I lived the wrong life, that’s all. You don’t know till it’s too late, though, do you, sometimes? You think you’re one person, you turn out to be another, same as opera. [p. 384]
Not so much a novel as a set of short stories, framed as the reminiscences of Ned, a former spy now in charge of the Service's training academy: he's invited his old colleague, the legendary George Smiley, to address the new intake, and Smiley's after-dinner speech -- about how the world has changed but also stayed the same, about the many reasons that lead people to choose a career in the intelligence services, about the difficulty of distinguishing the truth -- sparks Ned's memories.
There are recurring themes here, including the sense of purpose felt by a good intelligence agent, the fallout of betrayal, and the ways in which people can survive the most appalling experiences if they have a single fixed point of goodness. The trope of the womanising spy also appears: Ned, it turns out, is immensely attractive to women (and at least one man), despite his comfortable, if not happy, marriage. We get to see events from other Le Carré novels, including the unmasking of Bill Haydon, and several familiar characters appear in one or more of Ned's stories.
I'm a great admirer of Le Carré's prose, and the layered deceptions and truths of his plots. In these episodes there's less room for him to expand on each situation, but Ned's account of his career, from youthful idealism to mid-life angst to greater self-knowledge, is a splendid character study.
Fulfils the ‘about secrets’ rubric of the 52 books in 2023 challenge.
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