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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
An excellent story, well constructed in the Le Carre tradition and style. Utilising the character stable that fans will instantly recognise, the author weaves a tale with twists and turns worthy of any of the other books in the series. Highly recommended.
The author is a British novelist and also John Le Carre's son, so it was fitting that he continued the George Smiley series now that Le Carre has died.
Karla's Choice picks up George Smiley's story right after The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. It's 1963 and George has retired from the British overseas intelligence agency. For once, he is having a loving relationship with his wife, Ann. But now the agency head, Control, has called George back to investigate a Soviet assassin defector and figure out why a sleeper Soviet agent in London is stirring up havoc in the Soviet bloc, which is Karla's domain.
Karla is the codename of the shadowy head of the Soviet spy agency and is George's hated rival. George gets sucked back in to the morally ambiguous world of Cold War espionage and during a thrilling showdown in East Berlin shows that he is just as clever as ever, and yet his efforts once again compromise his ethics and fail to translate into a better world.
Harkaway has created a well-crafted spy novel that fits seamlessly into the George Smiley series. It's just as good as Le Carre's work and I hope he writes more for this series.
Karla's Choice picks up George Smiley's story right after The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. It's 1963 and George has retired from the British overseas intelligence agency. For once, he is having a loving relationship with his wife, Ann. But now the agency head, Control, has called George back to investigate a Soviet assassin defector and figure out why a sleeper Soviet agent in London is stirring up havoc in the Soviet bloc, which is Karla's domain.
Karla is the codename of the shadowy head of the Soviet spy agency and is George's hated rival. George gets sucked back in to the morally ambiguous world of Cold War espionage and during a thrilling showdown in East Berlin shows that he is just as clever as ever, and yet his efforts once again compromise his ethics and fail to translate into a better world.
Harkaway has created a well-crafted spy novel that fits seamlessly into the George Smiley series. It's just as good as Le Carre's work and I hope he writes more for this series.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Nick Harkaway’s Karla’s Choice concerns Susanna Gero, a Hungarian refugee who works for a literary agent in London. The story takes place in 1963. Susanna’s boss doesn’t show up for work one morning, but a Russian assassin does appear; he confesses to Susanna that he was sent from Moscow to kill her boss, but now wishes to defect. This plunges Susanna into the world of Cold War espionage, where she meets British spy George Smiley, protagonist of ten John le Carre novels written in the 1960s and 70s. Karla’s Choice fits into le Carre’s chronology after The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, and before Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Many of the supporting characters in Karla’s Choice are taken from le Carre’s books: Peter Guillam, Connie Sachs, Toby Esterhase, Ann Sercomb, Bill Haydon, Control, and Millie McCraig. Karla is the mysterious Soviet spy who bedevils George Smiley in many of le Carre’s books, starting with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Author Nick Harkaway is John le Carre’s son, so this isn’t as odd as it might seem. In an introduction Harkaway explains his attempt to revive George Smiley. If, like me, you’re a fan of spy fiction, then Karla’s Choice is well worth reading. I can’t imagine a reader coming to this book without having read some of le Carre’s books. It’s not absolutely essential: Karla’s Choice stands on its own. However, without knowing about Bill Haydon’s treachery or Ann Sercomb’s unfaithfulness, a reader would miss some of the nuances written into Karla’s Choice. For all these reasons, highly recommended.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a hard review to write. I loved that we got a new Smiley novel and my hunger to spend more time with the Circus overshadowed a more critical reading. Upon reflection, I think there are some incongruities with the original Smiley cannon. In particular, some modern sensibilities and social paradigms were injected into a world that—exposed in the original books—did not exist in the fictional timeline. I'm not upset to have misogyny ousted. Modern writers have to consider such things even when writing historical fiction. That being said, it is an example of the subtle differences.
I enjoyed seeing Smiley in action. However, I considered the difference in characterization in this version of Smiley. He's not a direct-action character but, after the events in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, it's not unreasonable to imagine Smiley feeling obligated to take a more active role in this operation. I understand if other readers disagree with this decision.
On a technical level, I enjoyed the narrative structure that combined what are considered the only two narratives: a stranger comes to town and a character goes on a journey.
I enjoyed seeing Smiley in action. However, I considered the difference in characterization in this version of Smiley. He's not a direct-action character but, after the events in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, it's not unreasonable to imagine Smiley feeling obligated to take a more active role in this operation. I understand if other readers disagree with this decision.
On a technical level, I enjoyed the narrative structure that combined what are considered the only two narratives: a stranger comes to town and a character goes on a journey.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes