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The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (Hardcover) (Hardcover)
by John le Carre
| Category:
Spy fiction, history, espionage,thriller |
| Market price: ¥ 208.00
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¥ 198.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
Le Carré is simply the world’s greatest fictional spymaster |
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Author: John le Carre
Publisher: Walker & Company
Pub. in: August, 2005
ISBN: 0802714544
Pages: 256 pages
Measurements:
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00177
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- MSL Picks -
John Le Carre's disillusioned, cynical and spellbinding spy novels are so unique because they are based on a wide knowledge of international espionage. Le Carre, (pen name for David John Moore Cornwell), acquired this knowledge firsthand during his years as an operations agent for the British M15. Kim Philby, the infamous defector, actually gave Le Carre's name to the Russians. The author's professional experience and his tremendous talent as a master storyteller and superb writer make "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" one of the most brilliant novels I have read about spying and the Cold War. Graham Greene certainly agreed with me, or I with him, when he remarked that it is the best spy story he had ever read. The novel won Le Carré the Somerset Maugham Award.
The novel's anti-hero, Alec Leamas, is the antithesis of the glamorous action-hero spy, James Bond. A successful espionage agent for the British during WWII, Leamus continued on with counter-intelligence operations after the war, finding it difficult to adjust to life in peacetime. He eventually became the head of Britain's Berlin Bureau at the height of the Cold War. Leamus, slowly going to seed, drinking too much, world weary, had been losing his German double agents, one by one, to East German Abteilung assassins. Finally, with the loss of his best spy, Karl Riemeck, Leamus has no agents left. His anguish at Riemeck's death is palpable. He has begun to tire of the whole spy game, as his boss at Cambridge Circus, (British Intelligence), seems to understand.
Leamus is called back to London, but instead of being eased out of operations, called "coming in from the Cold," or retiring completely, he is asked to accept one last, dangerous assignment. "Control," the man Leamus reports to, asks him if he is up to "taking-out" Hans Dieter Mundt, a top East German operations agent and the man responsible for the deaths of Leamus' agents. The ploy is elaborate, and if successful, it will conclude with Mundt's own men killing him. With much planning Leamus convincingly changes his lifestyle and sets himself up as bait as a potential defector to the Eastern Block countries. As Leamus works efficiently toward his goal, two unexpected problems come-up - problems that he is unaware of until much later, when it is almost too late to resolve them. First, he falls in love with a young woman, a member of the Communist Party, who was supposed to be part of his cover, nothing more. And second, Control and the Circus have embedded plots within plots to further their end, which they don't see fit to reveal to Leamus - now operating in the dark. Le Carre portrays spying as a dirty game of acting, betrayal, lying, excruciating tension, and assumed identities. The espionage methods of East and West are the same. The only difference is their economic ideologies. There is a seemingly endless game of chess between the superpowers, and spies are as expendable as pawns.
This is a short novel, 219 pages, and very tightly written. However there is much packed into this bleak tale of the espionage business. The story has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster.
From quoting Jana L. Perskie
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John le Carré was born in 1931 and lives in Cornwall, England. He is the author of Call for the Dead; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Smiley’s People; The Tailor of Panama; The Constant Gardener; and most recently, Absolute Friends.
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On its publication in 1964, John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold forever changed the landscape of spy fiction. Le Carré combined the inside knowledge of his years in British intelligence with the skills of the best novelists to produce a story as taut as it is twisting, unlike any previously experienced, which transports anyone who reads it back to the shadowy years in the early 1960s, when the Berlin Wall went up and the Cold War came to life.
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold was hailed as a classic as soon as it was published, and it remains one today.
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| View all 10 comments |
Doug Vaughn ( MSL quote), USA
<2007-04-05 00:00>
This book defined a genre. From the elegance of the language, to the betrayal and harsh brutality of the plot's finale, this novel set the standard against which all other espionage fiction of the Cold War would be judged. Whatever the truth of the matter, Le Carre's fiction created a world which is so real that subsequent spy novels departed from its parameters at their peril.
The story at the heart of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold implicates all sides in the struggle in a hypocritical conspiriacy of betrayal and disloyalty. The message seems to be that no good deed goes unpunished and that things certainly are not what they seem.
A truely great book, with characters one cares for and a deftly plotted story that both surprises and distresses the reader. The message of the book is not a pleasant one, but then the reality of Cold War espionage was not pleasant either.
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A reader ( MSL quote), USA
<2007-04-05 00:00>
I was given the task of selling of the library of the clinic where I work (we needed the space) and, mixed in with 150 psychology and social work texts, was a copy of "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold". I've read quite a few James Bond novels, but this might be the only serious spy thriller I've read. I state this to make it clear that I have no ability to rank this book within its genre.
That said, I can say that this book is intricate, well-written, fast-paced, loaded with intrigue, and has good character development for the core characters, along some of the peripheral characters seem interchangeable. Alec Leamas is a British Intelligence agent working in Cold War East Germany, organizing a network of information sources. When his agents start getting killed, he is recalled to London, and a very elaborate plot to address the problem is launched.
This is not a pretty story with an admirable hero, a damsel in distress, fancy spy gadgets, and a happy ending. It seems obsolete now, with the Cold War over and the Berlin Wall gone, but it is very true to its era.
The copy I read was the 1964 first American printing of the story, and there were more typographical errors than I'm used to seeing, including whole lines of text out of order. However, this didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book.
If you're not accustomed to reading spy thrillers, and you can handle a gritty story, you might want to give this a try. If you are a fan of the genre, and you haven't read this one, you're probably missing something.
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Bill Mac ( MSL quote), Canada
<2007-04-05 00:00>
If one is to read only one spy story and certainly only one Cold War novel, that story is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. LeCarre established himself with this one novel as not only a popular writer but also one of the best novelists of the second half of the 20th century.
In LeCarre's spy world, secret weapons and glamorous action are not present. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is full of twists, turns and betrayal. It presents seamy people living seamy lives without ideals, just playing a deadly game to win at all costs. Spying is like a giant chess game in which the players can very quickly become the pieces and become discarded when they have lost their value.
The novel features Alec Leamus, a middle aged spy who wants to come in from the cold. That is to say he wants to stop spying. He is persuaded to accept one more mission to discredit the East German who has been catching all his agents.. He must pretend to sink into alcoholism and eventually defect. What follows are the twists, turns and betrayal that are stock LeCarre.
The presence of George Smiley is felt throughout much of the novel. The protagonist of Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality is present in very few scenes although his spectre follows the action. However, he is a Kafkaesque figure. What is Smiley doing? Why is it important? All is ultimately revealed or is it? In subsequent Smiley novels, the reader gets to see Smiley the player. In The Spy Who Came in From the Cold we get to see Smiley from the viewpoint of one of the pieces.
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold works on one level as a straight spy story, perhaps the best ever written and there is more depth. The "cold" referred to is not only a metaphor for the discomfort one feels when one is isolated from home and security it is also a metaphor for the Cold War. Leamus is involved in a nasty, dirty business from which he cannot easily withdraw. Essentially he represents the west, not wanting to engage in the business, not sure why it is involved and who benefits but unable to withdraw.
Ultimately, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold answers all the questions but in doing so creates far more unanswered questions. It is a thought-provoking masterpiece and one of the great novels of the 20th century.
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A reader ( MSL quote), USA
<2007-04-05 00:00>
Arguably the best spy novel ever written. It was out of print for years. I envy the readers who can now buy this newly printed copy. I had to make due with a decades old moldy copy that fell apart as I read it. Not that I'm complaining--I loved the book! Le Carre knows his spy stuff. This is not some techno-filled, action-packed, lets-throw-in-a-plot-twist-for-the-h@ll-of-it book. This is a tightly-packed page turner that will lead you by the hand in the beginning and then drop a piano on you at the end. Le Carre's heroes are not Bond, they are overworked, overweight, underpaid, highly intelligent characters who love their country. This book was one of Le Carre's first books, and I feel his very best. The "winners" and "losers" are blurred in the spy game, and this book clearly illustrates that point. If you want to get a feel for what real Cold War spy work was all about, read this book. Highly recommended.
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