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paul_cornelius 's review for:
The Looking Glass War
by John le Carré
In contrast to the smooth, machine-like efficiency of "the Circus," the elite British intelligence agency to which George Smiley belongs and which is the focus of le Carré's earlier works, "the Department" is another part of British intelligence. But it is inept, its small staff a collection of foolish romantics living off their past glory during World War II. Biting on bad intelligence, the Department enmeshes itself in a fruitless and disastrous operation to discover the location of a secret Russian rocket base in East Germany. And they willingly sacrifice the lives of others to try and achieve their foredoomed mission.
In essence, then, The Looking Glass War is a story that is the exact opposite of that told in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Except that isn't quite so. For le Carré does pick up on what was perhaps the most disturbing notion explored in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, the low regard for life by those on either side of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War. The most important thing to the veterans of the Department are their personal vanity, career well-being, and advancement. This is true for all but the newest member of the outfit, John Avery. For him, the Department results in shattering disillusionment and an ethical crisis. He alone cares about the morality of their action. He alone is discarded at the end.
In essence, then, The Looking Glass War is a story that is the exact opposite of that told in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Except that isn't quite so. For le Carré does pick up on what was perhaps the most disturbing notion explored in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, the low regard for life by those on either side of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War. The most important thing to the veterans of the Department are their personal vanity, career well-being, and advancement. This is true for all but the newest member of the outfit, John Avery. For him, the Department results in shattering disillusionment and an ethical crisis. He alone cares about the morality of their action. He alone is discarded at the end.