Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / John le Carré

Halfway through Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy I had no idea what was going on. I was confused. Too many characters. Too much jargon. And very obtuse writing style that doesn’t explain what the characters are actually doing. Stuff like dialogue that would imply a character at Brixton (city or building I don’t know) wasn’t happy about it but no explanation why Brixton is bad.

It’s pretty rare that a book that starts off so poorly for me turns out to be a good book. I can’t think of another case off the top of my head. But it happened. Right around page 190 things started to change. Fewer characters. Less dependence on subtle rivalries between Brixton and Sarratt etc.

There’s a mole in the Circus which I take is part of the British intelligence services. Or perhaps the entire service. I don’t know. Anyway, the mole is pretty high up. A botched spy job in Czechoslovakia forced out the director and most of the high ranking personnel. The mole is one of the four newly in charge people. So word gets to the government minister whose portfolio includes intelligence that there’s a mole, and he goes to former spy George Smiley (forced out because of the botched job) to root out the mole. Since the mole is effectively running things, Smiley can’t actually do anything from within to find him.

A lot of reviews I saw online warned that this book doesn’t have a lot of action. I wasn’t too worried about that, and it really isn’t an issue. Smiley does all his work by research (that part is pretty inscrutable) and interviewing people. Every interview is fraught with the danger that Smiley’s quest for the mole will be discovered. The turncoat could turn the tables, or disappear. Psychologically, that was pretty good.

If only I understood the first half.

One other blogged review:

• Nick’s Café Canadien

Title: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Author: John le Carré (David John Moore Cornwell)
Series: George Smiley
Imprint / publisher: Bantam Books
Format: Mass market paperback
Length: 369 p.
Publication date: July 1975 (originally April 1974)
Subject: Smiley, George (Fictitious character) — Fiction
Subject: Intelligence service — Great Britain — Fiction
LC classification: PR6062.E33