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The Honourable Schoolboy

(The Karla Trilogy #2)

John le Carré

3.95 · Rating details · 14,214 ratings · 744 reviews

Featuring George Smiley, The Honourable Schoolboy is the second installment in the renowned Karla Trilogy, the follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, which was the inspiration for the Oscar-nominated film starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Tom Hardy.

As the fall of Saigon looms, master spy George Smiley must outmaneuver his Soviet coun ...more

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Kindle Edition, 611 pages

Published June 7th 2011 by Penguin Books (first published September 1977)

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Feb 26, 2018 Jaline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: xx2018-completed

In the review I wrote for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy I mentioned that it took me a while to accustom myself to the spy jargon as well as many of the British idioms. It gave me a very strange feeling to start reading this episode (# 6 in the George Smiley series) and discover: (1) the British idioms are offset by the fact that the Circus (centre of espionage in London) is balanced, and often explained by the Cousins (their American counterparts, based in Langley, Virginia); and (2) the definiti In the review I wrote for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy I mentioned that it took me a while to accustom myself to the spy jargon as well as many of the British idioms. It gave me a very strange feeling to start reading this episode (# 6 in the George Smiley series) and discover: (1) the British idioms are offset by the fact that the Circus (centre of espionage in London) is balanced, and often explained by the Cousins (their American counterparts, based in Langley, Virginia); and (2) the definitions of the spy terms are woven seamlessly into the narrative itself. So we not only know who the Circus and the Cousins are, but we also know what Housekeeping is, what the Nursery is, and the many other phrases for departments within the British secret service.

This novel takes place largely in China – Hong Kong, for the most part. However, it also takes us to other parts of Asia and there are a few side-trips to London where George Smiley has been doing everything possible to pull together a stronger team after exposing the mole Russia had planted high in the ranks of the Circus. (See Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for that story). While he is busy ensuring all bugs are cleaned out and missing records are cobbled together out of the pieces that remain, an entire Chinese development is underway.

Coordinating the new development as well as wrestling some order and security back into being is a huge connected project for any one person. With his usual calm and quiet, but sharp intelligence, George Smiley is pulling everything together successfully, despite potshots from the Cousins and even some of his own team. How this all plays out is a credit to the author’s amazing storytelling.

John Le Carrè’s writing in this book is simply outstanding. The characters were all well-developed – some of them I loved, some of them disgusted me, some of them I felt deep empathy for, and there were some that I just didn’t know how I felt about them. Some had crystal-clear motivation, some had mixed motives, and some didn’t know what they wanted for themselves or what they wanted to accomplish.

The descriptive parts of the book were also excellent. In his introductory piece, John Le Carrè writes that he spent some months in China researching for this book. He traveled around with a group of journalists and also spent time getting to know the hang-outs for many different classes of people. His research is woven so smoothly into this novel that I felt like I was there myself. This is what great writers can achieve: carry us along on a journey we might never be able to take in real life, but create it so well and with such detail that we live it, too.

If you enjoy great storytelling, tangible atmosphere, plots with multiple threads that twine themselves together into an absorbing pattern, and fascinating characters, I can happily recommend this book to you. ...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Warwick rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, espionage, folio-society, hong-kong, china, laos, cambodia

Popular opinion has it that this is the weakest of the three Karla novels. I thought it was a masterpiece, and a more ambitious novel than Tinker, Tailor.

It is very different from the last book: suddenly there is this unexpectedly huge scope of Southeast Asia to go alongside the muted meetings in grey London office rooms. I can well understand how some readers might have felt it was two books jammed together, but for me the contrast worked perfectly and I was riveted by how brilliantly Le Carré Popular opinion has it that this is the weakest of the three Karla novels. I thought it was a masterpiece, and a more ambitious novel than Tinker, Tailor.

It is very different from the last book: suddenly there is this unexpectedly huge scope of Southeast Asia to go alongside the muted meetings in grey London office rooms. I can well understand how some readers might have felt it was two books jammed together, but for me the contrast worked perfectly and I was riveted by how brilliantly Le Carré unfurls the story. The writing here is simply incredible. I can't think of another writer who could have me on the edge of my seat with a twenty-page description of an interdepartmental meeting, but somehow that's what we get here. Here's the halfway point of the meeting, after several pages of close, detailed description: just admire how easily he suddenly slips into this spare, witty style:

‘Lunch,’ Martindale announced without much optimism. They ate it upstairs, glumly, off plastic catering trays delivered by van. The partitions were too low and Guillam's custard flowed into his meat.

The Southeast Asia sections are wonderfully accomplished. We have thumbnail sketches of the Laotian capital, the Cambodian Civil War, rich descriptions of pre-handover Hong Kong. Jerry Westerby, the hack reporter who doubles as an occasional stringer for British Intelligence, is a character who will ring true to anyone who's worked in journalism. As a reporter myself, I've never yet read a better description of why journalists do dangerous things for so little money – why they get out of the car, cross the road, head towards the gunshots:

Sometimes you do it to save face, thought Jerry, other times you just do it because you haven't done your job unless you've scared yourself to death. Other times again, you go in order to remind yourself that survival is a fluke. But mostly you go because the others go; for machismo; and because in order to belong you must share.

Oh that's wonderful (and practically thrown away in the middle of a paragraph). This comes in a long, virtuoso section which sees Jerry digging up information on a contact under cover of writing a story on frontline fighting in Cambodia. The book is full of such delights: everything from tiny foreign airline lounges to fashion shows to opium dens have an air of truth to them. I don't know if Le Carré is drawing on personal experiences, or if he just writes so well that I believe anything he says. Either way it makes this book a pleasure.

There are flaws. The final third is less good than what comes before, and the one main female character is too much of a damsel-in-distress, who has really no reason except convention for falling for our antihero. But I'll take that, for the joys of reading a spy novel I can actually believe, with some descriptive set-pieces of ‘The East’ that are unmatched. ...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Feliks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, modern-brit, genre-thrillers

I'm a longtime reader of the espionage genre --beginning as just a lad--and although I massively enjoyed all of John LeCarre's earlier works and particularly his George Smiley series--I must call out "The Honourable Schoolboy" for especial recognition.

This penultimate work of that series is really the triumph of LeCarre's career; the point at which he reached the full breadth and scope of his powers. Afterwards--although he enjoyed further achievements--I suggest that he never again eclipses th ...more

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Jan 11, 2017 Nikos Tsentemeidis rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-irish-literature, noir

Σε αντίθεση με το πρώτο μέρος της τριλογίας, αυτό με κούρασε. Το τρίτο αστέρι πάει βέβαια στον Le Carre, ο οποίος δεν είναι απλώς ένας συγγραφέας noir. Είναι ένας πολύ καλός λογοτέχνης, με ωραίο λεξιλόγιο και ιδιαίτερη ικανότητα να αφηγείται.

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Oct 12, 2011 Darwin8u rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

“I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
― W.H. Auden

“Yet it's not for want of future that I'm here, he thought. It's for want of a present.”
― John le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy

description

Well sport, this was a messy, sometimes uneven AND occasionally a plodding novel but I absolutely loved every single word of it. This is the second book of le Carré's Karla trilogy. Perhaps, the greatest spy trilogy ever. While more people focus on the first ...more

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May 04, 2016 Mizuki rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fictions, disappointment

One of the few bright spots is how the author wrote the 1970s colonized Hong Kong, I also enjoy how the author described the international spy network and how those spies work, but all the good things I have to say about this book end here. The characters are rather flat, the plot and the war among spies slow paced and uninteresting. In the end I don't care what might happen to any of those characters. So it's a disappointed 2 stars.

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Aug 12, 2012 rameau rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: language-finnish-translation, manually-added, read-in-2012, rating-meh

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a tough act to follow, but I must admit I was expecting more. At first, I thought that’s exactly what I was getting but then the mind-numbing second third happened and I was lost in a way I never was in Tinker Tailor. I still don’t have a clear understanding of what happened—in the book or with my interest in it.

All I know is that I got sick of reading about Jerry. I got sick of Guillam’s overdone fawning. I got sick of the female characters—including Connie—portraye ...more

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May 26, 2013 Vit Babenco rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

John le Carré calls Hong Kong the world capital of espionage of the seventies. There on the invisible battlefields the unseen combats are being fought… But the invisibility doesn’t make the mêlées less cruel. Clandestinity just makes spy battles much more psychologically complex.
“A redhead, which was half-way to whoredom for a start. Not enough breast to nurse a rabbit, and worst of all a fierce eye for arithmetic. They said he found her in the town: whore again. From the first day, she had not John le Carré calls Hong Kong the world capital of espionage of the seventies. There on the invisible battlefields the unseen combats are being fought… But the invisibility doesn’t make the mêlées less cruel. Clandestinity just makes spy battles much more psychologically complex.
“A redhead, which was half-way to whoredom for a start. Not enough breast to nurse a rabbit, and worst of all a fierce eye for arithmetic. They said he found her in the town: whore again. From the first day, she had not let him out of her sight. Clung to him like a child. Ate with him, and sulked; drank with him, and sulked; shopped with him, picking up the language like a thief, till they became a minor local sight together, the English giant and his sulking wraith whore, trailing down the hill with their rush basket—the schoolboy, in his tattered shorts, grinning at everyone, and the scowling orphan, in her whore’s sackcloth with nothing underneath, so that though she was plain as a scorpion the men stared after her to see her hard haunches rock through the fabric. She walked with all her fingers locked round his arm and her cheek against his shoulder, and she only let go of him to pay out meanly from the purse she now controlled. When they met a familiar face, he greeted it for both of them, flapping his vast free arm like a Fascist. And God help the man who, on the rare occasion when she went alone, ventured a fresh word or a wolf call: she would turn and spit like a gutter-cat, and her eyes burned like the devil’s.”
The language is outright juicy.
“Sam had ranged a little wider in his enquiries than Head Office had sanctioned. Hard pressed, he had gone to the pedlars rather than file a nil return. He had fixed himself a side-deal with the local Cousins. Or the local security services had blackmailed him—in Sarratt jargon the angels had put a burn on him—and he had played the case both ways in order to survive and smile and keep his Circus pension. To read Sam’s moves, Smiley knew that he must stay alert to these and countless other options. A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world.”
All's fair in love and espionage…
The Honourable Schoolboy has its special stress not on spying but on the psychological subtleties of undercover affairs. ...more

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Nov 21, 2008 Bryan Alexander rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction, spy, vietnam

This is one of the greatest spy novels I've ever read. It's a powerful, ambitious, satisfying sequel to the very great Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The plot concerns the Circus (British espionage unit) tracking down a Soviet operation in the far East. Smiley rebuilds the shattered agency and hurls it into the fray. Without spoilers I can assert that The Honourable Schoolboy takes place largely in south and southeast Asia, with long stretches back in London, and an ultimate focus on Hong Kong. E ...more

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Jun 13, 2016 Bradley West rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, thrillers

After Tinker, Tailor, le Carre's fans waited many years for the follow-up The Honourable Schoolboy. When I first read the book 35 (!) years ago I recall being a little disappointed that the book wasn't more Smiley-centric, but in retrospect le Carre's shift in focus from treachery within the Circus to the exotic East was what the series needed lest it choke on its own incestuous fog.

The Hong Kong of the early 1970s in the book wasn't very different from the Hong Kong I encountered in the early 1 After Tinker, Tailor, le Carre's fans waited many years for the follow-up The Honourable Schoolboy. When I first read the book 35 (!) years ago I recall being a little disappointed that the book wasn't more Smiley-centric, but in retrospect le Carre's shift in focus from treachery within the Circus to the exotic East was what the series needed lest it choke on its own incestuous fog.

The Hong Kong of the early 1970s in the book wasn't very different from the Hong Kong I encountered in the early 1980s. Many, many fewer skyscrapers than today and much less prosperity, but the same feverish pace, crowding and squalor (outside Central) persisted. Le Carre's eye for Hong Kong is spot on, while his caricatures of journalist Richard Hughes as Old Craw and the Foreign Correspondents Club are gems. No one does atmosphere like le Carre, and that's further evident when the author takes us to Cambodia-under-fire at the end of the Vietnam war, then up country to northern Thailand where Westerby is on the trail of Ricardo, an absent aviator and romantic rival.

Meanwhile, le Carre unfolds the principal espionage plot beautifully. There's a gold seam out of Indochina, then the whiff of Karla and, perhaps, a mainland KGB spy who is seeking to escape China. Smiley's and Connie's scenes are strongly written, with the gradual unveiling of the mole leaving me whipping through the side stories in order to get back to the latest information on the deep penetration agent.

Jerry's infatuation with Lizzie struck one of the only discordant notes. Le Carre invested a lot of effort fleshing out Jerry's character, and considerable time on Lizzie's, too. Lizzie's actions rang true, while Westerby always seemed a bit off (even the second and third time through the book). So the ending wasn't wholly satisfying, but that mild disappointment wasn't enough to reduce the rating.

* * * * *

I've read two of le Carre's novels three times, Smiley's People for its virtuosity, and The Honourable Schoolboy for setting and plot. So rather than nitpick, I'll conclude by saying that it's a great spy novel, a fantastic tour of Indochina and Hong Kong, and a pretty good character analysis of an unhappy middle-aged spy trying to do the right thing. ...more

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May 25, 2017 Michael rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I love le Carre, and I love the other two books in the Karla Trilogy, but for some reason this one didn't do it for me. I found the writing flat, devoid of le Carre's usual angry incisiveness, and the characters seemed more like wooden dolls than people. Maybe I'll revisit it some day, but let's just say, I'm in no rush.

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Mar 06, 2017 Nigeyb rated it liked it · review of another edition

I'd wanted to read the George Smiley books since watching the BBC adaptation of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' back in the 1970s. I also subsequently loved the 2011 film adaptation directed by Tomas Alfredson, which I saw in the cinema, and rewatched recently.

Everything I had heard about the source material suggests joy and wonder would await and, I’m pleased to report, that’s exactly what I have found so far.

I have read the series, up until 'The Honourable Schoolboy', in quick succession…

'Cal

...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Stuart Ayris rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This the second in the Smiley/Karla trilogy - the only one (as far as I'm aware) that hasn't been dramatised and as such the least known of the three. Yet it is my favourite by far.

The main character is not George Smiley (although he is present in much of the novel) but Jerry Westerby, one of the Occasionals as they are referred to - foreign correspondents who do a little spying on the side. As such, it is altogether more human than either Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy or Smiley's People - the r ...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Leelas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spies

A John le Carre novel set in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia? Yes, please!

This is the second volume in the Karla trilogy, and as such is the direct sequel to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Do not expect more of the same, however. This is, after all, John le Carre, and he rarely, if ever, writes the same novel twice.

The le Carre novels that I have read tend to make use of two general frameworks. There are the 'whodunit' style stories, set primarily in London, such as Call for the Dead and TTSS. These ar A John le Carre novel set in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia? Yes, please!

This is the second volume in the Karla trilogy, and as such is the direct sequel to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Do not expect more of the same, however. This is, after all, John le Carre, and he rarely, if ever, writes the same novel twice.

The le Carre novels that I have read tend to make use of two general frameworks. There are the 'whodunit' style stories, set primarily in London, such as Call for the Dead and TTSS. These are, effectively, murder mysteries dressed up in espionage clothing. Then there are the operational stories, following daring missions into hostile territory, such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and The Looking Glass War.

The Honourable Schoolboy has elements of both categories. It is definitely an operational story, following an offensive by the Circus aimed at capturing a high-ranking Soviet agent. At the same time, an air of mystery hangs over the whole procedure, and it has all the investigations and interrogations of its predecessor.

The story is told via two main characters. The first is George Smiley, who is mainly followed through the eyes of Peter Guillam, who plays the Watson to Smiley's Holmes. Smiley has a dark, ruthless side to him which tends to come out when he plays a supporting role. This side is evident here, but not dominant. Overall, this is the jaded yet likeable Smiley of TTSS. The second main character is Jerry Westerby, the 'honourable schoolboy' of the title, and the Circus's man on the ground in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. The psychological contrasts of these two characters are central to the story's development and conclusion.

The best part of the story by far, aside from the magnificent and tragic conclusion, is Westerby's sojourn through Southeast Asia. The story takes place between 1974 and 1975, and Westerby visits Phnom Penh, Battambang, Saigon, and Vientiane, witnessing life in these cities under siege on the very brink of the Communist victories. For these passages, the mysteries are put on hold, and the adventure kicks into high gear, with Jerry risking life and limb on the front lines as he pursues and interviews the lost souls that make up the novel's supporting cast.

As a Southeast Asianist and a fan of le Carre, this book is personally a dream come true for me. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good spy novel, or interested in the events that shook Southeast Asia and the world in the mid 1970s. ...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Nilesh rated it it was ok · review of another edition

The Karla Trilogy is not a true trilogy but a marketing spin and this book proves it in more ways than one.

To start with, this book has little connection with the Karla-Smiley story of Tinker, Tailor. Yes, Karla is mentioned as linked to the spies being chased but with no other role whatsoever. Smiley team is there but more as a sideshow to the juvenile story of a fringe spy falling in crazy love over a single meeting, his Southeast Asian ventures and a complex capture tale where one is never cl The Karla Trilogy is not a true trilogy but a marketing spin and this book proves it in more ways than one.

To start with, this book has little connection with the Karla-Smiley story of Tinker, Tailor. Yes, Karla is mentioned as linked to the spies being chased but with no other role whatsoever. Smiley team is there but more as a sideshow to the juvenile story of a fringe spy falling in crazy love over a single meeting, his Southeast Asian ventures and a complex capture tale where one is never clear what the entire fuss is all about.

Positively, the book vividly describes the expat life in early Seventies in HK, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand etc. It takes a while to overcome the inherent biases, but when one moves beyond what was an acceptable behaviour of so called heroes of the time, the book provides a good narration of interplay between people of various races then and there.

That said,there is no intrigue of the previous book. The twist of the tale never materialises. Too many characters are presented as caricatures of various stereotypes. The know-all Smiley himself never really crafts anything ingenious. And to top it all, the end is too incomplete even though realistic, one never knows whether Nelson, the chief villain, really mattered in the tiniest to Karla, China or the West. One is equally dark about the true nature of feelings between Jerry and Lizie, and if this was supposed to be the pinnacle of the retiring Smiley, it was simply too sad.

The book may have had more meaning in the Seventies when political events of Asia were momentous, the Cold War for all its inaction appeared thrilling and not much was known in the West about people and cities discussed here. Most of this appears less appetising now.

Second reading review:

I have decided to go through the entire le Carre collection and was least excited to pick this one up given the first reading impressions. I found the East Asian life descriptions more interesting than the first time. The story read as meaningless as the first time, although I had far more appreciation of the 1970s spycraft described the second time. If I were to change my rating, on second reading, the book is a three star. ...more

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Jan 14, 2014 Larou added it · review of another edition

Apparently, many people read John Le Carré’s spy novels for a glimpse at what the world of international espionage is really like; in other words, they read them like a kind of journalism about the shady world of Intelligence Services. And there certainly is something to it – we’ve grown used to a more realistic perspective on secret services, but we can still imagine what it must have been like to read a novel like The Spy Who Came In from the Cold for someone whose idea of spy thrillers were I Apparently, many people read John Le Carré’s spy novels for a glimpse at what the world of international espionage is really like; in other words, they read them like a kind of journalism about the shady world of Intelligence Services. And there certainly is something to it – we’ve grown used to a more realistic perspective on secret services, but we can still imagine what it must have been like to read a novel like The Spy Who Came In from the Cold for someone whose idea of spy thrillers were Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. Le Carré profoundly debunked the myths about the spy trade, showing it to be a world not of elegant womanizers lounging in luxurious surroundings, but of middle-aged men holding bureaucratic meetings in dull offices, not of noble deeds and lofty aims but of petty infighting and political maneuvering. The novels of Le Carré were filled with detailed descriptions and precise observations, and had authenticity written all over them and thoroughly destroyed any conception of glamour clinging to the spy profession – today, nobody would consider a James Bond novel anything but fantasy.

The Honourable Schoolboy lends itself with particular ease to such a journalistic reading due to the place and time it is set in: a very large part of the novel takes place in Hong Kong and South-East Asia during the retreat of the United States from Vietnam and a lot of room is given to highly atmospheric descriptions of the situation, of the feelings of uncertainty, unrest and frustration pervading the area during that period – making this by far the longest book of Le Carré’s so far. Even though Le Carré’s account is fictional, he appears to have done an impressive amount of research for it, and I doubt any journalistic, presumably non-fictional report could do a better job at painting a picture that is both authentic and immersive.

Therefore, one might consider The Honourable Schoolboy worth reading on those merits alone. But Le Carré’s ambition for this and his other novels does not extend to merely being reportage, this novel, like his previous ones, aims for something more, and I think that it is this which makes them stand out. And this is not just true for the novels’ content but for their form, too – quite often, the apparently realistic exterior of Le Carré’s spy novels conceals inner mechanisms that do not run by the same rules governing realistic narratives but are structurally quite experimental. The Honourable Schoolboy is another example of this – its main thematic concern is with truth and its uses, and the novel’s forms reflects this, even if it is by adding its own distortions in the process.

Towards the end of the novel, one of the characters quotes from a poem by John Donne:

On a huge hill,
Cragged and steep, Truth stands, and he that will
Reach her, about must and about must go,
And what the hill’s suddenness resists, win so.

This, even if it comes late in the novel, after its plot and its protagonists have taken many turns about and about, constitutes something like the motto for The Honourable Schoolboy. Indeed the whole novel could be taken as a variation on the poem those lines comes from, Donne’s Satire III, to the point where it feels that one might place both works next to each other and draw in the correspondences. Correspondence is part of the novel’s theme, too, as it is set not just in Asia but has London as a major setting too, and the events in both spheres, while never shown to result from each other immediately, do influence each other in oblique ways that had me think more than once of the Renaissance alchemy concept of correspondence, where things not directly connected still work upon each other by way of mystic similarities. Except, of course, that there is nothing mystical at place here, but the driving forces are mostly political in nature – but not really any less obscure for that.

There is a recurring image in the novel of truth as a small circle or kernel, surrounded by layers upon layers of untruth that grow steadily larger, up to the outer ring which is a vast area of rumour and obfuscation. The novel in fact starts with out rumours, and continues to refer to them, in the plot and by way of its anonymous narrator who tries to pierce through the mist of lies and half-truths surrounding “Operation Dolphin” to arrive at its kernel of truth. And both Jerry Westerby and George Smiley, the novel’s main protagonists, are surrounded by rumours, putting the reader in a very similar position of having to cross through obfuscation to arrive at the truth. A truth that becomes ever more elusive the further the novel proceeds, and it eventually becomes clear that for all its descriptive vividness and journalistic authenticity, the novel lets us see its kernel of truth only through a thick haze of distraction and misinformation. In fact, its undoubtedly brilliant journalistic element might constitute precisely that haze – one can hardly consider it accidental that so much of the novel takes place among journalist and that one of its main protagonists is a journalist who has no scruples to manipulate the truth when it serves his purposes and who in turn is manipulated by his employers in London. By the end of The Honourable Schoolboy it is by no means that there every was any kernel of truth at all, and if there was, it might be impossible to find – but not for epistemological reasons but because it has been so distorted and hidden under layers and layers of obfuscation by political power plays that it is simply gone, and the wanderer, when he takes that last turn that last turn that will take him up to the summit of that hill, finds himself on top of a sheer cliff, stepping off into the air. ...more

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Nov 02, 2017 Bevan Lewis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A superb story, multifaceted with wonderfully evoked characters and settings. The pinnacle of the Smiley books thus far. Michael Jayston's narration is flawless as always in the Audible version.

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Feb 27, 2013 Nick Baam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Crime noir been given its due, with Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain all winning Nobel prizes (haven't they?) (read Cain's Serenade), I nominate for the award the spy genre's only serious candidate, John le Carre. More, I nominate The Honourable Schoolboy as the best spy novel ever written, and the author himself doesn't put it in his top four.

The Honourable Schoolboy, second in the Karla Trilogy, coming after Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and before Smiley's People, is all a ...more

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Jul 18, 2016 Pavol Hardos rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, fiction, thriller

Super. Ripping. But you see, sport, this is a case of le Carré being himself but 'more so', as they would say at Sarratt. To the book's great detriment. The writing is not that great for there to be so much of it.

But the book's main shortcoming is the titular character, a journalist aristo cum spy named Westerby, dispatched by Smiley on a mission in the south-east. Annoying by half, in the final part of the book he [spoiler!] inexplicably turns out to be an utter cretin, when the plot so dictat ...more

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Oct 05, 2013 Chris rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, mystery-spies

Honourable School Boy Another good production by the Smiley Players. This radio drama more than a straight forward audio book. The cast is great, especially Simon Russell Beale who plays Smiley. It is more of morality tales that will make you think. If you like Dowton Abbey, you might want to check this out as Hugh Bonneville has a large part.

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Dec 01, 2014 Brad Lyerla rated it liked it · review of another edition

I am working my way through le Carré 's Smiley books. SCHOOLBOY is a disappointment.

On to SMILEY'S PEOPLE.

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Feb 11, 2018 Neil rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018

164, 164, 228, 340, 433, 686.

This is the sixth in the tentative Smiley series (I say tentative because the "series" is mostly a marketing trick) and the second of the Karla Trilogy within that (also a marketing ploy although more believable).

The numbers above are the page counts (in the editions I read) of the six books so far. It doesn’t take a mathematician to spot a trend!

It is clear that THS is substantially longer than everything that has led up to it. And I have to say that I am not comple 164, 164, 228, 340, 433, 686.

This is the sixth in the tentative Smiley series (I say tentative because the "series" is mostly a marketing trick) and the second of the Karla Trilogy within that (also a marketing ploy although more believable).

The numbers above are the page counts (in the editions I read) of the six books so far. It doesn’t take a mathematician to spot a trend!

It is clear that THS is substantially longer than everything that has led up to it. And I have to say that I am not completely sure this is a good thing. My perception as I read this was almost as if I was reading a book by several different authors: much of it felt like Le Carré, but then other bits were like Ian Fleming and others like Graham Greene and yet others had at least a setting like a Joseph Conrad novel. In fact, the New York Times, I have just discovered, wrote "John le Carré seems to have gotten tired of being compared to Graham Greene, and decided instead to be Joseph Conrad."

The story picks up from Smiley’s uncovering of a spy in The Circus (no names in case I spoil Tinker, Tailor… for someone, although I guess everyone knows by now!). Smiley continues to investigate the service (of which he is now in charge). He discovers evidence of possible involvement by Karla in an operation in Laos. Jerry Westerby (who has been a bit part player in the series so far) is recalled by Smiley and sent to Hong Kong. From there, the plot unfolds. The book is far more about Westerby than it is about Smiley as Westerby goes on the run in the "Far East".

It has to be said that it is quite hard to keep track of the twists and turns of a 686 page story, especially when there are sections of that story that are not quite such gripping reading as "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" or "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". I have to admit that there were times when I struggled to maintain concentration and suddenly realised I might have missed a key plot point or connection.

Not my favourite Smiley novel, but mainly, I think, because of its length. Not that I mind long books, but they need to be long for the right reasons. ...more

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Nov 27, 2017 Calzean rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-england, culture-england, culture-hong-kong, espionage

At times this was le Carre's best work. The chapter of the bureaucrats arguing over what to do was a triumph of showing government pettiness at it's best. But it did go on a bit, Westerby was just too smart, Guillam needs to find a new line of work and the women are trinkets. Of course the question of why did any of this matter was raised as George Smiley seemingly goes back into another retirement.

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Jun 27, 2016 Dillwynia Peter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I have read two classical espionage novels this year that puts into play the canon that would follow: Ashenden by Somerset Maughan and The Gadfly by Ethel Voynich. From these two novels it went two ways- glamourous settings & people, and heroic deeds; or covert activities, lots of watching and reporting and a dark side involving governments and betrayal. The former style is admirably covered by James Bond, or The Saint; the former became the style favoured by LeCarre.
I like LeCarre a lot. He I have read two classical espionage novels this year that puts into play the canon that would follow: Ashenden by Somerset Maughan and The Gadfly by Ethel Voynich. From these two novels it went two ways- glamourous settings & people, and heroic deeds; or covert activities, lots of watching and reporting and a dark side involving governments and betrayal. The former style is admirably covered by James Bond, or The Saint; the former became the style favoured by LeCarre.
I like LeCarre a lot. He attacks the ethical and moral issues to espionage and asked deep philosophical questions such as when does espionage overstep its bounds and when do you stop before you become as grimy as the criminal. This is the 1st of Le Carre’s novels to leave Europe. In the preface he acknowledges the assistance of people in Hong Kong and it is obvious that he took in a lot when re researched the novel. I felt like I was back in the dying days of the Vietnam War and the repercussions it had on South East Asia overall.
The story, as per LeCarre is dirty, grimy and full of opportunistic and unscrupulous criminals. It is also the centre book of a trilogy and unlike others which have lot of filler and are bland compared to the 1st and last books, this is almost a stand alone novel. Knowing what happens in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy helps understand why the London office is dysfunctional and essentially broken. Unlike most espionage novels, LeCarre’s are always character driven. I suspect some readers wouldn’t enjoy this, but I did. The characters had many aspects, very 3-dimensional and I loved their strengths and flaws as they played out through the narrative.
Others have commented on a two novel rolled into one issue, but I didn’t feel this. Rather, I felt like the severe issues and problems in London generated both unique opportunities that our hero exploited, and allowed important and thrilling aspects to occur as a result of their fumbling. The use of the CIA and the political machinations between British parliamentarians and the CIA (due to a perceived non functioning MI6) were masterfully done.
My only complaint has been – to date, as I read him in chronological order – is that LeCarre tends to kill off his anti-hero. It happened in The Spy who came in from the Cold & here and I didn’t think it strengthened the story. Our hero could have retired – he was actively contemplating this.
The language – oh the language! A Goodreads friend has commented on this & he is so right. The witty juxapositions, the language to describe scenery and situations and emotions was just exquisite. No sow’s ears came anywhere near this silk purse.
...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Bruce rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I tried so very hard to like this book, I really did. It had been recommended to me as a good example of an espionage book by a master storyteller, and I thought that it might be a good airplane read to boot. During the past two weeks when I’ve been traveling, I have faithfully labored through this work, and hard work it was. Initially I was intrigued by the details of spy “tradecraft,” but those details became quickly tedious. The story itself is involved and clearly a part of a larger and long ...more

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Dec 12, 2010 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I really wanted to get into this for my holiday. The plot was set in Hong Kong, so what could be more appropriate, and initially I was quite gripped by the characters and potential story. But as the novel progressed I found I just wasn't interested enough in the minutiae of the spying world in the way that Le Carre so clearly is, how it operates and what legwork needs to be done in order to unearth the Red under your Bed. Which was enough of a pity that I might go back to the book soon, because ...more

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Feb 12, 2015 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, british-literature, espionage, fiction-20th-century, suspense-thriller, read-2016

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
1/3: It's 1975, and spymaster George Smiley takes charge of dealing with a betrayal. Stars Simon Russell Beale and Hugh Bonneville.

2/3: The Americans make their presence felt, and tragedy strikes in Hong Kong.

3/3: Can George Smiley keep the situation under control? Can Jerry Westerby be trusted? Stars Simon Russell Beale and Daisy Haggard.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01616ll

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Feb 05, 2018 Carlos Azevedo rated it liked it · review of another edition

Agora a decisão torna-se nebulosa: a história (the plot) é lenta e complicada.
A escrita e os personagens são deslizantes , perturbantes e pouco claros.
Mas claro, claro, não é tanto o plot quanto a vida deste universo incongruente, deslocado e desmotivado.
Não é a continuação de "A Toupeira", embora se reclame como tal.
É o romance pelo romance, com romance e muita moral desesperada.

Não devia dar estrela nenhuma, ou cinco.

Não é para perceber, mas pode ler-se, como quem não quer comprar mas compr ...more

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Nov 28, 2017 Anthony Nesbitt rated it it was ok · review of another edition

There are two LeCarre's. the first from 1961 to 1971. (Good, though nothing memorable.) Then the second, from 1971 to the present. (Bitter, mediocre, overlong, padded, anti-Western Judeo Christian, pretentious, and whose characters only ever had one voice. Namely they all sounded like LeCarre.) LeCarre didn't just want the commercial sales, he wanted to be a chronicler of our time. A modern day Stendahl or Balzac. That will never be within him. Cuts a sad figure these days.

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Oct 03, 2018 Theo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, spy

Another really good novel about cold-war spies. Once again, John le Carré creates a world that is filled with moves and counter moves, by opponents hidden all over the world. I particularly enjoyed his writing in this novel, which was about the discovery of another one of Karla's agents. Instead of being within the Circus, this book instead takes us to Hong Kong and Thailand where an agent of the Circus has to uncover Karla's plot and all the characters involved. It felt, in tone, very similar t ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Two questions	3	11	Jan 02, 2019 01:35PM
Did Smiley order the death that closes the action?	5	80	Jan 02, 2019 01:27PM
Why Did They Let Westerby Go?	11	120	Apr 19, 2018 06:32PM
Espionage Aficion...: the 1963 coup d'etat in South Vietnam	4	15	Oct 26, 2017 04:42PM
it is hands-down, the best ever written	19	71	Nov 23, 2014 01:50PM

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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