You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I like the change that Le Carré makes with the plot lines of this story. Some of it is a bit more telegraphed then usual, but it is still a masterful piece of writing. His characters are, as always, stooped in mystery and originality. Makes for some glaring realism that is quite refreshing.
Following the phenomenal success of "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" ("The Spy"), John le Carre, was forced to defend a deluge of surmises and conjectures regarding the internal machinations of the British Secret Service, from awestruck critics. He took painstaking efforts to emphasise and reiterate the fact that the workings of the intelligence were far removed from the sly and mercurial acumen of "Control" in his novel.
"The Looking Glass War", ("The Looking Glass"), which immediately succeeded "The Spy" reads like a deliberate and deft apology to its predecessor. Where "The Spy" is a surgical, sinister and scintillating exercise in frightening co-ordination, "The Looking Glass..." is a pathetic demonstration of fumbles, bumbles and lapses. If "The Spy" is flawless to its last murder, "The Looking Glass" owes its very essence to the attribute of flaw. But nonetheless, it is a novel of paramount interest.
Now coming to the novel itself. The British Intelligence has clearly delineated roles and responsibilities for each of its constituents. Thus while "Circus" assumes sole responsibility for all tasks political, the "Department", which was active in running a network of spies to infiltrate the Nazi regime is largely inactive, playing a passive role. When a British Agent from the Department is murdered in a foreign territory trying to get hold of a roll of film from a commercial pilot, the Department decides to take matters into their own hands. The film apparently contains incontrovertible evidence of Russian rockets being built in Kalkstad, an isolated stretch of country abutting Rostock in East Germany. The Department after scouring its internal database for a suitable agent, lands on a naturalised former Polish operative Fred Leiser. Leiser is given extensive training for a month at Oxford where he is looked after by John Avery, a non operational desk personnel. The veil of secrecy separating the workings of the "Circus" from the operations of the "Department" takes centre stage and Leiser is infiltrated into East Germany with sub standard equipment for company.
Leiser's escapade is one of betrayal, arrogance and negligence. In the trivial battle for one upmanship between two warring departments, regard and respect for humanitarian aspects is brow beaten, abused,humiliated and sacrificed. Covering up irresponsible lapses takes precedence over saving a life sacrilegiously put in danger. Finger pointing and blame games are the canaries in murky mines. By the time Leiser realises that he is a mere pawn in a bigger game of complexities, he has no one but himself to come away unscathed.
"The Looking Glass War" is yet another feather in le Carre's already distinguished cap.
"The Looking Glass War", ("The Looking Glass"), which immediately succeeded "The Spy" reads like a deliberate and deft apology to its predecessor. Where "The Spy" is a surgical, sinister and scintillating exercise in frightening co-ordination, "The Looking Glass..." is a pathetic demonstration of fumbles, bumbles and lapses. If "The Spy" is flawless to its last murder, "The Looking Glass" owes its very essence to the attribute of flaw. But nonetheless, it is a novel of paramount interest.
Now coming to the novel itself. The British Intelligence has clearly delineated roles and responsibilities for each of its constituents. Thus while "Circus" assumes sole responsibility for all tasks political, the "Department", which was active in running a network of spies to infiltrate the Nazi regime is largely inactive, playing a passive role. When a British Agent from the Department is murdered in a foreign territory trying to get hold of a roll of film from a commercial pilot, the Department decides to take matters into their own hands. The film apparently contains incontrovertible evidence of Russian rockets being built in Kalkstad, an isolated stretch of country abutting Rostock in East Germany. The Department after scouring its internal database for a suitable agent, lands on a naturalised former Polish operative Fred Leiser. Leiser is given extensive training for a month at Oxford where he is looked after by John Avery, a non operational desk personnel. The veil of secrecy separating the workings of the "Circus" from the operations of the "Department" takes centre stage and Leiser is infiltrated into East Germany with sub standard equipment for company.
Leiser's escapade is one of betrayal, arrogance and negligence. In the trivial battle for one upmanship between two warring departments, regard and respect for humanitarian aspects is brow beaten, abused,humiliated and sacrificed. Covering up irresponsible lapses takes precedence over saving a life sacrilegiously put in danger. Finger pointing and blame games are the canaries in murky mines. By the time Leiser realises that he is a mere pawn in a bigger game of complexities, he has no one but himself to come away unscathed.
"The Looking Glass War" is yet another feather in le Carre's already distinguished cap.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a very good spy novel, but given the high standards set by Le Carre later in his career, not quite deserving of a 5-star rating. In the Kindle edition I have, there is a nice forward written by Le Carre. He had just won international fame for The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (definitely a 5-star tale) but he himself was not happy with it -- It was a little too perfect, too Hollywood, and not accurate with regards to the muddled clusterfucks that he actually witnessed during his time in the espionage world.
So he wrote this book to set the record straight. I am lucky to have read this book a short while ago, which provides historical context and which shows that Le Carre's vision is highly accurate. The Looking-Glass War is a slow-motion train wreck: We read in mounting dread as we see just how doomed this project is. When it came out, the critics hated it, but one could argue that it was actually this book and not the Cold in which Le Carre finally solidified as a writer.
Anybody who's worked in a badly-managed company will feel on familiar ground here, just in terms of having decisions made by people who have no call to be making these decisions. Luckily, in business, the worst that will happen is that somebody (but not the incompetent managers, usually) will lose their jobs. Here, the stakes are a bit higher.
So he wrote this book to set the record straight. I am lucky to have read this book a short while ago, which provides historical context and which shows that Le Carre's vision is highly accurate. The Looking-Glass War is a slow-motion train wreck: We read in mounting dread as we see just how doomed this project is. When it came out, the critics hated it, but one could argue that it was actually this book and not the Cold in which Le Carre finally solidified as a writer.
Anybody who's worked in a badly-managed company will feel on familiar ground here, just in terms of having decisions made by people who have no call to be making these decisions. Luckily, in business, the worst that will happen is that somebody (but not the incompetent managers, usually) will lose their jobs. Here, the stakes are a bit higher.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
IT was fine, I suppose. It was not terribly interesting and more about how bumbling the agencies involved and the bureaucrats involved in international espionage can be. Maybe it's a good thing to read about, that the spies aren't everywhere and excellent at their jobs, but it doesn't exactly make for a super interesting read.
If the book only had the first two sections (leaving out the final Leiser section), it would have been a) very short and b) much better.
The whole thing just goes off the rails once Leiser's left The Department; it becomes an absolutely ridiculous series of stupid things happening that add up to absolutely nothing, in the end.
I bought the premise for the first half (two-thirds?) of the book; it's unfortunately that the ending feels like le Carré just didn't know what to do with Leiser once he was unleashed, or if he even wanted him to discover anything at all.
The whole thing just goes off the rails once Leiser's left The Department; it becomes an absolutely ridiculous series of stupid things happening that add up to absolutely nothing, in the end.
I bought the premise for the first half (two-thirds?) of the book; it's unfortunately that the ending feels like le Carré just didn't know what to do with Leiser once he was unleashed, or if he even wanted him to discover anything at all.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
This one was a let down for me. Like most John le Carre novels, the story unwinds slowly, but in this case, it's too slow. The payoff at the end isn't worth the slog. I had a hard time keeping interested in the story and put the book down for long stretches. I eventually switched from hardcover to audiobook to finish out the story. Glad I did that, because the best part of the novel was the very end. There's a scene that gives you a dreadful foreboding of what's to come. It plays out beautifully. I just wish the rest of the novel lived up to that ending. George Smiley shows up only briefly in this novel, but his role at the end highlights the stakes of the spy game.