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Library's review
England, ca 1975
Vi er i England 30 år efter afslutningen på anden verdenskrig.
En ny lærer James Prideaux (alias Jim Ellis) dukker op på privatskolen Thurswood med et sjovt hul i sit cv.
George Smiley er egentlig gået på pension, men bliver halet tilbage af Peter Guillam, da denne via Ricky
Inden han døde, havde "Kontrollen" også kig på dette og han havde indskrænket feltet af mulige forrædere til fem og givet dem kodenavne "Knægt" - Toby Esterhase, "Dame" - Percy Alleline, "Konge" - Bill Haydon, "Es" - Roy Bland, "Joker" - George Smiley.
Bogen er tredelt. Første del er optakt, anden del er jagt, tredje del fangst.
Bogen er den første i Karla-trilogien ("Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", "The Honourable Schoolboy", "Smiley's People").
Smiley opsøger Connie Sachs, der er blevet fyret fra tjenesten, gået i druk, men alligevel har en fabelagtig hukommelse, fx om en Aleksey Aleksandrovich. Smiley snuser i papirer, som Guillam henter ud fra arkiverne og kan se mønstre i hvornår deres superkilde "Trolddom" leverer aktuelt materiale og hvornår russeren er i landet.
Hvad der skete, da Jim Prideaux/Ellis blev skudt er også interessant. Smiley opsøger den, der havde vagten den aften og får historien direkte fra ham.
Efterhånden får Lacon og Smiley materiale nok til at stille en fælde for muldvarpen "Gerald" og hans føringsofficer Polyakov. Smiley bliver overrasket da "Gerald" viser sig at være Bill Haydon. Haydon bliver arresteret og overgivet til inkvisitorerne på Sarratt. Inden han kan blive udvekslet med russerne bliver han dog dræbt. Ingen bliver stillet til ansvar, men utvivlsomt er det Jim Prideaux, der har dræbt den mand, der forrådte ham.
Som en krølle på historien, har Karla en lighter som han har nappet fra Smiley. Smiley havde fået den af Ann og Karla satte Bill Haydon til at "stille op i køen" blandt Anns elskere for at gøre Smiley usikker. Det er rimeligt udspekuleret.
Glimrende persontegninger og skildringer af livet på en kostskole og i spionverdenen
Vi er i England 30 år efter afslutningen på anden verdenskrig.
En ny lærer James Prideaux (alias Jim Ellis) dukker op på privatskolen Thurswood med et sjovt hul i sit cv.
George Smiley er egentlig gået på pension, men bliver halet tilbage af Peter Guillam, da denne via Ricky
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Tarr får nys om at Moscow Center har plantet en muldvarp i London Circus. Smileys kone Ann har forladt ham, men han forsyner hende stadig med penge og vil egentlig gerne have hende tilbage. Smiley kører helt under radaren, mens han forsøger at finde ud af hvem der er skurken blandt de fire øverste i efterretningstjenesten.Inden han døde, havde "Kontrollen" også kig på dette og han havde indskrænket feltet af mulige forrædere til fem og givet dem kodenavne "Knægt" - Toby Esterhase, "Dame" - Percy Alleline, "Konge" - Bill Haydon, "Es" - Roy Bland, "Joker" - George Smiley.
Bogen er tredelt. Første del er optakt, anden del er jagt, tredje del fangst.
Bogen er den første i Karla-trilogien ("Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", "The Honourable Schoolboy", "Smiley's People").
Smiley opsøger Connie Sachs, der er blevet fyret fra tjenesten, gået i druk, men alligevel har en fabelagtig hukommelse, fx om en Aleksey Aleksandrovich. Smiley snuser i papirer, som Guillam henter ud fra arkiverne og kan se mønstre i hvornår deres superkilde "Trolddom" leverer aktuelt materiale og hvornår russeren er i landet.
Hvad der skete, da Jim Prideaux/Ellis blev skudt er også interessant. Smiley opsøger den, der havde vagten den aften og får historien direkte fra ham.
Efterhånden får Lacon og Smiley materiale nok til at stille en fælde for muldvarpen "Gerald" og hans føringsofficer Polyakov. Smiley bliver overrasket da "Gerald" viser sig at være Bill Haydon. Haydon bliver arresteret og overgivet til inkvisitorerne på Sarratt. Inden han kan blive udvekslet med russerne bliver han dog dræbt. Ingen bliver stillet til ansvar, men utvivlsomt er det Jim Prideaux, der har dræbt den mand, der forrådte ham.
Som en krølle på historien, har Karla en lighter som han har nappet fra Smiley. Smiley havde fået den af Ann og Karla satte Bill Haydon til at "stille op i køen" blandt Anns elskere for at gøre Smiley usikker. Det er rimeligt udspekuleret.
Glimrende persontegninger og skildringer af livet på en kostskole og i spionverdenen
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Genres
Publication
[Kbh.] : [Haslev] : Superpocket ; [eksp. NBC], 2001.
Description
British agent George Smiley hunts for a mole in the Secret Service and begins his epic game of international chess with his Soviet counterpart, an agent named Karla.
Media reviews
10 of the Greatest Cold War Spy Novels
“Like Fleming, Le Carré (real name: David John Moore Cornwall) worked for British intelligence. But where Fleming used his WW 2 experiences as a springboard for fantasy, Le Carre turned his Cold War service into grimly realistic novels. The Spy Who Came in
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From the Cold (1963) trumped Deighton as a response to James Bond’s glamourous world of espionage, and he continues to turn out fine work to this day. Tinker charts the search for a Soviet mole in the upper echelons of British intelligence, providing Le Carré’s signature character – the low-key professional George Smiley – with a late-in-the-game chance to reclaim his standing in the Circus (MI6), made bittersweet by betrayal. A fine BBC serialization in 1974 was followed by an equally well-received feature-film version in 2011.” Show Less
Karla is finally lured across a Berlin bridge and into the West. But, again, what figure is cut by the evil mastermind when he appears? “He wore a grimy shirt and a black tie: he looked like a poor man going to the funeral of a friend.” Le Carré has never written a better sentence, one so
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impatient of ideology and so attentive to what he, following W. H. Auden, describes plainly as “the human situation.” The television series of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” has lost none of its grip, and the new film will recruit new friends to the cause; but if we seek George Smiley and his people, with their full complement of terrors, illusions, and shames, we should follow the example of the ever-retiring Smiley, and go back to our books. That’s the truth
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The power of the novel is that le Carré transfigured espionage – its techniques, failures and deceptions – into a rich metaphor combining national decay, the disintegration of certainties with advancing age, the impossibility of knowing another human being's mind, the fragility of all trust
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and loyalty. Show Less
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is fluently written; it is full of vivid character sketches of secret agents and bureaucrats from all levels of British society , and the dialogue catches their voices well. The social and physical details of English life and the day to day activities of the
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intelligence service at home and abroad are convincing. Unlike many writers Le Carré is at his best showing men hard at work; he is fascinated by the office politics of the agency since the war. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member Katie_H
The first in John LeCarre's Karla trilogy, this is considered to be the best espionage novel written. The superbly conceived mystery follows George Smiley, a retired British spy, in his quest to discover a mole within the Circus (British Intelligence Headquarters). "Tinker, Tailor, etc." is wording
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taken from a nursery rhyme that refers to the four men who have taken over the Circus, all of which are prime suspects in the case. The plot shows more similarities to an Agatha Christie novel than to modern spy thrillers, such as the Bourne series; there is very little action, but plenty of puzzles to solve. Knowing the reputation of this book, I really wanted to like it more, but I got extremely bogged down by the details. It was an extremely difficult read for this genre, and there were so many characters, events, and places, that I felt like I needed to take notes to keep track of them all. In the end, everything tied together very well, but it took quite a while for me to understand what was happening. I'll try LeCarre again at a later date, when I have fewer distractions. Show Less
LibraryThing member MickyFine
George Smiley was forced into early retirement from Circus during a change in regime. But when the possibilities of a mole within the secret service reporting back to Russia and the nebulous figure of Karla arise, Smiley is brought in to investigate. In the waning of the glorious days of the Cold
le Carre is a big name in spy fiction for a reason, and this novel is a perfect illustration of why. Brilliantly evoking the later days of the Cold War in the mid-1970s, we explore the world of men that came in to preserve Britain and the Empire in WWII and are now embroiled in a conflict where victories are nebulous at best. The novel is far more about the intellectual suspense of the spy game, and while there is a decent dose of action, it is the slow and intense burn of Smiley's hunt for answers about what happened prior to his being ousted from Circus and his search for the Russian mole that makes the novel such a delicious read.
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War, Smiley will return back to the intrigues and the men involved in them to root out the possibility that Circus no longer serves Britain.le Carre is a big name in spy fiction for a reason, and this novel is a perfect illustration of why. Brilliantly evoking the later days of the Cold War in the mid-1970s, we explore the world of men that came in to preserve Britain and the Empire in WWII and are now embroiled in a conflict where victories are nebulous at best. The novel is far more about the intellectual suspense of the spy game, and while there is a decent dose of action, it is the slow and intense burn of Smiley's hunt for answers about what happened prior to his being ousted from Circus and his search for the Russian mole that makes the novel such a delicious read.
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LibraryThing member kraaivrouw
I think I've always been a bit in love with George Smiley. There's something so appealing to me about him - aging and ordinary-looking but with a brilliant mind. He makes sense to me as a spy who probably should be someone who can blend into a crowd.
I read this series first when I was in high
This whole series is le Carré writing at his best, reinventing the espionage novel, and creating a group of characters that will move into your heart and take up residence, knocking on the door occasionally to come outside and visit again.
I read this series first when I was in high
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school and have re-read it about every ten years or so sense. I enjoy it immensely each time. This is the first in the series and it's smart, well-plotted, riddled through with paranoia and betrayal - appropriate to its times when you consider it was first published in 1974, but equally appropriate to these times.This whole series is le Carré writing at his best, reinventing the espionage novel, and creating a group of characters that will move into your heart and take up residence, knocking on the door occasionally to come outside and visit again.
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LibraryThing member Dorritt
"A modern masterpiece" says the blurb, and I couldn't agree more. Brilliantly written, plotted and imagined, LeCarre novels deftly describe a modern world in which reality, idealogy, and morality are all relative - and yet, encouragingly, good men still manage to find paths through the morass.
In
George Smiley, the reluctant hero of this tale, is a reimagined version of the chivalric English hero, blending personal courage and dedication to duty with all-too-human vulnerability.
There are simply too many books in the world worth reading to devote much time to reading books over again. However, this is one book I find myself revisiting again and again - maybe because every one in a while, I like to believe (if only for 300 pages) that, despite all the ambiguity of our "modern" world, people who believe in duty and honor still exist.
In
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this and many of his other works, LeCarre does an amazing job of depicting espionage as a shadowy parallel universe in which everything familiar is unsettlingly unfamiliar, from the language the intelligence community invents for itself, to the precarious lives his characters live, to the disconcerting way in which the ordinary detritus of human life - newspapers, milk bottles, church pews - comes to be imbued with chilling significance. George Smiley, the reluctant hero of this tale, is a reimagined version of the chivalric English hero, blending personal courage and dedication to duty with all-too-human vulnerability.
There are simply too many books in the world worth reading to devote much time to reading books over again. However, this is one book I find myself revisiting again and again - maybe because every one in a while, I like to believe (if only for 300 pages) that, despite all the ambiguity of our "modern" world, people who believe in duty and honor still exist.
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Set in various locations across England, but mostly alternating between a private school in Somerset and London, this is the start of one of le Carre's most famous trilogies. George Smiley's long term campaign against the secretive russian spymaster known only as Karla.
A difficult book to get into,
There is a lot of backstory to assimilate in the first half of the book - the reader gradually comes to understand that London "Circus" - MI5 or some equivalent - has undergone an upheaval and change of management. However theold guard hasn't gone out lightly, and many noses were put out of joint. The question lingers as to how fair this process was - is a secret being hidden? George Smiley as someone widely trusted is eventually slipped notice that the late former manager known only as "Control" had suspected the very worst - a Russian spy within the Circus. However before he could complete his investigation he was removed from power and replaced. The possible candidates, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Beggerman are all still active. George with unofficial backing from the minister calls in favours to see what he can unravel.
The story gets more gripping towards the last third, but the change in world circumstances since it was written in '74 means it now does not have the same impact it initially did. Le Carre's later works are far better reads, but this is still one of the classics of the spy genre.
A difficult book to get into,
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the writing style in languid with little happening. This is not an action spy adventure, very little creaping around, no gund, no gadgets. Instead it is a paperwork story, reollections and minutes of meetings. Flashabcks to various previous events.There is a lot of backstory to assimilate in the first half of the book - the reader gradually comes to understand that London "Circus" - MI5 or some equivalent - has undergone an upheaval and change of management. However theold guard hasn't gone out lightly, and many noses were put out of joint. The question lingers as to how fair this process was - is a secret being hidden? George Smiley as someone widely trusted is eventually slipped notice that the late former manager known only as "Control" had suspected the very worst - a Russian spy within the Circus. However before he could complete his investigation he was removed from power and replaced. The possible candidates, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Beggerman are all still active. George with unofficial backing from the minister calls in favours to see what he can unravel.
The story gets more gripping towards the last third, but the change in world circumstances since it was written in '74 means it now does not have the same impact it initially did. Le Carre's later works are far better reads, but this is still one of the classics of the spy genre.
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LibraryThing member Larou
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was my next stop in my (mostly) chronological tour of the works of John Le Carré; and it is interesting to note that he followed what very many consider his worst novel with what most consider one of his best (although that distinction usually goes not so much to this
This novel is structured like a jigsaw puzzle. While it is a well-worn simile to compare a mystery novel to a puzzle, it rarely was so literally true as in the case of Le Carré’s novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - the narrative here does not so much develop as a linear plot, but rather consists of bits and pieces of similar size but various shapes that at first sight seem to have no connection to each other and not to make much sense on their own, but when placed together in the right pattern by an expert hand suddenly cohere and form a bigger picture. That expert hand (and it is very expert hand) is not that of the reader, however – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy does not just shake out the unsorted pieces in front of the reader and leaves it for them to sort them out (which would have resulted in a formally much more radical novel – one like George Perec’s La Vie – Mode d’Emploi, for example) but has them all put in place by the narrator – reading Le Carré’s novel, then, is not so much like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, but like watching someone else do it.
Which does sound rather boring, and probably would have been in the hands of a lesser writer than Le Carré, but he pulls it off masterfully. There is not really any forward momentum to this novel, there is nothing really happening except people sitting around, drinking tea, or taking the occasional walk, while reminiscing or having talks over the current state of the Secret Service, but it still manages to grab the reader and to not let go until the end. The story is told in isolated pieces that at first do not seem to connect at all – another fitting image beside a jigsaw puzzle might be those complicated patterns from domino stones that are set up in a long and painstaking process, to be then set in motion by the tipping over of a single stone. Maybe this simile explains better while in spite of everything Tinker Tailor Sailor Spy is a compulsive page-turner, even if one has (like me) watched the BBC TV serial a long time back and still remembers who the mole is. The real tension and excitement in this novel comes not so much from the Whodunnit-like mystery, but from watching Le Carré build his extremely complex and incredibly fragile-seeming structure, from holding one’s breath for fear of disturbing it and half expecting it to come tumbling down any paragraph. It’s not unlike watching a juggler, watching his hands, watching oranges circle through the air, involuntarily sucking in one’s breath when one seems to slip his grasp, then exhaling with a relieved sigh when it doesn’t and he catches it at the last possible moment.
As impressive as Le Carré’s techinal accomplishment here is, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not artistry for its own sake – as always with Le Carré’s novels, this one, too, is driven by a strong moral and political impetus. The world that Le Carré describes here, the world of Circus and Centre, of espionage and counter-intelligence, of scalphunters, lamplighters and moles, might border on the one we inhabit, but it also is detached from it, and the two exist parallel to each other without really touching. But while the shady world of international espionage might at first appear like some exotic fantasy world, the farther the novel progresses, the more pieces Le Carré adds to the jigsaw puzzle, the clearer it becomes that the resulting picture bears an uncanny resemblance to our own world – here is class structure, and here is the exclusion of outsiders, here is the ruthlessness of the poeple in power and the powerlessness of the people at the bottom of the pecking order, here is the pretense to be in the moral right while employing decidedly unethical means to reach one’s ends. In the end, it adds up to an only slightly distorted replica of our familiar world of economy and politics, and when the final piece is in place, the reader is left looking at a picture that is all too familiar.
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novel in and of itself as to the “Karla Triloy” of which it is the first volume).This novel is structured like a jigsaw puzzle. While it is a well-worn simile to compare a mystery novel to a puzzle, it rarely was so literally true as in the case of Le Carré’s novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - the narrative here does not so much develop as a linear plot, but rather consists of bits and pieces of similar size but various shapes that at first sight seem to have no connection to each other and not to make much sense on their own, but when placed together in the right pattern by an expert hand suddenly cohere and form a bigger picture. That expert hand (and it is very expert hand) is not that of the reader, however – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy does not just shake out the unsorted pieces in front of the reader and leaves it for them to sort them out (which would have resulted in a formally much more radical novel – one like George Perec’s La Vie – Mode d’Emploi, for example) but has them all put in place by the narrator – reading Le Carré’s novel, then, is not so much like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, but like watching someone else do it.
Which does sound rather boring, and probably would have been in the hands of a lesser writer than Le Carré, but he pulls it off masterfully. There is not really any forward momentum to this novel, there is nothing really happening except people sitting around, drinking tea, or taking the occasional walk, while reminiscing or having talks over the current state of the Secret Service, but it still manages to grab the reader and to not let go until the end. The story is told in isolated pieces that at first do not seem to connect at all – another fitting image beside a jigsaw puzzle might be those complicated patterns from domino stones that are set up in a long and painstaking process, to be then set in motion by the tipping over of a single stone. Maybe this simile explains better while in spite of everything Tinker Tailor Sailor Spy is a compulsive page-turner, even if one has (like me) watched the BBC TV serial a long time back and still remembers who the mole is. The real tension and excitement in this novel comes not so much from the Whodunnit-like mystery, but from watching Le Carré build his extremely complex and incredibly fragile-seeming structure, from holding one’s breath for fear of disturbing it and half expecting it to come tumbling down any paragraph. It’s not unlike watching a juggler, watching his hands, watching oranges circle through the air, involuntarily sucking in one’s breath when one seems to slip his grasp, then exhaling with a relieved sigh when it doesn’t and he catches it at the last possible moment.
As impressive as Le Carré’s techinal accomplishment here is, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not artistry for its own sake – as always with Le Carré’s novels, this one, too, is driven by a strong moral and political impetus. The world that Le Carré describes here, the world of Circus and Centre, of espionage and counter-intelligence, of scalphunters, lamplighters and moles, might border on the one we inhabit, but it also is detached from it, and the two exist parallel to each other without really touching. But while the shady world of international espionage might at first appear like some exotic fantasy world, the farther the novel progresses, the more pieces Le Carré adds to the jigsaw puzzle, the clearer it becomes that the resulting picture bears an uncanny resemblance to our own world – here is class structure, and here is the exclusion of outsiders, here is the ruthlessness of the poeple in power and the powerlessness of the people at the bottom of the pecking order, here is the pretense to be in the moral right while employing decidedly unethical means to reach one’s ends. In the end, it adds up to an only slightly distorted replica of our familiar world of economy and politics, and when the final piece is in place, the reader is left looking at a picture that is all too familiar.
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LibraryThing member joeld
The best thing about this book is the rich atmosphere, which I have elsewhere read described as Tolkien-esque, thickly populated with towering, conflicted and secretive characters. The jargon of the British spy trade - "lamplighters," "product," "handwriting," "trade-craft," "hoods,"
If I were to compare Le Carrè's book to any of the Jas. Bond series, the former would be like Sherlock Holmes and the latter more like the old Adam West version of Batman.
I saw the 2012 movie release of this book and then listened to the audiobook read in the tough, marble-smooth voice of Michael Jayston (who played Peter Guillam in the 1970s BBC production), and I can hardly imagine enjoying one without the other. They're both excellent.
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"sound-thieves," etc etc, is both endless and a delight to chew on, like nuts from a bowl. This is one of those novels that respects you as a reader, takes your intelligence seriously by relying on your ability to make leaps of intuition over sensibly placed gaps in explanation (the movie pulled off this effect excellently also), and admits you to the inside of a story where professional intrigue and personal hopes and failures constantly bleed over into each other. The plot is intricate and satisfying at every stage, and ends in a lovely, strong mix of revelation and irreparable tragedy. If I were to compare Le Carrè's book to any of the Jas. Bond series, the former would be like Sherlock Holmes and the latter more like the old Adam West version of Batman.
I saw the 2012 movie release of this book and then listened to the audiobook read in the tough, marble-smooth voice of Michael Jayston (who played Peter Guillam in the 1970s BBC production), and I can hardly imagine enjoying one without the other. They're both excellent.
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LibraryThing member heaward
This was a thriller with a complex plot and good detailed character development. I found I couldn't read it when I was tired or I would miss crucial details. It kept me on my toes! I appreciated that Smiley wasn't just some flashy spy, but was a middle-aged man with real-life problems. I definitely
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want to continue with the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member conformer
This is the story of a mole hunt; but unlike other mole hunt stories, (like the first Mission: Impossible movie, whose main character was also called Hunt) the exotic locales, swashbuckling secret agents, and suave shoot-em-ups are either few and far between, inversed in their characterizations, or
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altogether absent. Le Carré's masterspy George Smiley is short, frumpy, and insecure, but; similar to Rex Stout's stout Nero Wolfe, his primary weapon is his sharp intellect and eagle-eye for detail, not to mention the seemingly superhuman ability to read the contents of file after file after file without going schizo.What Le Carré excels at the most is infusing even the most ancillary characters with dimension; from the nebbish schoolboy roped into assisting a blown agent, to the enigmatic Soviet mastermind Karla, who has no lines but still exudes an air of quiet menace.As a spy novel, this book is more of a mystery; pieces and players are put into place in the early chapters, and they're slowly moved towards the inevitable conclusion; while at the same time, fragments of tales from the backgrounds of Smiley and his fellow operatives are related in flashback, almost always in conversation, until the end story is revealed to be larger than the just the individual pieces. Show Less
LibraryThing member balbs
Don't expect Bourne or Bond, glamour or the internet - this is cold war Britain of the seventies, with the shadowy background of deeply rooted real life traitors on every page. Digging into the past to discover the present involves paperwork rather than guns, and past intimacies are wrenched to get
Perservere with this .... but if you feel confused by the dense material get hold of the BBC drama series of the same name from the seventies - Alec Guiness played his part in such a superb way that Le Carre said he based future characters on his portrayal of George Smiley - Le Carre approved of the series himself - even though you will know the main plot line you can still go back to the book and marvel at Le Carre's use of narrative, time and space. 5 stars all round.
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answers.Perservere with this .... but if you feel confused by the dense material get hold of the BBC drama series of the same name from the seventies - Alec Guiness played his part in such a superb way that Le Carre said he based future characters on his portrayal of George Smiley - Le Carre approved of the series himself - even though you will know the main plot line you can still go back to the book and marvel at Le Carre's use of narrative, time and space. 5 stars all round.
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LibraryThing member stillatim
Actually, it is that good--very addictive, well written, thoughtful, willing to let you do some of the work rather than laying everything out there for its readers, and a very nice summary of what it must have been like to live the Cold War intellectually (i.e., everybody loses all the time).
LibraryThing member nbmars
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the fifth spy novel by John LeCarre that features George Smiley as the chief protagonist. Smiley is an overweight, somewhat disheveled middle-aged man whose appearance belies a keen intelligence. This book is the first in which we hear about Karla, the ultimate
As is typical of LeCarre’s spy novels, the background is furnished in flashbacks. The story line is convoluted, but no more complex than the fictional labyrinthine scheme concocted by Karla to plant a “mole” in the highest echelons of the British security apparatus. And indeed, Karla’s ultimate target is not the British, but the Americans, with whom he anticipates the British will communicate clandestinely.
The book was made into an exceptionally good movie starring Gary Oldman as Smiley and featuring Colin Firth. In the end, the mole is discovered through Smiley’s painstakingly clever investigation in which he unravels Karla’s serpentine maze.
LeCarre is a master of his craft and this is one of his best. As with his other novels, the writing is very literate even though he employs a great deal of spy jargon that sounds very realistic, but which the author himself made up. I listened to the audio version, read superbly by Michael Jayston, who imparts to each main character an individual and easily recognized voice. He is particularly good a vocalizing the Scottish brogue of Percy Alleline. I highly recommend either the audio or print version of this book.
(JAB)
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Russian spy master and the head of “Moscow Center,” the Soviet secret service. As is typical of LeCarre’s spy novels, the background is furnished in flashbacks. The story line is convoluted, but no more complex than the fictional labyrinthine scheme concocted by Karla to plant a “mole” in the highest echelons of the British security apparatus. And indeed, Karla’s ultimate target is not the British, but the Americans, with whom he anticipates the British will communicate clandestinely.
The book was made into an exceptionally good movie starring Gary Oldman as Smiley and featuring Colin Firth. In the end, the mole is discovered through Smiley’s painstakingly clever investigation in which he unravels Karla’s serpentine maze.
LeCarre is a master of his craft and this is one of his best. As with his other novels, the writing is very literate even though he employs a great deal of spy jargon that sounds very realistic, but which the author himself made up. I listened to the audio version, read superbly by Michael Jayston, who imparts to each main character an individual and easily recognized voice. He is particularly good a vocalizing the Scottish brogue of Percy Alleline. I highly recommend either the audio or print version of this book.
(JAB)
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LibraryThing member seoulful
In the series of George Smiley spy novels, John Le Carre is at his best. Somehow his numerous other novels never quite measured up to the plot and characterization found in this series. George, who in times past held a high position in the Circus, top intelligence unit in England, is now retired.
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He is called back to investigate when word comes that a mole is operating inside the Circus. We watch in detail how laboriously George, by mainly using files, is able to unravel the knot in which the Circus has been tied. Show Less
LibraryThing member brettjames
Timeless. If you ever wonder why Le Carre both rarely comes up in conversation about other thriller writers, and why enthusiasts tend to speak of him in a hushed excitement, then read this book!
Arguably his best, it's certainly the most true to his form: a spy story about the people who are spies,
Arguably his best, it's certainly the most true to his form: a spy story about the people who are spies,
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straight from the horse's mouth (Le Carre, nee David Cornwell, worked for MI5 and MI6.) Show Less
LibraryThing member MrsPlum
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy is a spy novel depicting the discovery and unmasking of a double agent, or mole, in the British secret service. Le Carre is a master of characterisation and ‘Tinker Tailor’ abounds with captivating characters and their stories: George Smiley, Jim Prideaux, Peter
George Smiley is a remarkable creation, the antithesis of the traditional spy hero. He is dull, rather than dashing; more chameleon than charismatic; not fit, but flabby; the jilted husband, not the gigolo lover. Smiley has been so deeply drawn by Le Carre that he becomes real and, like real people, too complex to analyse with certainty. As a woman, I can understand how his wife, the delicious Ann, could love him profoundly in theory, but not in practice. He is certainly a character I love and return to for comfort.
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Guillam, Ricki Tarr, Connie Sachs, Bill Hayden, Toby Esterhase, and Jerry Westerby - to name a few. Le Carre has the knack of telling us much about each, through the careful selection of details. His narrative is rich with sensory information that enables us to live the events along with his characters, without being obtrusive.George Smiley is a remarkable creation, the antithesis of the traditional spy hero. He is dull, rather than dashing; more chameleon than charismatic; not fit, but flabby; the jilted husband, not the gigolo lover. Smiley has been so deeply drawn by Le Carre that he becomes real and, like real people, too complex to analyse with certainty. As a woman, I can understand how his wife, the delicious Ann, could love him profoundly in theory, but not in practice. He is certainly a character I love and return to for comfort.
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LibraryThing member Andibook
George Smiley, retired Cold War spy, untangles the knot of betrayal and double-agency that got him "retired" in the first place: there's a mole at the very top.
Featuring old memories, delicate operations, random schoolboy interludes, interpersonal drama, and almost no on-screen action.
I saw the
And the movie was quite faithful: not just to the plot, but to the mood, and how delicious every small moment was. Le Carré's writing is gorgeous, even when the plot is difficult to follow. I regulator found myself not sure what was happening on a page, but nevertheless enjoying each sentence.
I don't think I'll be recommending to people. Way too dry for a lot of people.
And of course now I'm watching the movie again. This time I think I'll actually know what's going on! It's practically fast, compared to the book.
Featuring old memories, delicate operations, random schoolboy interludes, interpersonal drama, and almost no on-screen action.
I saw the
Show More
movie first, which was probably for the best; I'm not sure I could've followed it without the vague recollection of the major players. But I saw it long enough ago that it couldn't ruin anything really. And the movie was quite faithful: not just to the plot, but to the mood, and how delicious every small moment was. Le Carré's writing is gorgeous, even when the plot is difficult to follow. I regulator found myself not sure what was happening on a page, but nevertheless enjoying each sentence.
I don't think I'll be recommending to people. Way too dry for a lot of people.
And of course now I'm watching the movie again. This time I think I'll actually know what's going on! It's practically fast, compared to the book.
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LibraryThing member lindaholland
Brilliant, cunning spy story. First of the Smiley and Karla books, and I am definitely going to read the other two. The plot is intricate but followable with concentration, and the tension is sustained throughout.
LibraryThing member devilish2
Frustrating and confusing. I wasn't carried along by the story, I felt nothing made sense. I felt all at sea with no points of connection.
LibraryThing member sarah-e
I found the end of this book more enjoyable than what led up to it. The story was so good I could barely put it down, but at the same time it was very difficult for me to follow. This was my introduction to the spy genre and I will absolutely read the rest of the series.
LibraryThing member uvula_fr_b4
The first book in the Karla Trilogy (which includes The Honourable Schoolboy [1977] and Smiley's People [1979]; all three books were collected in omnibus form as The Quest for Karla in 1982) and the fifth novel featuring John Le Carré's "fat spy" George Smiley, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a
Much of the action unfolds in the form of flashbacks and third person narratives; though there is even less conventional thriller-type action here than in the first of Len Deighton's Bernard Samson trilogies (the Game, Set and Match trilogy), I found it to be no less gripping: Le Carré does an excellent job of plunking the reader into the mind of three borderline paranoid schizophrenics (though, in fairness, this mindset is almost certainly a job requirement), forever unsure of whom to trust, whom to support, in both their professional and personal lives, and always uncomfortable at the way that they seem to bleed into each other.
Le Carré's intellectual heft isn't ostentatious -- his glancing references to John Buchan, Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen and Rupert Brooke may be safely ignored without missing over-much -- but they do add a dimension to the narrative (and, in the case of Buchan, a bit of meta-commentary, given that Buchan's "boy's own" tales of derring do in the service of His Majesty's Government are usually regarded as predecessors to Ian Fleming's James Bond thrillers; there's a reason that Le Carré didn't name-check Eric Ambler or Graham Greene) if the reader is already aware of them, or willing to spend a few minutes flipping through a decent set of encyclopedias, or switch-hitting between Google and Wikipedia, to fill in the blanks. Le Carré's morally ambiguous world is paralleled by the works of Deighton, the late, lamented British TV series The Sandbaggers, and the latter's most obvious tribute-cum-heir apparent, Greg Rucka's Queen & Country series, which is bound to perplex, if not infuriate, readers looking for more conventional thrills, or a more starkly black-and-white weltanschauung. (Le Carré notes that "Smiley had always been a little embarrassed by protestations of anti-Communism" [p. 150] -- this in spite of Smiley having no illusions about the niceties of life in the Soviet Union -- while one of his superiors at the Circus, Bill Haydon [a cousin and lover of his wayward wife, Ann], refers to some of "the cousins" [i.e., the CIA], as "Fascist puritans" [p. 132], a description that is exactly right, given how beholden the CIA was to Nazi Generalmajor Reinhard Gehlen's ORG well in to the 1960s for grossly misleading "intelligence" on the U.S.S.R.'s activities, capabilities and intentions.) Then too, the irreverent aside regarding the vagaries of intelligence work that a character gives Smiley's apprentice, Peter Guillam, will also perhaps put certain readers off: "'Cheer up, Peter, old son. Jesus Christ only had twelve, you know, and one of them was a double'" (p. 187).
In short, those looking for the next Ian Fleming (or, Allah forfend, Ted Bell....) should give Tinker, Tailor a pass; all others -- perhaps particularly those fed up to the gills with sophomoric schoolboy twaddle -- should give it their best attention.
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quietly gripping, intelligent spy thriller that drops the reader in media res into the grim jockeyings of Britain's foreign intelligence service (MI6, here styled "the Circus") and the Soviet Union's KGB and the officially retired Smiley's hunt for a highly-placed Soviet mole within the Circus that is being run by his opposite Soviet number, Karla. Much of the action unfolds in the form of flashbacks and third person narratives; though there is even less conventional thriller-type action here than in the first of Len Deighton's Bernard Samson trilogies (the Game, Set and Match trilogy), I found it to be no less gripping: Le Carré does an excellent job of plunking the reader into the mind of three borderline paranoid schizophrenics (though, in fairness, this mindset is almost certainly a job requirement), forever unsure of whom to trust, whom to support, in both their professional and personal lives, and always uncomfortable at the way that they seem to bleed into each other.
Le Carré's intellectual heft isn't ostentatious -- his glancing references to John Buchan, Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen and Rupert Brooke may be safely ignored without missing over-much -- but they do add a dimension to the narrative (and, in the case of Buchan, a bit of meta-commentary, given that Buchan's "boy's own" tales of derring do in the service of His Majesty's Government are usually regarded as predecessors to Ian Fleming's James Bond thrillers; there's a reason that Le Carré didn't name-check Eric Ambler or Graham Greene) if the reader is already aware of them, or willing to spend a few minutes flipping through a decent set of encyclopedias, or switch-hitting between Google and Wikipedia, to fill in the blanks. Le Carré's morally ambiguous world is paralleled by the works of Deighton, the late, lamented British TV series The Sandbaggers, and the latter's most obvious tribute-cum-heir apparent, Greg Rucka's Queen & Country series, which is bound to perplex, if not infuriate, readers looking for more conventional thrills, or a more starkly black-and-white weltanschauung. (Le Carré notes that "Smiley had always been a little embarrassed by protestations of anti-Communism" [p. 150] -- this in spite of Smiley having no illusions about the niceties of life in the Soviet Union -- while one of his superiors at the Circus, Bill Haydon [a cousin and lover of his wayward wife, Ann], refers to some of "the cousins" [i.e., the CIA], as "Fascist puritans" [p. 132], a description that is exactly right, given how beholden the CIA was to Nazi Generalmajor Reinhard Gehlen's ORG well in to the 1960s for grossly misleading "intelligence" on the U.S.S.R.'s activities, capabilities and intentions.) Then too, the irreverent aside regarding the vagaries of intelligence work that a character gives Smiley's apprentice, Peter Guillam, will also perhaps put certain readers off: "'Cheer up, Peter, old son. Jesus Christ only had twelve, you know, and one of them was a double'" (p. 187).
In short, those looking for the next Ian Fleming (or, Allah forfend, Ted Bell....) should give Tinker, Tailor a pass; all others -- perhaps particularly those fed up to the gills with sophomoric schoolboy twaddle -- should give it their best attention.
Show Less
LibraryThing member RNabstedt
I've always considered LeCarre to be the literary spy novelist. He selects prose with far more consideration than most of his contemporaries do and the results read with the complexity of intelligent thought, rather than trying to impress us with techno-babble. Perhaps this is so because the
Whatever the reason, 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' is lavish with remarkable passages of narration and dialog, the kind that make you pause to make a note of them; phrases you want very much to use in your own life, if only something so sordid or dramatic ever came along to make that possible.
This novel's plot has been gone over many times. Suffice it to say it is the early 1970s in Britain, the cold war and a claustrophobic economy has stifled the country, and many in government feel the UK is losing to the Soviets. One man knows how right this is. Control, head of the Secret Service spells it out. "The Circus has a 'mole'...very close to the top." There in those few phrases you begin to enter the world that LeCarre creates. A mole is an enemy double spy hiding within their ranks, the 'circus' is nickname for the Secret Service's headquarters, and Control the name of its leader, whose real name is also secret. Right way, his language transports you inside the spy ring.
The task of rooting out the mole eventually falls on the slumped, monkish shoulders of the circus spymaster, George Smiley. Understated and underestimated, Smiley attacks the problem methodically using a mind like a steel trap, and his skills at interrogation and coercion. This is the primary source of that wonderful language and tense drama I mentioned earlier, for Smiley pursues the task with the calm dexterity of a bomb-diffuser. Sometimes he barely even moves but your mind keeps turning to him, wondering what he's made of what you've read.
The action in Tinker, Tailor is measured and sudden, so don't expect explosions on every other page. The dangers in this novel are mostly quiet and often intimate. And occasionally abrupt. These people don't drive Aston Martins or flash blingy Tag Hauers with lasers built into them. They wear frumpish clothing and live and work in cramped under-heated quarters, exactly what you'd expect during that period. What makes LeCarre really shine is the sense, even if it isn't true, that he employs elements he gathered from his own time in the real Secret Service. The opposite was more likely since the use of 'mole' for counterspies is often credited to his novels.
That should give you an idea what the real spymasters think of his work, and why you should read it
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characters must be intelligent observers who primarily depend upon pushing the conceits and weaknesses of others to the limit in order to succeed within their secret world. Whatever the reason, 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' is lavish with remarkable passages of narration and dialog, the kind that make you pause to make a note of them; phrases you want very much to use in your own life, if only something so sordid or dramatic ever came along to make that possible.
This novel's plot has been gone over many times. Suffice it to say it is the early 1970s in Britain, the cold war and a claustrophobic economy has stifled the country, and many in government feel the UK is losing to the Soviets. One man knows how right this is. Control, head of the Secret Service spells it out. "The Circus has a 'mole'...very close to the top." There in those few phrases you begin to enter the world that LeCarre creates. A mole is an enemy double spy hiding within their ranks, the 'circus' is nickname for the Secret Service's headquarters, and Control the name of its leader, whose real name is also secret. Right way, his language transports you inside the spy ring.
The task of rooting out the mole eventually falls on the slumped, monkish shoulders of the circus spymaster, George Smiley. Understated and underestimated, Smiley attacks the problem methodically using a mind like a steel trap, and his skills at interrogation and coercion. This is the primary source of that wonderful language and tense drama I mentioned earlier, for Smiley pursues the task with the calm dexterity of a bomb-diffuser. Sometimes he barely even moves but your mind keeps turning to him, wondering what he's made of what you've read.
The action in Tinker, Tailor is measured and sudden, so don't expect explosions on every other page. The dangers in this novel are mostly quiet and often intimate. And occasionally abrupt. These people don't drive Aston Martins or flash blingy Tag Hauers with lasers built into them. They wear frumpish clothing and live and work in cramped under-heated quarters, exactly what you'd expect during that period. What makes LeCarre really shine is the sense, even if it isn't true, that he employs elements he gathered from his own time in the real Secret Service. The opposite was more likely since the use of 'mole' for counterspies is often credited to his novels.
That should give you an idea what the real spymasters think of his work, and why you should read it
Show Less
LibraryThing member Fluffyblue
This took quite a bit of reading - going backwards and forwards in the book because I had not understood something the first time around. I ended up watching half of the recently released film just to get a bit of a bearing on it and then finishing the book (and then the film). I did enjoy it but
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some of it was hard work. Show Less
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
This is one of the great spy novels, and is clearly modelled in no small degree on the story of Kim Philby, the 'Third Man' who not only tipped off Burgess and MacLean in 1951 and allowed them to escape before they could be arrested for leaking secrets, but then escaped himself in 1963 after his
Set at the height of the Cold War it recounts the search for a 'mole' within the upper echelons of the Secret Service. George Smiley, 'an old spy in a hurry' is brought back from the involuntary retirement into which he had been pushed just a couple of years previously. He reluctantly accedes to be commissioned to investigate an allegation that one of the four officers at the head of MI6 might in fact be a long-established Russian spy.
'It's the oldest question of all, George. Who can spy on the spies? Who can smell out the fox without running with him?' This is the question put to Smiley by Oliver Lacon, 'Whitehall's head prefect' after he has explained the evidence that has finally convinced him of the existence of the mole. There are four suspects: Percy Alleline ('Tinker'), dour Scotsman and acting Chief of Service; Bill Haydon ('Tailor'), flamboyant wunderkind, alternately mentor and hero to the Service's younger generation of aspirants; Roy Bland ('Soldier'), would-be academic and ultimate self-seeking pragmatist; and Toby Esterhase ('Poor Man'), opportunistic Hungarian émigré desperate for promotion and convinced that no-one shows him the respect he deserves.
Control, the former head of the Service, had reached managed to reach this far before, acting entirely on his own, but as his health rapidly failed he embarked upon one wild last throw to flush the traitor out. This was the venture subsequently known as 'Operation Testify', alluded to throughout the book though the full extent of its disastrous nature is only revealed near the end.
The reverberations of Operation Testify echo through the Service for years afterwards. Control is forced into retirement and dies almost immediately. In the reorganisation that followed Smiley was also pushed into retirement. Alleline takes over, with Haydon as his deputy, and the new world order seem to have begun.
On the other side of the world, however, Ricki Tarr, a rough and ready member of the Service, accustomed to infiltrating gun-running gangs, meets Irina, a Russian agent in Hong Kong. Their affair is hectic and hasty, and she tells Tarr of the greatest secret that she knows: there is a Soviet mole, with the code name 'Gerald' in the highest echelons of the Service. She does not know many details but does have enough facts to convince Tarr that she is telling the truth. He passes the information back to the Circus, but receives no reply. However, Irina is almost immediately rounded up by her Soviet minders and shipped back to Russia.
Tarr goes underground and eventually makes his way back to London where he contacts Guillam, and through him Lacon. The witch hunt has begun. Smiley has to track them down through the paperwork, secured through deft chicanery by his one ally on the inside, the redoubtable Peter Guillam whose own career was truncated.
Le Carre offers none of the glamour and fantasy world cavortings of Ian Fleming's 'James Bond' novels. Smiley and his associates have to grapple with the shabby and entirely mundane underbelly of the espionage world, working back through the files, and eye-witness accounts of previous failed operations. There is absolutely no glamour or sparkle about the story at all, though that serves to boost its compelling nature.
It is also immensely redolent of the early 1970s. All the way through the book characters are freezing cold, huddled in their coats and struggling to generate any warmth at all. The enigmas and moral dilemmas, though, remain timeless.
This is a fascinating and engaging novel, that improves with every re-reading. The excellent BBC television series captured the feel of the novel very well,though the book (as is so often the case) is even better. Don't bother with the Gary Oldman film though - I haven't seen such a dreadful screen adaptation of an excellent book since they butchered [The Bonfire of the Vanities].
Show More
guilt had eventually been uncovered. Set at the height of the Cold War it recounts the search for a 'mole' within the upper echelons of the Secret Service. George Smiley, 'an old spy in a hurry' is brought back from the involuntary retirement into which he had been pushed just a couple of years previously. He reluctantly accedes to be commissioned to investigate an allegation that one of the four officers at the head of MI6 might in fact be a long-established Russian spy.
'It's the oldest question of all, George. Who can spy on the spies? Who can smell out the fox without running with him?' This is the question put to Smiley by Oliver Lacon, 'Whitehall's head prefect' after he has explained the evidence that has finally convinced him of the existence of the mole. There are four suspects: Percy Alleline ('Tinker'), dour Scotsman and acting Chief of Service; Bill Haydon ('Tailor'), flamboyant wunderkind, alternately mentor and hero to the Service's younger generation of aspirants; Roy Bland ('Soldier'), would-be academic and ultimate self-seeking pragmatist; and Toby Esterhase ('Poor Man'), opportunistic Hungarian émigré desperate for promotion and convinced that no-one shows him the respect he deserves.
Control, the former head of the Service, had reached managed to reach this far before, acting entirely on his own, but as his health rapidly failed he embarked upon one wild last throw to flush the traitor out. This was the venture subsequently known as 'Operation Testify', alluded to throughout the book though the full extent of its disastrous nature is only revealed near the end.
The reverberations of Operation Testify echo through the Service for years afterwards. Control is forced into retirement and dies almost immediately. In the reorganisation that followed Smiley was also pushed into retirement. Alleline takes over, with Haydon as his deputy, and the new world order seem to have begun.
On the other side of the world, however, Ricki Tarr, a rough and ready member of the Service, accustomed to infiltrating gun-running gangs, meets Irina, a Russian agent in Hong Kong. Their affair is hectic and hasty, and she tells Tarr of the greatest secret that she knows: there is a Soviet mole, with the code name 'Gerald' in the highest echelons of the Service. She does not know many details but does have enough facts to convince Tarr that she is telling the truth. He passes the information back to the Circus, but receives no reply. However, Irina is almost immediately rounded up by her Soviet minders and shipped back to Russia.
Tarr goes underground and eventually makes his way back to London where he contacts Guillam, and through him Lacon. The witch hunt has begun. Smiley has to track them down through the paperwork, secured through deft chicanery by his one ally on the inside, the redoubtable Peter Guillam whose own career was truncated.
Le Carre offers none of the glamour and fantasy world cavortings of Ian Fleming's 'James Bond' novels. Smiley and his associates have to grapple with the shabby and entirely mundane underbelly of the espionage world, working back through the files, and eye-witness accounts of previous failed operations. There is absolutely no glamour or sparkle about the story at all, though that serves to boost its compelling nature.
It is also immensely redolent of the early 1970s. All the way through the book characters are freezing cold, huddled in their coats and struggling to generate any warmth at all. The enigmas and moral dilemmas, though, remain timeless.
This is a fascinating and engaging novel, that improves with every re-reading. The excellent BBC television series captured the feel of the novel very well,though the book (as is so often the case) is even better. Don't bother with the Gary Oldman film though - I haven't seen such a dreadful screen adaptation of an excellent book since they butchered [The Bonfire of the Vanities].
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LibraryThing member britpainter
My introduction to Le Carre, nicked from my dad, and never returned.
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
To be honest Tinker Tailor was one of the most confusing books I have ever tried to read. For starters, it's one of those start-in-the-middle-of-the-plot books. The only successful way to catch the reader up on what has been missed is a series of flashbacks. I kept getting the flashbacks confused
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with the here and now. Another thing I kept getting confused was the language. le Carre has a whole series of secret words to describe the Cold War spy game. For example, a babysitter is really a bodyguard.The plot itself is really straightforward inasmuch as an espionage thriller could be. George Smiley is pulled out of retirement as a British Intelligence officer. He is recruited to uncover a Russian mole deep in the BIA's ranks. Of course, that it the simplest, dumbed-down plot synopsis I could make. Many reviewers have called Tinker Tailor "complicated" and I would have to agree. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Crime Writers' Association Awards (Shortlist — 1974)
BAFTA Award (Winner — Best Adapted Screenplay — 2011)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1974-06
Physical description
321 p.; 23 cm
ISBN
8779660088 / 9788779660083
Local notes
Omslag: stolzedesign
Omslaget viser Smiley i et mønster af tal og enkelt bogstaver, fx MOLE
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "Tinker tailor soldier spy" af Grete Juel Jørgensen
Karla trilogi, bind 1
Side 14: Biggles, Percy Westerman, Jeffrey Farnol.
Side 24: Smiley var gennemblødt til skindet, og som straf havde Gud fjernet alle taxier fra Londons overflade.
Side 26: Men Smiley havde en anden grund, som var frygt, den hemmelige frygt, som følger hver professionel til hans grav. Frygten for, at der en skønne dag ville komme en mand fra hans fortid, der var så kompliceret, at han ikke selv kunne huske alle de fjender, han kunne have skabt sig - og at en af dem ville finde ham og kræve ham til regnskab.
Side 39: En ond joke om "Uofficielt ægteskab, men permanent. Men nu om stunder er mange omvendt."
Side 228: Spørgsmålet blev ikke stillet, men det forblev måske alligevel ikke ubesvaret.
Side 234: Charpitrekanter, Hibitane
Side 235: Sapører
Side 276: Et udvalg er et dyr med fire bagben.
Side 320: Forræderi er i høj grad en vanesag.
Omslaget viser Smiley i et mønster af tal og enkelt bogstaver, fx MOLE
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "Tinker tailor soldier spy" af Grete Juel Jørgensen
Karla trilogi, bind 1
Side 14: Biggles, Percy Westerman, Jeffrey Farnol.
Side 24: Smiley var gennemblødt til skindet, og som straf havde Gud fjernet alle taxier fra Londons overflade.
Side 26: Men Smiley havde en anden grund, som var frygt, den hemmelige frygt, som følger hver professionel til hans grav. Frygten for, at der en skønne dag ville komme en mand fra hans fortid, der var så kompliceret, at han ikke selv kunne huske alle de fjender, han kunne have skabt sig - og at en af dem ville finde ham og kræve ham til regnskab.
Side 39: En ond joke om "Uofficielt ægteskab, men permanent. Men nu om stunder er mange omvendt."
Side 228: Spørgsmålet blev ikke stillet, men det forblev måske alligevel ikke ubesvaret.
Side 234: Charpitrekanter, Hibitane
Side 235: Sapører
Side 276: Et udvalg er et dyr med fire bagben.
Side 320: Forræderi er i høj grad en vanesag.
Similar in this library
Pages
321
DDC/MDS
| 823.914 |