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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The bill for stability, 18 Jul 2005
In Britain, retired civil servants are typified by life in rural cottages, pottering about in a rose garden and Sundays with The Times. Tim Cranmer doesn't quite fulfill the picture. His "rural cottage" is an inherited spot of land containing a chapel. His rose garden is a struggling vineyard. And Sundays are occupied by visits from his former protege. Instead of a demure wife to complete the picture, Tim's resident lady is half his age and a composer. Hardly the picture of a staid bureaucrat out to pasture. Perhaps all these variations are due to Cranmer being other than a "retired civil servant" - he's a retired spook.Spies never truly retire. They may distance themselves somewhat from the sharp end, but there are always loose ends left over and old cases that resurrect themselves. The dissolution of the Soviet Union was supposed to put ranks of spies from the West [and John Le Carre] out of work. They were considered poorly adapted to the new conditions. Le Carre and his literary creations have refuted that notion. His "retired" spy becomes enmeshed in a conspiracy of stupendous scope. It seems his protege, who was a double pretending to spy for the Soviets, is involved in an embezzlement - 37 billion BP, to be exact. The money is to finance a war of "national liberation" - a little item of ethnic minorities having faith in their identity. Their location is in the ramparts of the Caucasus Mountains, where loyalties are fierce, but the population scattered. Lacking resources, they seem to have convinced Cranmer's double to help finance weapons' purchases. Larry Pettifer, Cranmer's long-term protege, is an intellectual. He changes ideologies like his socks. A consummate wheeler-dealer, he duped his Soviet minders for many years. What effect did his most recent case officer have to change him? And where does Tim's resident consort, who disappears mysteriously, fit in to the picture? Emma finds Larry charming, but his flighty personality and behaviour seem inconsistent for a woman yearning for stability. Has she fled from security to embrace adventure? What price will Tim pay to recover her? The Western powers seek stability as well. Le Carre imparts the view that once the Soviet Empire dissolved, capitalism sought but fresh opportunities for investment. Justice and enterprise are often at odds, the more so when resources like oil or minerals are involved. Le Carre has taken up the cause of justice in all his writings, but his more recent ones speak with a more strident voice. Cranmer is portrayed as a voice of an older generation, quietly pleased that the Soviet Union is moribund. The issues of the post-Soviet East seem remote. Le Carre, with his usual skill, portrays a man drawn in by events beyond his control or his ken. It is easy to sympathise with him. But it is Pettifer's idealism that speaks for Le Carre. Never an ideologue, Le Carre's finely wrought narrative confronts us with our own uncaring self-interest. Capitalism may have triumphed, but the victory isn't without flaws. An excellent read and a tribute to Le Carre's skills in plot and characterisation. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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