dennisfischman 's review for:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

4.0

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I've been re-reading LeCarre, and while all of the early novels are worthwhile, the two that rise above genre are this one and The Spy Who Came In from the Cold. That book focused on one character throughout, and the way he discovers what really matters to him only at the end of his life is the definition of tragedy. This book is part of a longer arc of stories with George Smiley at the center, and he is a more complicated man. The plot is more complicated, too, although when you get down to it, it's really a question of who's fooling whom. Getting down to it takes excursions around the world and into Smiley's personal history, as well as investigations into the way that bureaucracy creates people in its own image. It's a rich book, and I can't imagine how they've made it into a movie, but I'm looking forward to finding out.