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 ...
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Oct 26, 2011
Rachel
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I loved this book. I found the form of the novel intriguingly old-fashioned: a series of chapters from the life of a British Intelligence man near the end of his career, linked together by his own mentor Smiley's after-dinner talk to a new generation of spies. Although The Secret Pilgrim was written twenty years ago, the areas and ideas it discusses are of course very relevant today. In addition to le Carré's wonderful characterisation, this book might contain the finest of his writing I have ye
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Oct 21, 2010
Victoria
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Sep 02, 2007
Jen
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Another book by le Carré, another love. The latest is The Secret Pilgrim, which is written in three time periods: the current narration, narration of a party, and flashbacks to episodes of the narrator's career. So it reads a little bit like a short story collection.
It's excellent, but I wouldn't recommend reading it before Tinker, Tailor, soldier, Spy because it references to the mole and gives away the mystery.
One of the things I really enjoy is the rather commonplace w More...
It's excellent, but I wouldn't recommend reading it before Tinker, Tailor, soldier, Spy because it references to the mole and gives away the mystery.
One of the things I really enjoy is the rather commonplace w More...
Feb 05, 2011
Benjamin
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This is the last of the George Smiley novels, and Smiley is not really even its central character. Rather, he serves as a kind of narrative frame for the story, and Le Carre uses him much of the time as mouthpiece for extended thoughts on the end of the Cold War. It is much less great than the best of Le Carre's work, but it is gripping and interesting anyway--if sometimes preachy and didactic--and it has flashes of the writer in his prime.
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Aug 31, 2010
Karen
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I have not read the other books in this series, so I'm sure I'm missing a lot. I found this very well-written, and really enjoyed the format of interwoven short stories. Each of the stories was compelling and they all held my attention. I didn't understand a lot of the spy lingo, and found the writing heavy-handed and preachy at times, but in general I enjoyed this book.
Nov 22, 2010
Gary
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I enjoyed The Secret Pilgrim. If you've never read a le Carré book, this is a good place to start. Pretty much all of the themes common to his work are present. Each chapter is a short story, all tied together by the protagonist's (Ned) search for meaning. One word of warning though, it does kind of spoil the plot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. So you might want to read that one first.
Dec 23, 2009
Andrew
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Another top read from Le Carre. More spies, spying, moral ambiguities, betrayals and the like, as you would expect told from the perspective of a spy about to retire. An evening of tales told by Smiley at Sarratt provides the stimulus for Ned to recount some of the events from his career. The last short chapter is somewhat heavy-handed. Also features spoilers for Tinker, Tailor and The Russia House (though I haven't read that one).
Jun 22, 2010
Anne
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I re-read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy a few weeks ago and it made me want to re-read all Le Carre books, so I am ploughing my way through our whole stack. Even though they are dated, and in most cases I can remember the outcome from the last time I read them (1970's), it's like sitting down for a while and catching up with an old teacher, getting the chance to remember so many aspects of the 'deepest' fiction author I have ever encountered. What have I learned? Reading Le Carre ensures that I pr
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Dec 18, 2008
I am a huge fan of the Smiley series and had somehow missed this one. I thought I would be just indulging my nostalgia for the series but this is a startling novel to read now and realize when it was published. The ethical questions it raises are as fresh as they come! Brilliant!
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Aug 03, 2011
A nice "memoir" of the Cold War, in a way. I wasn't sure it would hold together, but I think it worked in the end. I think it was a good send off to Smiley. I don't think it was LeCarré at his best, but even when he's rusty he's better than most.
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Oct 06, 2010
Lera
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Quite a gentle one here. Its something like a book of short stories crafted into a novel - tales looking back over a lifetime of spying. Not much glamour, quite a lot of regret. Beautifully written and put together as usual. Borrowed from the Histon Library.
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Feb 10, 2010
Zane
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I'm a big fan of LeCarre'. And this is very good. Not maybe his best. A series of really short-stories, tales, from the vantage point of 'Ned'. Pulls together some of the threads from his earlier novels, wrapped around the character George Smiley. Worth it.
Nov 11, 2011
"Powerful....Remarkable....A grand summation of all John le Carré's themes."-New York Times
Listen to The Secret Pilgrim on your smartphone.
Listen to The Secret Pilgrim on your smartphone.
Jan 09, 2011
Max
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Excellent. Really shows le Carre's range, particularly at the end, when he veers away from European intrigue to write about bored clerks, Cambodian jungle nightmares, and ferreting out a Dwight Schrute-like traitor from the Foreign Office.
Nov 06, 2011
Ben
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I enjoyed each little story, and typically found the characters Ned encounters more interesting than Ned himself. The frame story was a pretty weak excuse for Ned to dredge up all of these memories, but I was more or less willing to roll with it. Not a bad book--and every once in a while le Carre shows you that he can really write.
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Aug 02, 2011
Harshita
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This one I read a while back. Took me a little time to really get into the short stories, but I liked the framing device - old, experienced, smart person telling stories to inspire/intrigue new generation, and narrator reminiscing. More than anything else, whetted my appetite for more stories about Smiley-Haydon times.
Aug 25, 2009
Gail
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This entry from le Carre didn't hold my interest as I had hoped it would. Told within a metafiction-type framework of Smiley and Ned the Narrator addressing a group of graduating spies, it's very episodic, almost like short stories. However, it's effective in this case. In an aspect of the novel that I particularly dislike, the villain from the 3-volume "Hunt for Karla" is revealed on page 2 and more or less continuously referred to thereafter. So if one inadvertently reads this book e
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Jan 28, 2012
Kienie
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I guess with John Le Carre there is no such thing as a happy ending. It's always bittersweet at best. I think that with age I will appreciate it more, but now I wish for something more definitive.
Jan 09, 2012
Pawel
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I`m a fussy and unfortunately lazy reader so I don`t want to make unfair comments about this particular book. It just didn`t click in and I`ve already read better Le Carre`s books.
Jul 03, 2010
Paul
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A very reflective book but one which raises a lot of questions, examining the underside of intelligence work. Well worth the read.
Dec 17, 2009
Jim
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I don't know why I picked this book up to read. I have never had any interest in spy thrillers but I did. To be fair I had seen the excellent Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People on the BBC and so was curious. What I found was an extremely literate novel - I copied loads of his lines down to use as inspiration later. The details of the novel were quite secondary to me but it reads like a collection of interlinking short stories rather than a proper novel. Not a criticism, merely an o
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Aug 03, 2009
Melissa
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I normally do not read cold war spy type thrillers, but I did find his knowledge of the psyche of spies to be very interesting.
Jun 27, 2009
Merciful
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One of my favorite later George Smiley books.
John Le Carré is my favorite living writer.
This book is a good reason why.
John Le Carré is my favorite living writer.
This book is a good reason why.
Jun 26, 2010
Glenna
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This is like a bunch of small Le Carre novels rolled into one. All thought provoking and interesting.
May 24, 2009
Geoff
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A reflection on the end of the Cold War. A bit of George Smiley and a lot of one of his spies.
Jan 29, 2012
Stewart
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Holds up surprisingly well, considering how often I’ve read it. Structured as a series of loosely connected chapters, held together by the narrator, Ned, and intro-like starts to each chapter that describe an old spy (George Smiley) giving a sort of informal commencement speech to a graduating class of spy-trainees. I remember the structure being panned by critics at the time, but it works. It ties together the thread of Ned’s progress from eager, brand-new spy to conflicted retiree, and the pro
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Jan 27, 2010
Bill
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Using this type of chronicling in journeying back in Ned's career was a wonderful writing technique.
