This is the second book I’ve read by le Carre, and the first one featuring George Smiley, a character that he became famous for.
My first feeling while reading the book was that the name “Smiley” was always interfering with the way I read – the corner of my eye would catch the word “smile” and think that something amusing was happening. Do other people read like this? I wonder.
But the book was filled with interesting characters, even the thugs were engaging in intelligent discourse, and there were also some very dated technologies that unfortunately played a big part in the plot line. I was totally stumped when someone used their local telephone exchange to set a reminder wake up call – what the hell?
On the other hand, this book lets you into another era to see how things went. How member’s clubs were formed, and how information spread without the aid of the internet.
As with the other book that I read by this author, the writing is excellent. The story is more of a detective mystery than a spy story, but just the same I enjoyed the book. Down the road I may read more from the series.
Next I am reading About Grace by Anthony Doerr – my mom helped me realize that I hadn’t read this one yet.
