A review by tyelperinquar
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I read this book over a bit of an extended period of time, so I’ll admit, I had some trouble keeping track of some events and their relevance. I’m not sure if it was because things weren’t super clear, because I wasn’t paying close enough attention, or because I took too long between chapters. All three, maybe? I’ve noticed le Carré has a tendency to under-explain events. I might try to read a summary of the book’s plot to make sure I have all the events ironed out in my mind.
This novel starts out a lot faster-paced than le Carré’s previous works, and I almost wanted to mark it as fast-paced until I considered it’s likely slow compared to other works by other authors. Guillam is retconned to be younger than he was in Call for the Dead, which was a bit confusing at first, but easy enough to get used to. I really enjoyed Jim Prideaux, Bill Haydon, and George Smiley throughout the book. Learning about
Bill and Jim’s likely love affair
made me kind of insane. (In a positive way.) There’s definitely an undercurrent of love and devotion and connection that runs through le Carré’s novels. And I adore it.
This is definitely one of the best le Carré books I’ve read so far (alongside The Spy Who Came In From the Cold), and if you’re a fan of tradecraft-focused spy novels, I’d absolutely give it a read. I’m excited to see how the novels compares to the movies.
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