To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy , please sign up. You will find definitions of "janitor", "mother", and several other code words sprinkled throughout the book. I am currently taking a class on Politics of Industrialize Societies.
The class, however, focuses on European political structure. We have a book critique due at the end of the term, and I am deciding on whether to read Tinker, Tailor, or a political analysis on the IRA.
I have always wanted to read Tinker, Tailor, but I'm wondering how it will mesh with the class material. Mehmet Serdar Thinker, Tailor would not be the correct material, i guess. I would rather recommend Ken Follet's Century Triology as it is perfect tour de france of …more Thinker, Tailor would not be the correct material, i guess. I would rather recommend Ken Follet's Century Triology as it is perfect tour de france of European politics of 20th century. See all 17 questions about Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy….
Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. 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. 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. 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.
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. View all 29 comments. Jul 03, Jeffrey Keeten rated it it was amazing Shelves: spies , book-to-film. How am I supposed to maintain this level of paranoia with this level of incompetence? The British Secret Service, resembling a corporation that has suffered sagging profits, has reshuffled key players, ouste "The suspicious black car did not follow me home. The British Secret Service, resembling a corporation that has suffered sagging profits, has reshuffled key players, ousted others, and in the process forced George Smiley into retirement.
Smiley, in his twilight years, could have easily decided to take up gardening or researching an interesting point of history, but he has wife problems.
Ann has left him, leaving him to cover her missing presence with little lies and subterfuge. Given his past he is quite good at it. He is somewhat surprised to discover how much he misses her given the problems she continues to create for him. He has spent a lifetime controlling his emotions, but she is quite good at making him suffer. One "account rendered" from his tailor for a suit he had not ordered but that he suspected was one of those presently adorning Ann's lover; one bill from a garage in Henley for her petrol what, pray, were they doing in Henley ; one letter from the bank regarding a local cashing facility in favour of the Lady Ann Smiley at a branch of the Midland Bank of Immingham.
And what the devil, he demanded of this document are they doing in Immingham? Who ever had a love affair in Immingham, for goodness' sake? Where was Immingham? What person wants to see the results of their spouses affair through a series of bills or in today's world credit card receipts? Smiley talks tough. This begins a cat and mouse game showing Smiley at his best sifting through incomplete files, weighing the validity of whispers, and chasing a ghost agent back into the Circus.
Smiley is some what of an enigma to work with. One of his loyal followers Peter Guillam gives us some insight. All players would like Smiley off the board. This novel is almost as complex as a Russian novel.
There are a lot of names to assimilate early, don't despair, they start to sort themselves out as the plot advances.
There is a lot of spy jargon. Babysitters, coat trailing, honey-pot, housekeepers, janitors, lamplighters, lotus eaters, mailfist jobs, pavement artists, reptile fund, scalphunters, shoemakers, and wranglers to name a few.
You will come away feeling like you have a working knowledge of what it would really be like to be a spy. John Le Carre is the grand master of spy craft in my opinion, and there simply isn't a better example of his skillful plotting than this book. Read the book then watch the movie and if you want more watch the mini-series.
If you are like me it might take all three just to feel like you have found every gem, and every clue that Le Carre so liberally sprinkled through this historical work of fiction.
There are two more books in the Karla series The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. I for one plan to follow Smiley every step of the way.
View all 70 comments. Espionage is a continuation of war carried on with other means… Clandestine battles, psychological combats… Known just to the chosen few… Or the damned few. He guessed his watchers were still waiting for his c Espionage is a continuation of war carried on with other means… Clandestine battles, psychological combats… Known just to the chosen few… Or the damned few.
He guessed his watchers were still waiting for his clandestine contact. He stole a fur hat and a white plastic raincoat and a carrier bag to put them in.
He guessed they had signalled for men to take over, and were waiting. He pulled the white raincoat over his overcoat, stuffed the carrier bag into the pocket, and put on the fur hat. He abandoned his remaining parcels, then ran like a madman down the emergency staircase, smashed open a fire door, pelted down an alley, strolled up another, which was one-way, stuffed the white raincoat into the carrier bag, sauntered into another store, which was just closing, and there bought a black raincoat to replace the white one.
Using the departing shoppers for cover, he squeezed into a crowded tram, stayed aboard till the last stop but one, walked for an hour, and made the fallback with Max to the minute. So who will win in this game? Or is it a game in which there are no winners? View all 6 comments.
Jan 25, Jason rated it really liked it Shelves: reviewed , , for-kindle. 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. I do better with books. Books explain things. Book A few months ago a stylish looking British adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was released in theaters and I was intrigued.
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. Trust me. A Freaking. As soon as those last two words were uttered, warning bells should have gone off in my head. I now understood the lengths to which someone would go in order to have a companion at the movies. 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. View all 44 comments. Mar 18, Candi rated it it was amazing Shelves: espionage , favorites , mystery-crime , thriller.
Not because he is handsome, sexy, charismatic or daring but rather because he is all too human. His legs were short, his gait anything but agile, his dress costly, ill-fitting, and extremely wet. 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.
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. 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.
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. They really do deliver. View all 51 comments. Jan 14, Jaline rated it it was amazing Shelves: xxcompleted. Spy novels may be best consumed in large gulps by me. The one difficulty I had with this book was in the beginning, and it was my own difficulty.
Trying to keep up to the book while deciphering everything I needed to know was a challenge. Once I got a handle on the languages and the cast of characters, I was able to get on board this spy train and what a great ride it was! George Smiley Beggarman was one of the five. In the end, this was a very enjoyable and satisfying read. I am also looking forward to the next book in the series as there are likely to be many more changes for George Smiley to sort through and contribute to.
View all 56 comments. 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. Above all the other loves in the book, though, there is one love who binds closest to herself those whom she betrays, the compromised goddess who requires devotion most particularly from her disillusioned devotees.
Smiley, true to Ann, is true to her as well: Brittania, old England herself. View all 5 comments. Apr 30, Paromjit rated it it was amazing Shelves: espionage. Read this classic espionage novel by John le Carre long ago. Loved it so much I listened to it on audio, reacquainting myself with the characters and a brilliant, compulsive espionage story.
Such a joy to experience once again. View all 3 comments. 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 different playe I freely admit that I am not smart enough to appreciate this book.
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 different players who describe their experiences to him. Sometimes we're flashing back to George's memories; sometimes we're learning what George is reading in the archives in the present day although it feels like it might be a flashback. Eventually this all ties together, but I lacked the patience or motivation to understand how or why.
The absence of a character about whom I cared even a little only added to my increasing disengagement from and disenchantment with the book. I spent most of the book wanting to quit but persevering in the hope that I would eventually get why this was a great book.
Eventually I ended up finishing it just to be sure I wasn't missing something. But it seems I was. Apparently this is a classic and much-imitated spy novel. Maybe this isn't the genre for me then.
View all 24 comments. May 25, Diane rated it really liked it Shelves: mysteries-thrillers. 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 the Circus, a nickname for the intelligence service. One day he's approached and asked to discreetly investigate a mole in the agency, someone who's been giving state secrets to Russia. George sets to work, getting help from some trusted colleagues. It was exciting watching George uncover the mole. Even though I knew the ending because I had seen the movie, it was still thrilling.
Now that's good writing. But this wasn't just a book about finding a double agent — no, this was book about friendship, love and loyalty. It's about having a purpose in life. And it's about betrayal. They shared no harmony. They had lost all calmness in one another's company; they were a mystery to each other, and the most banal conversation could take strange, uncontrollable directions.
Besides Smiley, my favorite character in the book was young Bill Roach, a student at a prep school. Roach is a good watcher, and quietly observes things others don't notice. For example, Roach observes some odd behavior by the school's new teacher, Jim Prideaux, which suggests he has some secrets.
How about football? Are you good at football, Bill? Indeed he had recently come to doubt whether he had any purpose on earth at all. In work and play he considered himself seriously inadequate; even the daily routine of the school, such as making his bed and tidying his clothes, seemed to be beyond his reach. Also he lacked piety: old Mrs. Thursgood had told him so; he screwed up his face too much at chapel. He blamed himself for the break-up of his parents' marriage, which he should have seen coming and taken steps to prevent.
Damn, that's a good introduction of a character. Rereading it, it's no wonder my heart went out to young Bill so early in the book. George Smiley was not naturally equipped for hurrying in the rain, least of all at dead of night.
Indeed, he might have been the final form for which Bill Roach was the prototype. Small, podgy, and at best middle-aged, he was by appearance one of London's meek who do not inherit the earth. His overcoat, which had a hint of widowhood about it, was of that black loose weave which is designed to retain moisture. Either the sleeves were too long or his arms were too short, for, as with Roach, when he wore his mackintosh, the cuffs all but concealed the fingers. For reasons of vanity he wore no hat, believing rightly that hats made him ridiculous.
I thought it was interesting he was inspired to write this novel because of Kim Philby, a real-life double agent. And now I want to read the rest of the George Smiley series. Favorite Quotes "He imagined that, like himself, Jim had had a great attachment that had failed him and that he longed to replace.
But here Bill Roach's speculation met a dead end: he had no idea how adults loved each other. 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 dishonourable 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. There is only one reason for doing something. And that's because you want to. Smiley was not one of them. Each of us has only a quantum of compassion. That if we lavish our concern on every stray cat, we never get to the centre of things.
We sit according to our natures. We sprawl and straddle, we rest like boxers between rounds, we fidget, perch, cross and uncross our legs, lose patience, lose endurance.
Who can spy on the spies? For the initiated the Circus. 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 Who can spy on the spies? Intelligence work it is not guns and fast cars and agents themselves look more like tired office workers.
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.
Believe me, there was more action than in any thriller and observing the investigation and set a trap was more exciting than any pursuit. There is a really thin line between us and them. But after reading some disquieting thoughts hatching up in your head. So, welcome to the Circus. View all 9 comments. I didn't understand half of what I just read, and yet I loved it all the same! 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 conversa I didn't understand half of what I just read, and yet I loved it all the same! 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 —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.
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. 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. View all 4 comments. Nov 07, Steven Godin rated it it was amazing Shelves: fiction , great-britain. The intricate plotting, the level of depth and intelligence, the characters, the atmosphere and suspense, the twists and turns, go way way beyond your average espionage thriller.
When I say thriller though, it's more a case of old pipe and slippers with a drop of brandy as the pacing is anything but high-octane - and it's all the better for it.
If it's car chases, explosions, and exotic locales style you're after, then look elsewhere. If you like the idea of a spy novel reading more like a drawn-out game of chess, don't mind London feeling like it was dumped somewhere in the Eastern Bloc, have a thing for men in grey macs, and wish you could be a fly on the wall when it comes to office politics and bureaucracy, then this is one of the greatest in the genre.
I'd also say it doesn't even matter whether one has seen either film or TV series in terms of knowing who the mole is. It's worth it for the writing alone. Candi I watched the miniseries right after reading the book and it was excellent, Steven! Steven Godin Candi wrote: "I watched the miniseries right after reading the book and it was excellent, Steven! If I really like the book then I'll lo Candi wrote: "I watched the miniseries right after reading the book and it was excellent, Steven!
If I really like the book then I'll look to watching the series. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not my type of book. I never read stuff like this. The action takes place during the early seventies.
So here I am. First off, I have to say Le Carre writes with amazing detail. 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. At first I felt like I had started a new job. 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. Yes and no. I liked Smiley a lot, but I would hate to work with him.
It was great being inside his head though. You can tell he unnerves people. They want to needle him. The other characters were great too. Percy is a worm. Jim is tragic and compelling. 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.
He tackled the arms trade in with The Night Manager, big pharma in with The Constant Gardener and the war on terror in with Absolute Friends. Meanwhile, a steady stream of his creations made their way from page to screen. Actors including Richard Burton, Alec Guinness, Ralph Fiennes and Gary Oldman relished the subtleties of his characterisation even as audiences applauded the deftness of his plotting. This article is more than 10 months old. Photograph: Jane Bown.
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