Smiley's People (Coronet Books) [Paperback]

For readers new to le Carre(and there can't be many)this is the third of what has become known as the "karla series".The previous two being "tinker,tailor,soldier, spy" and the herioc and romantic "honorable schoolboy"(highly reccomended too).The third sees much of the same cast collected again.You meet clever and dodgy Toby Esterhazy,the valient and niave Peter Guillam,a forgoten Russian General, an intelligence pimp,a collection of 2 dimensional whitehall twits as a foil,and as always a most humane cast of extras.The most humane being the conscience wracked George Smiley himself.As for villians you have the afformentioned whitehall boys, a convincing KGB thug and a villian of Moriaty proportion in Karla;Smileys foe for many years.The plot?Smiley is brought back once again from retirement to fight against his old enemy.A fight both personal and patriotic.It is the height of the cold war,his brief is strictly unofficial and he calls in favours and friends as his allies(thus the title).The locations?Paris,the bleakest Germany you have ever met,a sumptious Switzerland and of course grey,beaurocratic London.The drama?Betrayal.Le Carre's constant theme.Of wives,country,friendships and finally of the morality that has sustained Smiley through the long years of the cold war. Its a great read.Le Carre at his peak(though the semi autobiographical "a perfect spy" deserves a mention).If you haven't read the two others you can read this one alone. Wonder aloud afterwards how Deighton and co. can hold their head up in public.Le Carre is another world of thriller writers.I recomend you read all three but this one is one of the best you will ever read.

To my mind "Smiley's people" is the quint-essentially English spy novel. It has a fascinating many-stranded story that slowly builds into something special.

The story focuses on George Smiley (The main character from "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy") as he tries to track down his old nemesis - the Russian spy-master Karla. But we meet many interesting characters, and visit many diverse locations on the way.

In this book, we are as far removed from James Bond fantasy as it's possible to get. (Think of be-spectacled men in grey suits drinking tea and pouring over dusty old Whitehall files - and you'll have more of the right idea).

Does this mean that it's dull and boring then? Far from it:-

It is a brilliantly written mixture of detective investigation, espionage, and character study which builds slowly but surely to a wonderfully understated yet perfect conclusion.

If you're a fan of the genre (or even just of a good book) - don't miss it.

Mph.

In retrospect it seems odd that I'd never read this book before since I've always been a big fan of Le Carre & especially his earlier Smiley books - Call for the Dead, A murder of Quality & , of course, Tinker Tailor. I think I was slightly put off by the TV adaptation, which I found slightly disappointing compared to the TV version of Tinker Tailor (which is in my top 3 TV series of all time). Another reason may have been that when I read The Honourable Schoolboy (some 20 years ago) I found it rather hard work & again slightly disappointing after Tinker Tailor (the book), & assumed that Smiley's People would be more of the same.
All the recent publicity about Le Carre made me think I really ought to give it a go now & as a prelude I re-read The Honourable Schoolboy, which I enjoyed immensely 2nd time around. Then I opened Smiley's People & had one of the most pleasurable surprises of my literary life - it was absolutely rivetting ! The first 100 odd pages had me completely mesmerised & I just wanted the story to go on & on & never stop. This is writing of the highest order, dialogue, characters & plot all blending in a seamless & seemingly effortless yet tantalizing fashion. It is without doubt & comfortably the best of his works that I have read & goes easily in to my list of all time favourite books by any author.
It seems pointless trying to describe what the book is actually about since all you really need to know is that, as the title suggests, it involves George Smiley & some of his old Circus chums having their last hoorah. If you want to know more then just read the book.