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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

(The Karla Trilogy #1)

John le Carré

4.05 · Rating details · 62,816 ratings · 3,728 reviews

A modern classic in which John le Carré expertly creates a total vision of a secret world, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy begins George Smiley's chess match of wills and wits with Karla, his Soviet counterpart.

It is now beyond a doubt that a mole, implanted decades ago by Moscow Centre, has burrowed his way into the highest echelons of British Intelligence. His treachery has a ...more

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Paperback, 379 pages

Published October 1st 2002 by Scribner Book Company (first published 1974)

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Jul 03, 2012 Jeffrey Keeten rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spies, book-to-film

"The suspicious black car did not follow me home. How am I supposed to maintain this level of paranoia with this level of incompetence?" Tweet from jkeeten's defunct Twitter account.

"I don't smoke but I always travel w/ a Zippo lighter in case I have to light a beautiful woman's cigarette or the wick of a Molotov cocktail." Another tweet from jkeeten's defunct Twitter account.

The British Secret Service, resembling a corporation that has suffered sagging profits, has reshuffled key players, ousted others, and in the process forced George Smaccount.
"I ...more

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Nov 26, 2008 Manny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: strongly-recommended

I'm one of many people who think that Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the greatest espionage novel of all time. Let's take the obvious things first. Unlike most examples of this genre, it's extremely well-written. Also, having worked in espionage himself, le Carré is able to get the atmosphere right. It feels 100% authentic, and you see that spying is like most other jobs. The greater part of it is routine and office intrigues, though every now and then something unexpected and dramatic happens. I'm one of many people who think that Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the greatest espionage novel of all time. Let's take the obvious things first. Unlike most examples of this genre, it's extremely well-written. Also, having worked in espionage himself, le Carré is able to get the atmosphere right. It feels 100% authentic, and you see that spying is like most other jobs. The greater part of it is routine and office intrigues, though every now and then something unexpected and dramatic happens.

So, even if there were nothing more to it, I'd still say that this book was very good. What makes it great is that the author isn't content with giving you a realistic account of what it's like to be a spy. He's gone much further than that, and written a book that's not just about espionage, which most people never come into contact with, but about betrayal, which we see all the time.

The thing about betrayal is that you're generally aware that it's happening before you know how, or why, or who. Things used to be good, and now they're not, and you know that even if you do figure out what's happened you'll never be able to put it right. At best, you'll be able to cut your losses, and move on. In TTSS, the main character, George Smiley, is being betrayed in two different ways. First, it's gradually become clear that there is a mole in his department. It can only be someone at the very highest level. One of his most trusted colleagues, someone he has worked with for years, and shared things with, and treated as a friend, is actually working for the Russians. They have it narrowed down to four people. He has to find out which one it is, and do what's necessary. And, at the same time, he's also realized that his wife is sleeping around. He can't really prove anything, and they never talk about it. But he knows that too.

I can imagine any number of clumsy, over-obvious ways to link up these threads. Le Carré does it with a very light touch. You see these two things happening, and every now and then there is an echo of correspondence. He wants you to be a spy too, and put together the little bits of evidence until you reach a conclusion. It's a book that completely transcends the genre, and shows how a writer who has enough talent can achieve stunning results in any medium. Strongly recommended to anyone who's ever been betrayed, or themselves betrayed a person they're close to. Which, unfortunately, is most of us.
...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Jason rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, for-kindle, reviewed

A few months ago a stylish looking British adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was released in theaters and I was intrigued. But I knew better. Movies are for smart people. If I had to constantly nudge my wife during Superbad to ask questions like, “so who is that guy again?” and “wait, is she the same one from before?” then I had to admit that seeing this movie would only serve to make me feel very confused and intellectually inadequate. I do better with books. Books explain things. Books are for p A few months ago a stylish looking British adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was released in theaters and I was intrigued. But I knew better. Movies are for smart people. If I had to constantly nudge my wife during Superbad to ask questions like, “so who is that guy again?” and “wait, is she the same one from before?” then I had to admit that seeing this movie would only serve to make me feel very confused and intellectually inadequate. I do better with books. Books explain things. Books are for people who need a little, uh, help in the hand-holding department. So like any other self-respecting moron, I decided to read the book instead (or at least, before seeing the movie)—that way I could have everything explained to me nice, nice.

But I was duped.

When my friend asked me to go with him to see Tinker Tailor, I told him it was not possible. I explained my reasoning while he nodded agreeably, accepting my oddities without judgment. But then he said, “I think you’ll find this to be an exception to your rule. In this particular case, you’re going to want to have seen this movie before reading the book. Trust me.” What. A Freaking. Liar.

As soon as those last two words were uttered, warning bells should have gone off in my head. But I took him at his word and went to see a movie with the most convoluted plot I’d ever tried to absorb. 120 minutes later I had a raging migraine.

I now understood the lengths to which someone would go in order to have a companion at the movies. I suppose I can’t begrudge a man that small favor, and I was not entirely the worse for wear—800 mg of ibuprofen and a good night’s sleep restored my faculties wonderfully. And that’s when I decided to read the book.

John le Carré’s novel retains all the plot complexity of the movie and then some, but it is delivered in such a way that is digestible. Even though I knew the fate of Colin Firth’s character, my pulse still raced at the novel’s climax. The author opens up a world of secrets, lies, espionage, and scandal that are somewhat missing from my everyday life, but seem to be more or less commonplace in a Europe engulfed in the Cold War. Mistrust and paranoia run as naturally as snowfall in New England. I am generally very glad to have read this book despite having done so after seeing the movie. ...more

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Jan 14, 2018 Jaline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: xx2018-completed

Spy novels may be best consumed in large gulps by me. There is no question that John Le Carré is a brilliant writer, and his plots are peppered with surprise spirals throughout each novel.

The one difficulty I had with this book was in the beginning, and it was my own difficulty. I had to quickly re-acquaint myself with British idiom, with spy jargon, distinguish between those two ‘languages’, and process many new players and how they related to characters I already knew from the prev ...more

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Mar 18, 2019 Candi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, mystery-crime, espionage, thriller

"After a lifetime of living by his wits and his considerable memory, he had given himself full time to the profession of forgetting."

Over the past couple of months, George Smiley has earned the distinction of my favorite spy. Not because he is handsome, sexy, charismatic or daring but rather because he is all too human. He’s the real deal, and no one could write a genuine character like him as well as the master, John le Carré.

"Small, podgy, and at best middle-aged, he was by appearance one of Lon "After a lifetime of living by his wits and his considerable memory, he had given himself full time to the profession of forgetting."

Over the past couple of months, George Smiley has earned the distinction of my favorite spy. Not because he is handsome, sexy, charismatic or daring but rather because he is all too human. He’s the real deal, and no one could write a genuine character like him as well as the master, John le Carré.

"Small, podgy, and at best middle-aged, he was by appearance one of London’s meek who do not inherit the earth. His legs were short, his gait anything but agile, his dress costly, ill-fitting, and extremely wet."

How on earth does a guy like this get saddled with the onerous task of uncovering a Russian-planted mole at the highest level of the British Secret Service? Because he is brilliant and honorable, that’s how! There are many layers to George Smiley, and I am thoroughly enjoying the unpeeling of each one as I delve more and more into these novels. Smiley teams up with Peter Guillam, a younger agent who is further removed from the upper echelon of the service, partly due to a botched operation and partly as a result of his prior association with Smiley. The guys at the top have been very deliberately remaking the organization to their own advantage. Anyone with a loyalty to the former chief, or those that hovered too close to the truth, have been quietly relocated to lesser positions or simply dismissed. The organization is being carefully refashioned to the mole’s purpose. I was further pleased to become further acquainted with the somewhat eccentric Mendel, a former police inspector whom was introduced to us in le Carré’s novel Call for the Dead.

Naturally, a huge theme in this novel is that of betrayal. George Smiley grapples with this not only in his professional life but also his private life. His sincere interior conflict further illuminates the real character of the man. I can’t help but feel sympathy for Smiley, and admire his courage to examine his own principles.

"It worried him that he felt so bankrupt; that whatever intellectual or philosophical precepts he clung to broke down entirely now that he was faced with the human situation."

One thing I have come to expect from le Carré is that I need to be a bit more savvy with my spy lingo. If there were a little glossary of the terms in the back of the book, I would be off and running with the story straight from the get-go. In reality, it takes me a little bit to settle in and really understand what is happening. It’s okay though, I get there eventually, and any earlier confusion is worth the payoff! I’m not very successful with my own personal psychological analysis of the characters, but I consider myself in good hands with the author who was once a secret service agent himself. I was once again fully invested with each character, and the plot took me down a twisty, furtive and thrilling path that I wouldn’t mind riding once more!

This book is the first in the Karla trilogy – Karla being the working-name counterpart to Smiley in the Russian Intelligence agency. If all goes as planned, I will be reading the second one next month. If you have any interest in reading an authentic espionage thriller, then I highly recommend this or any of le Carré’s books. They really do deliver. I can’t forget to mention the movie adaptation – expertly cast with Gary Oldman as Smiley and highly entertaining!

"Like an actor, he had a sense of approaching anti-climax before the curtain went up, a sense of great things dwindling to a small, mean end; as death itself seemed small and mean to him after the struggles of his life." ...more

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Jun 25, 2017 Bill Kerwin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spies-intrigue

Whenever I think of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I inevitably think of love: love that grants fortitude, love that clouds judgment, love that scars the soul and roots the heart. Although it is my experience of the book that guides me, it perhaps also has to do with the 1979 BBC miniseries, with the way Alec Guinness appears stolid and wounded, like an animal to the slaughter hit in the head with a hammer, with each inevitable mention of his wife’s beauty, each smirking hint at her chain of adulteri ...more

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May 25, 2017 Diane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers

I'm going to state the obvious and say John le Carré is a really good writer.

This was my first le Carré novel, and I can see why he's considered such a master of the spy genre. The story itself was thrilling, but what I most appreciated were his thoughtful descriptions. The writing was so insightful that it was easy to become invested in the fate of the characters.

A quick plot summary: George Smiley is a retired British spy. He was forced out during a reorganization of th ...more

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Dec 17, 2011 Agnieszka rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, london-calling, own-a-copy, 2017, john-le-carré, i-saw-the-movie-too, 1001-books, 2012, reviewed

Who can spy on the spies ?

We are at the heart of British Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. For the initiated the Circus. Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy it’s the look at the firm from the inside. Author himself worked there for many years and thanks to it I have no problems with his credibility. We get to know world of intelligence, its structure, jargon. Babysitters, lamplighters , ferrets, shoemakers, scalphunters . Sounds really crazy.

Intelligence work it is not guns and fast cars and agen
Who can spy on the spies ?

We are at the heart of British Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. For the initiated the Circus. Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy it’s the look at the firm from the inside. Author himself worked there for many years and thanks to it I have no problems with his credibility. We get to know world of intelligence, its structure, jargon. Babysitters, lamplighters , ferrets, shoemakers, scalphunters . Sounds really crazy.

Intelligence work it is not guns and fast cars and agents themselves look more like tired office workers. It is tedious, painstaking and endless digging in the archives, reading hundreds of reports to pick out this only one information, it’s patiently investigation of every new lead. It’s an experience of solidarity and friendship but also the bitterness of defeat and betrayal.

We are in the middle of cold war and here nothing is what it seems. And people from MI6 have to struggle not only with outside threat but most off all with enemy in own ranks. Because in the Circus there is a mole spying for Russian.

LeCarre has populated agency with well drawn, diverse characters. George Smiley, apparently slowcoach but in fact fiendishly intelligent and patient, charming Haydon, Prideux - a patriot and a soldier, Toby Esterhaze - a toady, Percy Alleline - fishy careerist, Tarr – young tearaway, loyal Guillam and the boss, Control.

Don’t listen if others say that it was boring or unattractive. Believe me, there was more action than in any thriller and observing the investigation and set a trap was more exciting than any pursuit. Well, I’ve always preferred brainy guys than muscleman with a gun.

And don’t feel yourself too comfortably . Though cold war had ended, though we were witnesses how Berlin Wall collapsed world didn’t change that much. There is a really thin line between us and them . Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that LeCarre is a philosopher or something. But after reading some disquieting thoughts hatching up in your head. So, welcome to the Circus.

...more

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Aug 11, 2017 Jason Koivu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, spy

I didn't understand half of what I just read, and yet I loved it all the same!

In John le Carré's (real name David Cornwell) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a British intelligence service known as the Circus has been compromised by a mole, a supposed Soviet double agent. Former agent George Smiley is called back from retirement to ferret him out.

This is more of a psychological suspense novel than an action-filled James Bond spy thriller. Smiley is getting up there in years and though he's I didn't understand half of what I just read, and yet I loved it all the same!

In John le Carré's (real name David Cornwell) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a British intelligence service known as the Circus has been compromised by a mole, a supposed Soviet double agent. Former agent George Smiley is called back from retirement to ferret him out.

This is more of a psychological suspense novel than an action-filled James Bond spy thriller. Smiley is getting up there in years and though he's conversant with a handgun, he's not about to go galavanting about blasting up the countryside. The whole novel is much more sedate than you might expect when you think of "spy thriller". And yet in ways, this book is undeniably thrilling!

Here, I think this passage from Wikipedia explains it better:

Most of Cornwell's novels are spy stories set during the Cold War (1945–91) and feature Circus agents as unheroic political functionaries aware of the moral ambiguity of their work and engaged in psychological more than physical drama.[21] Cornwell's books emphasise the fallibility of Western democracy and of the secret services protecting it, often implying the possibility of East-West moral equivalence.[21] Moreover, they experience little of the violence typically encountered in action thrillers and have very little recourse to gadgets. Much of the conflict is internal, rather than external and visible.

When you read a book like this, you get the distinct impression that the author has lived this life. Frankly, it was quite clear to me that John le Carré worked in the secret service. You can't whip out that kind of jargon and insight with only a casual acquaintance with the topic. I've read a few spy novels before and this makes them look childish in comparison.

The writing itself is topnotch. The character crafting, the stage setting, and the nuance of plot all come off so seamlessly. If there was a little more action, it wouldn't go amiss, but lack of action aside, Le Carré pens books that are an absolute pleasure to read. ...more

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Mar 17, 2013 K rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: lord-help-me-im-just-not-that-brigh, mysteriesthrillers, maybe-it-s-me, classics

I freely admit that I am not smart enough to appreciate this book.

The whole thing was way too convoluted for me. First I was in one character's head, then another, then back to the first. Then there was a third character who mostly made cameo appearances and was clearly unimportant, but we spend time in his head too. As if that's not confusing enough, different people narrate different parts of the story as master spy George Smiley (highly distracting name, I must say) interviews dif ...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Willow rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: made-into-a-movie, spy, favorites

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not my type of book. I never read stuff like this. I don’t like contemporaries (unless there are vampires or witches in them) and I rarely read mysteries. I loved the movie though (I’m a big Gary Oldman fan) so I thought what the heck, I’ll read the book. After all, it’s not really a contemporary…at least not anymore. The action takes place during the early seventies. So here I am.

First off, I have to say Le Carre writes with amazing detail. These guys ar Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not my type of book. I never read stuff like this. I don’t like contemporaries (unless there are vampires or witches in them) and I rarely read mysteries. I loved the movie though (I’m a big Gary Oldman fan) so I thought what the heck, I’ll read the book. After all, it’s not really a contemporary…at least not anymore. The action takes place during the early seventies. So here I am.

First off, I have to say Le Carre writes with amazing detail. These guys aren’t like regular characters. They’re like real people with complex motives, their own dialect, and little nuances that are personal to them. I got to know them, slowly, intuitively, especially since Le Carre never tells you what you should think of them or explains them. He just lets the reader develop their own opinion. You get to know everybody though dialogue and body language -- little tidbits like how someone sits down on a child’s swing set. It’s excellent!

That’s not to say it wasn’t disorienting though. At first I felt like I had started a new job. I'm meeting all these new people, there are new rules, and there’s a whole new work lingo I have to learn. I was a bit lost at first, trying to keep track of names and figure out what people were saying (especially since I’m not a Brit.) There are so many characters, and no one can be cataloged in a nice neat box. To my surprise though, this sense of confusion actually made me pay closer attention. I loved being just thrown in there. I do believe it hit me on a deeper level too since I dreamed about this book. :D

Were the characters likable? Yes and no. I liked Smiley a lot, but I would hate to work with him. He’s too tight-lipped and ruthless. You’d never know where you’d stand with him. He’s also waaay too observant, looking for everyone’s weaknesses. It was great being inside his head though. You can tell he unnerves people. That’s why so many people take a certain glee in telling him his wife is sleeping with someone else. They want to needle him.

The other characters were great too. Percy is a worm. Jim is tragic and compelling. I couldn’t stand Bill. I thought Ricky was a hoot, even though he’s an ass. As you can see, I definitely had an opinion about everybody.

Of course, all these different motives and dynamics make the book seem strangely complicated, yet the story is simple. There’s a mole in the secret service which has made everyone paranoid, and George Smiley is trying to lure him out and trap him. There are a lot of mind games.

This brings me to the part of the book though, which I think was lacking. There’s not much suspense. Maybe if I hadn’t seen the movie, I would have been more curious to find out who the mole was, but I don’t think that’s it. I think the lack of action and danger made this a somewhat dry read. I would have never finished it if I hadn’t seen the movie. The beginning is slow. And while yes there are conversations and confrontations that are dynamic and thrilling, not much happens. That’s why I knocked a star.

On the whole though, I’m very much impressed. Le Carre is a great writer. I want to read Smiley’s People because I’ve heard it’s even better than this book. I’m curious to see how George traps Karla, and I’d love to spend some more time in Smiley’s astute and clever brain.

...more

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Aug 07, 2008 Patrick Brown rated it really liked it

Recommended to Patrick by: Robert Newman and Marshall Presnick

Shelves: spy-thrillers

I had read The Spy Who Came In From the Cold on my honeymoon in Paris, and I remember liking it, but not rushing out to get more Le Carre. Well, now I'm going to rush out to get more Le Carre.

I didn't give this five stars because it was a touch slow to get moving. I think if I'd just been able to focus a little more, I would've been into the plot faster. Le Carre has this ability to make every character a mystery. So much is withheld from the reader, and yet the characters are fascinating. I thin ...more

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Jul 24, 2009 Lewis Weinstein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: crime-and-thrillers

UPDATE 1-18-18 ... For espionage thrillers, this is as good as it gets. The setting is the Cold War, and both the Britain and Russia are tired but still engaging in lethal combat by spy. One central theme that I did not appreciate before this re-read is that the primary conflict, even when Le Carre tells the story from a British POV, is not between British spies and the Russians, but between Russia and America, with British spies taking sides, not always as expected. The conflict between persona ...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Ted rated it it was amazing

Shelves: beach-fun-fiction, re-read

I remember that when I read this (and the other Karla novels) years ago, I ripped through them to the detriment of my understanding of all the twists and turns of the plot. So although I enjoyed them immensely, when I was all finished (and even during the reading) I felt confused about what story le Carre had actually told.

So a couple years ago I watched (Netflix) the BBC adaptation of the books with Alec Guinness. Again, I enjoyed it no end, but while the 7 hour condensation of the story ...more

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Jan 09, 2008 Derrick rated it it was amazing

Oft billed as the "anti-Ian Flemming," John Le Carre inverts all the typical trappings of the spy-thriller: in place of the handsome, gadget-happy g-man we're given a sacked, middle-aged cuckold whose attention to detail and intellectual virtuosity quietly derail Moscow Central's invisible vise-grip on the Circus.

Note that "quietly," as the tension here is all cerebral, the violence and spectacle off-stage, and the stakes themselves, though no less dire than the fate of the world, ar ...more

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Aug 06, 2018 Roman Clodia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In that moment Guillam felt not merely betrayed; but orphaned. His suspicions, his resentments for so long turned outwards on the real world - on his women, his attempted loves - now swung upon the Circus and the failed magic which had formed his faith.

Le Carré's world is perhaps as far from the glamorous cosmos of James Bond and his followers as it's possible to be. There is bureaucracy instead of wild flights of individualism, brown cardboard files instead of new-fangled gadgets, and gloomy office ...more

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Mar 02, 2019 Sara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spy-thriller, cold-war, favorites

”I like you to have doubts,” he said. “It tells me where you stand. But don’t make a cult of them or you’ll be a bore.”

Impossible to think how anyone could live the life of one of John le Carre’s cold war spies and not be assaulted by doubt day and night. Still, they must all be entertaining just the right amount, because none of these characters is a bore. Nobody does spy thriller quite as well as John le Carre, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is John le Carre at his best.

Of course, there are the us ”I like you to have doubts,” he said. “It tells me where you stand. But don’t make a cult of them or you’ll be a bore.”

Impossible to think how anyone could live the life of one of John le Carre’s cold war spies and not be assaulted by doubt day and night. Still, they must all be entertaining just the right amount, because none of these characters is a bore. Nobody does spy thriller quite as well as John le Carre, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is John le Carre at his best.

Of course, there are the usual elements of a spy novel. The Russians are pitted against the Western world and, in this particular case, there is a mole within the Circus that is wreaking havoc on the entire system. Although he has been ousted from the service, George Smiley is called in to sort through the detritus and unravel the gordian knot, and the strands seem to run in all directions right up to the end. Ah, but there is so much more than that.

George Smiley is such a unique character. Like Sherlock Holmes, he has a personae all his own; unlike Holmes, he is an unassuming, all too human, observer of humanity. While most people, particularly those at the Circus, are scrambling to reach the top and be in control, Smiley seems to accept the role of power thrust upon him rather reluctantly.

He was aware of a modest sense of approaching conquest. He had been driven a long way, he had sailed backwards and forwards. Tomorrow, if he was lucky, he might spot land; a peaceful little desert island, for instance. Somewhere Karla had never heard of. Just for him and Ann.

I believe it makes him more likeable that his dreams are as unlikely to come true as any we might dream ourselves. He sees into the hearts of other people, a deft listener who understands what is going on beneath the surface; but he is often blind to himself, and aren’t we all.

This is a novel about spies, but it is also a novel about intrigue, friendship, deception, idol worship, and betrayal. Betrayal in all its forms, betrayal of country, of friendship, of love, of innocence, and of trust. Perhaps men in this line of work should not expect better, but we come to understand that these men are the “lovely boys” who came into this darkness after fighting a war on the side of morality and when still charged with the ideals of that war and their youth. The men they become bear almost no resemblance to the boys they were, and the reality of what they have become is heartbreaking.

This was not my first reading of this remarkable book, and I find it lost none of its luster during all those years it was collecting dust on my bookshelf.
...more

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Oct 05, 2018 Whispering Stories rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Book Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com

This is the first John Le Carré book that I have ever read. When I mentioned it to a few people that I would be reading it they all said the same thing, ‘it is a great book to get me introduced to the author’s work’. I will admit that I know of the book and that a few years ago there was a BBC adaptation of it and a recent movie. Alas, I have seen none, so apart from the synopsis and little snippets people were telling me, I knew nothing about the book.
< ...more

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Jan 06, 2017 Laure rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audible, 1001-read

Just one of those perfect books.

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Mar 07, 2012 Megan Baxter rated it really liked it

It was a great synchronicity that this popped up on one of my reading lists right now, as one of my gaming groups is about to embark on a game of Cold City, set in post-War Berlin, playing representatives of different countries in BPRD-like surroundings.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

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May 25, 2017 Michael rated it it was amazing

How amazing--a spy novel where virtually nothing happens, and yet it's compelling and suspenseful nonetheless. It's really a testament to le Carre's writing that he pulls this off. A wonderfully cerebral work.

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Jan 08, 2012 El rated it liked it

Shelves: 20th-centurylit-late, wanderlust, eastern-central-european-lit

Apparently I'm turning into a really shitty reader.

This is the first Le Carré I've read, and whatever, I think I expected a little more James Bond than, well, George Smiley - a name which every single time was mentioned (which was quite a lot) always made me think of his muppet-brother, Guy Smiley. Picturing George as a human and not a muppet made the reading more difficult than I had intended. (See first note about becoming a really shitty reader.)

And in my current mood I wanted some ...more

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Mar 26, 2007 Kate rated it it was ok

Recommended to Kate by: Krissa

Shelves: 1945-2000, fiction, borrowed, mystery_thriller

First off, I understand that Tinker Tailor is a spy novel, and that Le Carre obviously wanted to achieve a certain effect appropriate to the genre, and to keep everything "realistic." But it was jargon-y to a fault, and in keeping its audience as in the dark as its protagonist, it succeeded too well.

Furthermore, its characters never spoke the way they were described - it was always "'could you pass the tea please, that's a boy,' he shouted furiously." And about 95% of the book is written i ...more

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Oct 27, 2011 Ryan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Veterans of Britain's secret service refer to MI6 as the Circus, and when Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy opens, our hero George Smiley has been kicked out of the show. So Smiley has not retired with dignity, but rather has been ousted for backing a jaded horse. The head of Circus, a spy so skilled that people only knew him as "Control," went out in a blaze of tragedy, and Smiley's career was one of the casualties.

Unknown to most, Control was trying to find a mole. He failed and the Circus ha Veterans of Britain's secret service refer to MI6 as the Circus, and when Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy opens, our hero George Smiley has been kicked out of the show. So Smiley has not retired with dignity, but rather has been ousted for backing a jaded horse. The head of Circus, a spy so skilled that people only knew him as "Control," went out in a blaze of tragedy, and Smiley's career was one of the casualties.

Unknown to most, Control was trying to find a mole. He failed and the Circus has been reorganized. Now, however, one of the Circus's spies surfaces with a suspicious tale of betrayal. In Hong Kong, he has heard rumors of a mole placed right at the top of the Circus. So who watches the watchmen?

George Smiley does.

As far as spies go, George Smiley is as far removed from James Bond and Jason Bourne as we can imagine. For one thing, George is over the hill. For another, George's wife, Ann, has cheated on him many times. In fact, one character that slept with Ann explains that he just joined the "queue." George Smiley is a man whose most distinguishing feature may well be his glasses.

Which is another way of saying that we're invited to consider what's going on inside of Smiley's head -- and he's a master spy, so consider carefully. I quite like the way that le Carre illustrates Smiley's inner world. One early description of Smiley, who is struggling not to rot in his retirement, caught my eye:

He would set up as a mild eccentric, discursive, withdrawn, but possessing one or two lovable habits such as muttering to himself while he bumbled along pavements. Out of date, perhaps, but who wasn’t these days? Out of date, but loyal to his own time. At a certain moment, after all, every man chooses: will he go forward, will he go back? There was nothing dishonorable in not being blown about by every little modern wind. Better to have worth, to entrench, to be an oak of one’s own generation

Well said, though this is a message that 21st century readers might struggle to understand. "'Not being blown about by every little modern wind?' Huh?"

In many ways, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has the feel of a novel that was written in a past age. Its atmosphere is dominated by the bitter paranoia of the Cold War, spies rely on tapes with tape in them to record incriminating evidence, and files are made out of printed paper that was typed by a human being using a typewriter. This is a world in which the English Empire still exists within the living memory of England's citizens, as opposed to dusty archives of post-colonial libraries.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not a novel for readers seeking the action-adventurer. Instead, this is a book for readers interested in an unusual spy novel. Le Carre discusses aging, betrayal, and resilience, as opposed to coming of age, vengeance, and persistence. ...more

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Jul 20, 2018 Wanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, london, espionage, public-library, summer-of-spies, read-in-2018

***2018 Summer of Spies***

Well, you couldn’t get much further away from the playboy-spy image than this, could you? George Smiley, the chubby everyman who’s always polishing his glasses, is the antithesis of James Bond. Rather than Miss Moneypenny, there’s a whole department of women known as “the mothers.” And instead of posh casinos, George spends a lot of time in a run-down hotel, reading swathes of paper files.

This is spy work done through the archives, searching for patterns in the pa ...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Trevor rated it really liked it

Shelves: literature, mystery

I caught up with a friend a few weeks ago when I had just started this book and he said he had given up on the film and drifted off to sleep as he had completely lost track of what was going on and in the end couldn’t care either way anyway. That was exactly the experience I was having with the book and had thought it was just me. But then, all of a sudden, at about the middle of this one (I imagine just as George was dozing off in the film), the pieces of the jigsaw start dropping into place an ...more

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Jan 01, 2019 Luca rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I do not think I fully understood this novel. Hence it is not really fair to write about all the things I did not like. On a more positive note, I will be discussing this book in university over the next few weeks, so who knows, perhaps my attitude towards it will change!

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Jun 22, 2012 Feliks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-thrillers

For quite some time, this was one of the most amazing successes in the genre of espionage fiction. It reined supreme. The reading public had never seen anything quite like it. Everyone knew John LeCarre was a spy writer and that he was 'rather good'. Everyone--absolutely everyone--was aware of the landmark, the juggernaut which he had already achieved some years previously: 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold'. But no one --I think--expected him to equal that triumph; no one expected him to follow that ...more

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Dec 10, 2012 LeeAnne rated it it was ok

Shelves: literary-fic

John Le Carre

Lot's of people whose taste I respect love John le Carré. Lots of very smart, well read people that I know absolutely love John le Carré. I just don't get it and I probably never will.

First, I find John le Carré books to be so slow. The action has almost always already taken place, so the reader learns about the action in retrospect, through vague “spy dialogue” between upper class old men who speak in riddles. For me, this slows down and dulls any action to a snails pace.

But, the mo ...more

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Feb 28, 2017 Nigeyb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I've wanted to read the George Smiley books since watching the BBC adaptation of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' back in the 1970s. I subsequently loved the 2011 film adaptation directed by Tomas Alfredson, which I saw in the cinema, and rewatched a few weeks ago. Everything I had heard about the source material suggested joy and wonder would await and, ...more

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About John le Carré

John le Carré

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John le Carré, the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born 19 October 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), is an English author of espionage novels. Le Carré has resided in St Buryan, Cornwall, Great Britain, for more than 40 years, where he owns a mile of cliff close to Land's End.

See also: John le Carré - Wikipedia