tags: espionage, George Smiley, mystery, thriller
⭐⭐out of five
It is spring in 1963 and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West’s spy war with the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only for a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumor in Whitehall—unconfirmed and a little scandalous—that George Smiley might almost be happy. But Control has other plans. A Russian agent has defected, and the man he was sent to kill in London is nowhere to be found. Smiley reluctantly agrees to one last simple interview Szusanna, a Hungarian émigré and employee of the missing man, and sniff out a lead. But, as Smiley well knows, even the softest step in the shadows resounds with terrible danger. Soon, he is back there, in East Berlin, and on the trail of his most devious enemy’s hidden past.
Set in the missing decade between two iconic instalments in the George Smiley saga, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Nick Harkaway’s Karla’s Choice is an extraordinary, thrilling return to the world of spy fiction’s greatest writer, John le Carré.The book was written by John le Carré's son Nicholas Cornwell under the name Nick Harkaway. I read this with very low expectations and I was correct in my presumption that it will be disappointing.
The novel is set in 1963 but it reads like it happens in the present.. The author writes really well but it just doesn't feel that it is in the 60s with a sea of super women doing spy stuff. The young secretary of the character whom Karla wants to assassinate went to Control asking to be included in the mission, and just like that, she was made to accompany Smiley in his pursuit of the same man to save him. No training on how to work as a spy and with spies. Unbelievably stupid and so 2024. Almost all of le Carré's novels are inhabited by men except for one of my favorites, Connie Sachs, and of course George's wife, Ann.
Some of the characters in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy are here. Connie Sachs, Peter Guillam, Toby Esterhase, and Jim Prideaux have long-ish presence. Bill Haydon has a few appearances with annoying smart alecky lines. They have no similarities to the original characters. Nick Harkaway did a disservice to his father, IMHO.
I didn't like that the author made George Smiley a roly-poly James Bond with all the running and evading the bad guys. He is usually taciturn but very clever and cunning. Here he is soooo chatty. Hello Nick. Your father wrote George as the antithesis of James Bond! Sheesh.
Not recommended specially if you have read both The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
