100 Books to Read Poster - Number 6

I defy anyone who doesn't already know to guess which book the latest picture refers to - I can think of half a dozen that would be more apposite and specific

 It is in fact Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carre.  read, or rather listened to, slightly out of order because Audible had it on sale a couple of weeks ago and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. We had a large collection of books by le Carre in the house up until two years ago when they all went off to find new homes via the charity shop,  so it was a bit irritating to see this on the poster  and contemplate buying a new copy when I had read and owned it already. 

I found on listening that there were details I'd forgotten and that weren't included in the excellent BBC dramatization of 1979 or the rather less excellent film made much more recently. That was a pleasant surprise. Less pleasant was the constant use of 'English' as either a shorthand for British (something which really really annoys me) or even worse, a careless assumption that England is the only country in the 'Union' that matters. In this I suspect le Carre is simply and subconsciously being true to his class and his upbringing, but in a intelligent man the lack of any sort of interrogation of his inbuilt attitudes, particularly in a book which includes long ruminative passages on the nature of patriotism and  the purpose of the Cold War , it's a frustration to say the least. Leaving aside the question of Britishness a lot of these more reflective passages are in any case simply an interruption; they shed little light on character and hold up the action. 

That said it was, as it has always been, a damn good spy story and it was a pleasure to encounter Lacon, Smiley, Mendel and Guillam once more. A huge plus was that it was narrated by Michael Jayston, who not only played Guillam in the BBC series, but has a voice I love. IMDB assures me that, although now quite elderly, he is still in the land of the living, which was good to know.