Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré

I write this latest blog post feeling all (hate to say it) fresh after a day off, having a good old clear out of my room and the weather finally starting to feel a little less icy. And to go with this cozy, warm feeling, I've got another classic novel for you in today's review, John Le Carré's infamous novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I already know the story having watched the film a few years ago. I remember this vividly, mostly because the person who I saw it with fell asleep halfway through, and I must admit, I wasn't far off myself. It certainly wasn't a film to see in the cinema, but having watched it back, it is rather a good watch.

As I have said before, I'm not one of those people to write off a book if the film/TV adaptation is a load of rubbish. So I thought I would give it a try, having read a few others of his in the past including The Constant Gardener, a book I must admit I struggled with, but did read when I was only 16 or 17, hardly the target audience of the book.

The novel in question focuses on Le Carré's particularly famous character of George Smiley, who appears in one previous novel prior to TTSS (if you don't get the abbreviation, SERIOUSLY) and features in many later novels. We find Smiley has been shunted out of the Circus, a Government intelligence and spy group, after a disastrous exposure of a Czech mission goes seriously wrong.  Le Carré certainly seems to know what he is writing about. The novel is littered with so many references to spying, and sometimes it comes across as extremely complicated. But all I tried to remember whenever Smiiley is talking to someone is think, right a spy has had his cover blown. I found that helped a lot.

We open as Jim Prideaux, ex- Circus who got himself shot during the Czech disaster So with Smiley out of action, and with the order at the Circus completely changed, it soon comes to light that there a mole within the Circus who is leaking information to the Russians. Le Carré weaves an extremely intricate plot which I am not about to explain, and if you get easily confused with names and people telling constant anecdotes, then I really wouldn't advise reading this novel.

Kathy Burke as Connie Sachs

Whislt I did really enjoy this novel, it was hard going sometimes, especially when I was probably reading at the worst times, first thing in the morning and on the train home after a long day at work. You really need to concentrate for this one. I'm sorry I'm not saying much about the book, I think I would start to just confuse myself as well as yourselves if I went too deeply into the novel.... So if you enjoy an extremely clever spy thriller, look no further than this intricate classic. Look out for some great characters too, mostly who I remember from the film too, including Kathy Burke's Connie Sachs, Mark Strong's Jim Prideaux, and of course Gary Oldman Smiley.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is published by Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder and Stoughton, in the UK.