der Spion in erster Linie ein Mensch ist, mit all seinen Nöten und Gebrechen. Spionage an sich ist somit auch immer Zufall. Natürlich braucht es die Verschwörung und die Intelligenz, aber am Ende eben auch die Menschen auf der einen oder anderen Seite, die den Verrat möglich machen. Solche, die einfach zu inkompetent sind und wichtige Dokumente liegen lassen. Solche, die verblendet sind. Solche, die sich schlicht Anerkennung, Nähe und Liebe wünschen.
Damit ist dieser Roman weniger als alleinstehende Geschichte zu lesen, sondern als eine konsequente Abrundung der nun fast vollständigen George Smiley-Serie. Es ist eine persönliche und intime Liebeserklärung an die Spionage und den Menschen dahinter. Wunderbar geschrieben, mit dem kleinen Nachteil, dass dieses Kolorit an unterschiedlichen Erzählungen nicht so richtig in Fahrt kommt, wie die bisherigen Bücher in der Serie, die man zudem gelesen haben muss, um hier die Tiefe und Psychologie der Charaktere verstehen zu können.
John le Carré schrieb im Nachwort, dass er in diesem Buch mit dem Ende des Kalten Krieges selber einem Abschluss kommen wollte. Was passiert als nächstes, nachdem der Westen dem schurkischen Kommunismus Einhalt geboten hat? Kann/muss man dem schurkischen Kapitalismus gleichermassen die Stirn bieten?
George Smiley, der unscheinbare Meisterspion aus der Feder le Carrés adressiert hier eine Klasse zukünftiger Spione in einem letzten ‘Fireside Chat’. Er erzählt, was einen Spion ausmacht, gestern und heute und dabei lösen seine Beispiele Erinnerungen aus beim Schulleiter Ned, bekannt aus The Russia House. The Secret Pilgrim ist nicht eine gewöhnliche Spionagegeschichte, in der die Verschwörung die Hauptrolle spielt. Hier geht es darum, den Spion an sich zu betrachten. In mehreren Kurzgeschichten, die als Reminiszenz des alternden Spions Ned zum Besten gegeben werden, kommt le Carré darauf zu sprechen, dass der Spion in erster Linie ein Mensch ist, mit all seinen Nöten und Gebrechen. Spionage an sich ist somit auch immer Zufall. Natürlich braucht es die Verschwörung und die Intelligenz, aber am Ende eben auch die Menschen auf der einen oder anderen Seite, die den Verrat möglich machen. Solche, die einfach zu inkompetent sind und wichtige Dokumente liegen lassen. Solche, die verblendet sind. Solche, die sich schlicht Anerkennung, Nähe und Liebe wünschen.
Damit ist dieser Roman weniger als alleinstehende Geschichte zu lesen, sondern als eine konsequente Abrundung der nun fast vollständigen George Smiley-Serie. Es ist eine persönliche und intime Liebeserklärung an die Spionage und den Menschen dahinter. Wunderbar geschrieben, mit dem kleinen Nachteil, dass dieses Kolorit an unterschiedlichen Erzählungen nicht so richtig in Fahrt kommt, wie die bisherigen Bücher in der Serie, die man zudem gelesen haben muss, um hier die Tiefe und Psychologie der Charaktere verstehen zu können.
August 24, 2021
‘The Secret Pilgrim’ comprises the reminiscences of a British spy called Ned, who is looking back on his 30 years as a member of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service. Ned's stories are mixed with brief words of wisdom about "The Great Game" from George Smiley as he addresses a group of trainee spies at an informal dinner given at the spy-training school in Sarratt where Ned was director.
Written at the end of the Cold War, this is a coda to Le Carre's previous books about George Smiley with Ned's memories encompassing a dozen poignant short stories about his time with "The Circus" - triggered by remarks made by Smiley during his after dinner speech.
One somewhat cynical passage sums up the feelings of Ned and Smiley as the latter assures the would-be spies that, despite the end of the Cold War, their work will always be needed:
"Spying is eternal. If governments COULD do without it they never would. They adore it.
"If the day ever comes when there are no enemies left in the world, governments will invent them for us..."
Written at the end of the Cold War, this is a coda to Le Carre's previous books about George Smiley with Ned's memories encompassing a dozen poignant short stories about his time with "The Circus" - triggered by remarks made by Smiley during his after dinner speech.
One somewhat cynical passage sums up the feelings of Ned and Smiley as the latter assures the would-be spies that, despite the end of the Cold War, their work will always be needed:
"Spying is eternal. If governments COULD do without it they never would. They adore it.
"If the day ever comes when there are no enemies left in the world, governments will invent them for us..."
November 10, 2012
This is a collage of old tales an ageing spy tells his students before his retirement. Unfortunately the stories were told in the first person voice from a perspective I never connected with. Despite his best efforts, le Carré couldn’t make me care about Ned, not even when he was reminiscing with Smiley.
Smiley made a cameo and nothing more.
I might have found a couple of the spy tales themselves interesting, but they always ended and a new chapter began just as I started paying attention. Someone else might think the description of a hardened spook letting go of his secrets and learning to live in a post cold war world is compelling in itself, but for me it simply wasn’t enough.
Smiley made a cameo and nothing more.
I might have found a couple of the spy tales themselves interesting, but they always ended and a new chapter began just as I started paying attention. Someone else might think the description of a hardened spook letting go of his secrets and learning to live in a post cold war world is compelling in itself, but for me it simply wasn’t enough.
July 28, 2020
Reading a John le Carre book is like meeting an old, very good friend - it fills you with warmth. And this of course is a Smiley book, which is an added bonus. In fact after reading the first chapter I just sat smiling happily to myself, I knew how enjoyable it would be. Though a Smiley book, Smiley is not the protagonist. He is the framework through which a variety of events are presented. Smiley introduces, ends, comments, describes, philosophises, but it is happening to Ned who relates the events,and gives his perspective.. Two events later I realised that le Carre had these stories left over, to tell, and had chosen this structure to present those stories. That something completely banal can become a huge mistake involving danger to lives, that relationships can change due to suspicion or design or ego, that truth is an ambiguous word as is ideology - all this and more is portrayed, together with reference to previous stories and characters, which/who are the core of Smiley stories - Peter Guillam, Bill Haydon, Toby Esterhase, Smiley 's wife Ann, the Circus, Personnel, all the familiar things are there. All the individual stories touch us deeply, including the criticism of how the West has exploited & caused destruction in Asia and the Middle East, and that what has been gained by the West in the end is dubious.
October 26, 2013
Another classic espionage novel written in beautiful English. The narrator turns out to be Ned, the sympathetic, melancholy, Dutch-English head of the Russia House in the novel of the same name. And guess who appears next: dear old George Smiley, who gets an encore. I thought we had seen the last of him in Smiley's People, but here he is again. The Secret Pilgrim is really a book of short stories based on Ned's reminiscences of his life as a spy, while he listens to Smiley giving a lecture to Sarratt, or, in Circus lingo, 'Nursery' students. The stories are good and memorable, and feature some of the well-known characters of earlier novels, such as Toby Esterhase and Harry Palfrey, the narrator of the Russia House. We even catch a few glimpses of Peter Guillam. For le Carre afficionados it's a treat to have some of the same characters turn up in different novels. It provides continuity and makes the world of the Circus, now called the Service, seem very real, and populated by real people. There are even such nuggets as the information that Paul Skordeno of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy turned bankrobber and is serving a long jail sentence in South America.
At one point it appears Smiley has been lecturing on his interrogation of Karla after his defection to the West at the end of Smiley's People, but unfortunately Ned does not tell us what was said at that legendary meeting between the two archetypal Cold Warriors.
On a personal level, the novel is about Ned's problems with relationships with women, a recurring theme with le Carré's characters. The overall theme is the fading away of the old Cold War spies after Glasnost and the fall of the Berlin Wall. There's a lot of reflection in the stories on the morals of spying, and the difference between ideals and ground level reality, and whether the wrong people on each side won the Cold War and the right ones lost it, and generally it's the end of an era.
Smiley seems to dissapear once and for all after finishing his lecture. The new head of the Service, Burr, a protege of Smiley and successor to the slippery Clive of the Russia House novel, is a young genius who knows the Cold War only from stories. Ned goes into retirement too. His last job/story is to try to stop a wealthy and immoral British upper-class capitalist from selling arms to militant parties in volatile regions in the Third World. Clearly he is one of the new enemies replacing Communism. Ned appeals unsuccesfully to his conscience. It provides the theme for le Carre's next novel: the Night Manager.
At one point it appears Smiley has been lecturing on his interrogation of Karla after his defection to the West at the end of Smiley's People, but unfortunately Ned does not tell us what was said at that legendary meeting between the two archetypal Cold Warriors.
On a personal level, the novel is about Ned's problems with relationships with women, a recurring theme with le Carré's characters. The overall theme is the fading away of the old Cold War spies after Glasnost and the fall of the Berlin Wall. There's a lot of reflection in the stories on the morals of spying, and the difference between ideals and ground level reality, and whether the wrong people on each side won the Cold War and the right ones lost it, and generally it's the end of an era.
Smiley seems to dissapear once and for all after finishing his lecture. The new head of the Service, Burr, a protege of Smiley and successor to the slippery Clive of the Russia House novel, is a young genius who knows the Cold War only from stories. Ned goes into retirement too. His last job/story is to try to stop a wealthy and immoral British upper-class capitalist from selling arms to militant parties in volatile regions in the Third World. Clearly he is one of the new enemies replacing Communism. Ned appeals unsuccesfully to his conscience. It provides the theme for le Carre's next novel: the Night Manager.
January 6, 2022
Not among the very best le Carré, but excellent nonetheless. Le Carré seems to glory in leaving crumbs and occasionally slices of cake to assist his readers in better understanding George Smiley, and he leaves many crumbs in The Secret Pilgrim.
March 20, 2023
A series of short stories, really, in which Ned (who works with Smiley) wants to better understand his life's work. It gets off to a great start but the last few stories feel a bit redundant.
June 30, 2018
It’s a nice idea. After a series of seven novels that involve George Smiley to one degree or another, that series is capped by a set of short stories held together by a framing device that makes them the memories of a spy called Ned as he listens to George Smiley giving a speech. This gives Le Carre the opportunity to reflect back over the decades of Smiley’s involvement with The Circus by looking at them from a slightly different view point. (It should be noted that this was originally intended to be the final book about Smiley. That was until, 25 years later, Le Carre decided to publish A Legacy of Spies. This is also fitting as I’ve lost count of how often in all the other books George Smiley comes out of retirement to re-engage.)
For my personal taste, this framing and structure doesn’t quite work. These short stories feel a bit like fleshed out plot summaries for things that failed to become novels for one reason or another. They don’t generate the tension that the novels bring.
It is however still true that Le Carre knows how to write elegantly, so it is never boring: it simply never quite reaches the heights of some of the other Smiley books that lead up to it. It is also true that Le Carre still continues with his mission to show us that the world of espionage isn’t as glamorous and exciting as James Bond might have made us think it is. Le Carre continues to show us the mundanity of spying and, more than that, the moral ambiguity.
So, whilst I didn’t find these short stories as engaging as the Smiley novels (most of them, anyway), I did still enjoy the writing and questioning which made this an engaging read.
For my personal taste, this framing and structure doesn’t quite work. These short stories feel a bit like fleshed out plot summaries for things that failed to become novels for one reason or another. They don’t generate the tension that the novels bring.
It is however still true that Le Carre knows how to write elegantly, so it is never boring: it simply never quite reaches the heights of some of the other Smiley books that lead up to it. It is also true that Le Carre still continues with his mission to show us that the world of espionage isn’t as glamorous and exciting as James Bond might have made us think it is. Le Carre continues to show us the mundanity of spying and, more than that, the moral ambiguity.
So, whilst I didn’t find these short stories as engaging as the Smiley novels (most of them, anyway), I did still enjoy the writing and questioning which made this an engaging read.
February 8, 2022
Zo, ons afscheid van George Smiley is definitief. Met 'The Secret Pilgrim' schreef wijlen John Le Carré zijn achtste en laatste verhaal over de bescheiden, sympathieke, schijnbaar verlegen maar doortastende meesterspion in dienst van het Circus.
In dit laatste boek wordt de gepensioneerde Smiley door een lesgever (Ned, the secret pilgrim) van de geheime dienst gevraagd om zijn studenten toe te komen spreken. De toekomstige spionnen mogen zich laven aan de levenslessen van de legendarische spion. John Le Carré gebruikt het format om Smiley in korte stukken de balans van zijn carrière op te laten maken, terwijl Ned tijdens de verhalen mijmert over zaken waarmee hij en Smiley - al dan niet samen - afrekenden.
Zo wordt The Secret Pilgrim een enorm genietbaar boek voor kleinere en grotere afgehandelde zaken, waarin wederom menselijkheid de boventoon viert en ook de grote veranderingen (de val van het communisme in Rusland) niet door politiek of ideologie teweeg gebracht worden, maar door mensen.
Een heerlijk lofdicht aan George Smiley, aan zijn collega's - weggedoken op terrasjes achter hun kranten, aan mistige, Berlijnse nachten, aan het genre waarin John Le Carré zijn meesterschap keer op keer botvierde en dat samen met het verdwijnen van de koude oorlog op zoek moest naar een nieuw élan.
Genoten, 8 boeken op rij. (Enfin, de tweede was beduidend minder. 7 boeken op rij. Enfin, niet op rij dan. En de Karla-trilogie was ronduit indrukwekkend. Maar dat zeiden we al) :)
In dit laatste boek wordt de gepensioneerde Smiley door een lesgever (Ned, the secret pilgrim) van de geheime dienst gevraagd om zijn studenten toe te komen spreken. De toekomstige spionnen mogen zich laven aan de levenslessen van de legendarische spion. John Le Carré gebruikt het format om Smiley in korte stukken de balans van zijn carrière op te laten maken, terwijl Ned tijdens de verhalen mijmert over zaken waarmee hij en Smiley - al dan niet samen - afrekenden.
Zo wordt The Secret Pilgrim een enorm genietbaar boek voor kleinere en grotere afgehandelde zaken, waarin wederom menselijkheid de boventoon viert en ook de grote veranderingen (de val van het communisme in Rusland) niet door politiek of ideologie teweeg gebracht worden, maar door mensen.
Een heerlijk lofdicht aan George Smiley, aan zijn collega's - weggedoken op terrasjes achter hun kranten, aan mistige, Berlijnse nachten, aan het genre waarin John Le Carré zijn meesterschap keer op keer botvierde en dat samen met het verdwijnen van de koude oorlog op zoek moest naar een nieuw élan.
Genoten, 8 boeken op rij. (Enfin, de tweede was beduidend minder. 7 boeken op rij. Enfin, niet op rij dan. En de Karla-trilogie was ronduit indrukwekkend. Maar dat zeiden we al) :)
September 1, 2025
This Le Carre George Smiley novel is oddly organized. Without giving away too much the novel involves a series of lengthy flashbacks to the Cold War era stitched together by Smiley speaking to a room full of awestruck intelligence and spy recruits. My assumption is that Le Carre had a series of story "nubs" or "bits and pieces" set in the Cold War era but didn't know exactly what to do with them once the Cold War was clearly over. So, he conjured his vignettes together by making two of his recurring characters (Smiley and Ned) reminisce about the old days.
I was going to give this 3 stars, but Le Carre added a little something extra at the end. The vignettes got stronger and he injected a line of philosophical conjecture: "how and when will we know who won the Cold War?" Thirty years later, he was spot on about the weaknesses of the West and Russia. Hauntingly accurate actually. this bumped it up to 4 stars for me.
I was going to give this 3 stars, but Le Carre added a little something extra at the end. The vignettes got stronger and he injected a line of philosophical conjecture: "how and when will we know who won the Cold War?" Thirty years later, he was spot on about the weaknesses of the West and Russia. Hauntingly accurate actually. this bumped it up to 4 stars for me.
February 14, 2022
John Le Carré was a master of what he did, and the Secret Pilgrim is a brilliantly constructed novel. I wanted more of an overarching storyline to tie it all together as the episodic nature of the story meant it was sometimes hard to become totally immersed.
December 3, 2025
George Smiley signing off with a warning about climate change.
Really enjoyed the episodic structure. Works great as a retrospective on the Cold War and a finale of that era of Le Carré’s career. Last chapter serves as a back door pilot for the next thirty years. Communism is over, but what are we going to do about capitalism?
Really enjoyed the episodic structure. Works great as a retrospective on the Cold War and a finale of that era of Le Carré’s career. Last chapter serves as a back door pilot for the next thirty years. Communism is over, but what are we going to do about capitalism?
February 5, 2016
"The Secret Pilgrim" is one of those works which show why le Carre is a class apart from the rest of his contemporaries who deal with the genre of spy thrillers. Almost written in the form of a short story collection, "The Secret Pilgrim" is a series of reminiscences by a British spy on the verge of his retirement. From the experience of trailing the wife of an Arab sheikh shopping in Britain to cultivating a contact who carries out landing missions on a motorboat, le Carre brings along a multitude of events and landscapes (from the Negev Desert to the jungles of Cambodia to the bleak urban suburbs of Britain). All through out the novel, le Carre also brings around the fact that there's nothing glamorous in spying and intelligence gathering. The tediousness of listening to tapped telephonic conversations, reading reports on absurd topics and waiting for action to report on can be as intimidating as the risk of a moment of carelessness. Read le Carre if you want something more than a racy read! You'll come out enriched.
February 22, 2021
In the essay at the end of this book, the author talks about why he felt the need to construct what is a loosely connected anthology rather than an actual novel. He'd hoped to close the door on the Cold War as the basis for his novels yet had a number of themes left unexplored. The result is a so-so compilation kept enticing by the cameo appearance of George Smiley between each chapter. The chapters of note are #8 - a nod to Conrad about a former Catholic priest who after a psychotic break offered his services to the Circus and soon is swallowed up in the jungle; #10 - about a cypher clerk suborned by the KGB out of loneliness; and #7 - a brief, surreal episode in Beirut.
Most of the book is overwritten and fraught with sermonizing with a style that is decidedly dated. For the author, what seemed to mark the end of the Cold War was a realization that East and West had almost changed places and those in the intelligence services had perpetrated nearly as much evil as they prevented.
Most of the book is overwritten and fraught with sermonizing with a style that is decidedly dated. For the author, what seemed to mark the end of the Cold War was a realization that East and West had almost changed places and those in the intelligence services had perpetrated nearly as much evil as they prevented.
November 9, 2020
By my count this is JLC #8 for me, but I might have forgotten one. Still more on my shelves unread too. This is also another Smiley book, #4(that I can remember) that I will have read when I'm done. George is not FEATURED in this book, but he is an important presence. So far this is a sort-of spy memoir of one of Smiley's colleagues. Thus far the structure of the book is episodic. Entertaining ... attention must be paid, and my brain isn't getting any younger. Bill Haydon and Toby Esterhase also have "appeared."
- Peter Guillam makes an appearance - nice.
- The end of the Bella story(excellent BTW) reminds of the end of "The Third Man"(movie) and the end of "The Long Goodbye"(movie), which copied the end of "The Third Man."
Almost done after last night. One more short story to go.Two nights ago it was the Cambodia story and for me it was a bit much. Is this based on a real "thing"? Seems like a stretch for me, credibility-wise, though it did seem to connect somewhat to "Tree of Smoke," another Vietnam tale with an overwrought and murky psychic core. Last night's tale about the lonely signals clerk seduced and abandoned by Moscow Centre was more like it. Such great characterization and description. This one connects to "A Perfecct Spy" in its tale of a lonely soul undone by emotional need.
- The side by side seats was also a "thing" in Call for the Dead/The Deadly Affair. In this it was the opera, in the other it was the theatre.
- I was right about the letter's origin.
- In another story Smiley does right via a gft of cufflinks. Was this one a BIT too "emotional"? It got me choked up a bit.
Finished up with this one a couple of days ago, after going through it pretty quickly - always a good sign! JLC is always worth reading. The book jacket proclaims this as his best novel. That's just "buy me" hype. It may be the last of Smiley(and Ned) but it's not the best. Still plenty good, however.
- an easy 4* book
- Peter Guillam makes an appearance - nice.
- The end of the Bella story(excellent BTW) reminds of the end of "The Third Man"(movie) and the end of "The Long Goodbye"(movie), which copied the end of "The Third Man."
Almost done after last night. One more short story to go.Two nights ago it was the Cambodia story and for me it was a bit much. Is this based on a real "thing"? Seems like a stretch for me, credibility-wise, though it did seem to connect somewhat to "Tree of Smoke," another Vietnam tale with an overwrought and murky psychic core. Last night's tale about the lonely signals clerk seduced and abandoned by Moscow Centre was more like it. Such great characterization and description. This one connects to "A Perfecct Spy" in its tale of a lonely soul undone by emotional need.
- The side by side seats was also a "thing" in Call for the Dead/The Deadly Affair. In this it was the opera, in the other it was the theatre.
- I was right about the letter's origin.
- In another story Smiley does right via a gft of cufflinks. Was this one a BIT too "emotional"? It got me choked up a bit.
Finished up with this one a couple of days ago, after going through it pretty quickly - always a good sign! JLC is always worth reading. The book jacket proclaims this as his best novel. That's just "buy me" hype. It may be the last of Smiley(and Ned) but it's not the best. Still plenty good, however.
- an easy 4* book
May 7, 2025
The Secret Pilgrim
by John Le Carré
A superb book. Some of the most intense story telling I can recall.
The book’s structure ties to moments in a thoughtful speech, delivered by no less than George Smiley, John Le Carré’s famous hero of many other novels, to young new members of the intelligence community, in the era of glasnost. It evokes memories for the Ned, the event’s host and book’s narrator, reminiscing cases from his own life and career. At the deepest level they reveal his and his agents’ need for purpose and meaning in the closed world of trust, deceit, courage and duplicity in which they work. The book’s title strengthens and clarifies as we reach the end.
At the narrative level, the several stories occur in different postwar decades and in different continents, harrowingly, for example, in Cambodia, bitingly for another in Germany. Le Carré is always unputdownable, but this one is put down with some relief as its humanity is so painful.
by John Le Carré
A superb book. Some of the most intense story telling I can recall.
The book’s structure ties to moments in a thoughtful speech, delivered by no less than George Smiley, John Le Carré’s famous hero of many other novels, to young new members of the intelligence community, in the era of glasnost. It evokes memories for the Ned, the event’s host and book’s narrator, reminiscing cases from his own life and career. At the deepest level they reveal his and his agents’ need for purpose and meaning in the closed world of trust, deceit, courage and duplicity in which they work. The book’s title strengthens and clarifies as we reach the end.
At the narrative level, the several stories occur in different postwar decades and in different continents, harrowingly, for example, in Cambodia, bitingly for another in Germany. Le Carré is always unputdownable, but this one is put down with some relief as its humanity is so painful.
June 5, 2019
On the one hand, I wouldn't have digested this work, had it not been an audiobook I could listen to while scrubbing the floors. On the other hand, I could not stand the superciliousness of the narrator and his travesty of non-British accents. Then again, I'm not sure the reading the text would have helped. Also, not being given an omniscient view of Smiley greatly diminishes one's ability to like or sympathise with him, that is, if one is a student of history and not a sheltered red-diaper baby.
Knowing the plight of the people behind the Iron Curtain, living amongst the elderly who endured it, working with people who remember licking the walls as children in an attempt to satisfy their need for calcium, and trying to raise children who shall still have the weight of those shoddy, baleful bureaucracies on their shoulders, I can only scoff at a novel about the privileged men-children of English public schools sipping wine and vapidly reflecting on how much of their souls they may have lost in spying on a totalitarian regime, which they would actually say may have been spiritually superior to their own. Utter. Rot.
Yes, this 'flabby liberalism' is omnipresent in Cornwell's books, but at least in the Karla trilogy, I can empathise with people who lack conviction doing things that require it–actions that are materially evil–and losing their way in carrying out their duties. That is all pitiable, but Cornwell is losing his sense of proportion. Smiley remembered in 'Tinker, Tailer, etc.' that at least he should have been enraged against Bill for the deaths his treachery had caused. In this novel, he cheerily, if sardonically, comments on the debt of gratitude for the good Haydon's treachery did the Circus/Service. Spadaj.
One would have to really love Smiley/Ned to get through this one.
Knowing the plight of the people behind the Iron Curtain, living amongst the elderly who endured it, working with people who remember licking the walls as children in an attempt to satisfy their need for calcium, and trying to raise children who shall still have the weight of those shoddy, baleful bureaucracies on their shoulders, I can only scoff at a novel about the privileged men-children of English public schools sipping wine and vapidly reflecting on how much of their souls they may have lost in spying on a totalitarian regime, which they would actually say may have been spiritually superior to their own. Utter. Rot.
Yes, this 'flabby liberalism' is omnipresent in Cornwell's books, but at least in the Karla trilogy, I can empathise with people who lack conviction doing things that require it–actions that are materially evil–and losing their way in carrying out their duties. That is all pitiable, but Cornwell is losing his sense of proportion. Smiley remembered in 'Tinker, Tailer, etc.' that at least he should have been enraged against Bill for the deaths his treachery had caused. In this novel, he cheerily, if sardonically, comments on the debt of gratitude for the good Haydon's treachery did the Circus/Service. Spadaj.
One would have to really love Smiley/Ned to get through this one.
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