Reading 1001 discussion

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: January 2017

I am usually not a big fan of suspense and espionage novels, but this one is actually quite good. It is about a spy who decides to take on one last assignment before retiring. The 1960s Cold War setting and imagery are great, and unlike many other books of its genre, the story is actually believable.

I think it deserves its place on the list because it is a model for the genre. In fact, LeCarre was an actual spy when he wrote this. The success of this book led him to leave his job to become a full-time author. It is hard to get more relevant than that.

I also read this book...just one year later. I enjoyed it. I did not see the twists that were coming. Certainly the ending did surprise me.
The characters were interesting. However their entire lives seemed to revolve around the world of espionage. There wasn't anything else happening in their life.

4 stars

I feel similarly to both of you. I think it was a 4 star read for me too. Like Diane, I don't typically love spy or suspense novels but I did like this one and I think for the same reason -- I found it believable

I actually really love crime, mystery, suspense and spy novels if they are done well and John LeCarré is one of the masters of this genre.
In this classic of the genre, LeCarré draws a number of exceptional characters that you feel as if you know. The agent who is wishing to "come in" during the height of the Cold War, is Alec Leamas, the head of Berlin bureau of the British "circus". He is not a likable character. He appears to have no higher ethical motivation, no philosophical underpinnings for his actions and no great regard for his superiors, yet you come to appreciate why he is doing what he is doing, which is "his job" although there is a fair amount of revenge hidden in there also. His love interest, who is simply tangled up in the mess, is an exceptional character. She is a communist, a true believer in her love for Alec and yet is unable to understand what it is that she needs to do to demonstrate that love under stressful circumstances. The "bad guys", both Fielder and Mundt, are working for the East Germans, and we come to understand that the very definition of "bad guy" is suspect. If you are an ugly human that would betray your own mother, how can you possibly be working for the good guys?
The plot is so well woven that you know that disaster is coming but can not predict exactly how and always hope against hope that you are reading the clues all wrong. The tension is taunt, the emotions are gloomy and depressing and yet you read on, hope is such a huge motivation both for the characters and the reader.
A great one for the list.

****

Move over, James Bond, because this is the real deal! Written a few years after the erection of the Berlin Wall, this novel takes you in the heart of the spying networks active during the Cold War and exposes a very credible plot which could or could not have happened for real. While it lacks a bit in live action and special effects, the intricate plot where you don't really know who's acting for who will still fill you with tension and leave you wondering why the fate of normal human lives becomes a means to an end in the world of secret agents. It was a huge success when it came our and is deservedly a classic. One would wonder whether they still operate in the same manner these days...