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Loading... The Honourable Schoolboy (original 1977; edition 1978)by John Le Carré (Author)
Work InformationThe Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré (1977)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. My sense is that Le Carre did a lot of traveling, presumably in Hong Kong and maybe also in Southeast Asia, and he wanted to cram in as much detail as a possible in this sprawling, convoluted novel. Thinking about his famous Karla creation dealing with the Sino-Soviet split is kind of intriguing, but unfortunately characterization suffers with all of the locales and plot turns. Namely, I could not buy Westerby's infatuation with Lizzie Worthington (who is not well developed either) which is a motive for his inexplicable actions. ( ) A slightly strange Le Carré, this. Actually felt like the most James Bondish of the ones that I've read to date - there are the exotic locations, a damsel in sort-of-voluntary distress involved with the villains, the main character even chooses to carry a small Walther handgun (that must have been a deliberate reference!) Basically it just felt more glamorous, exotic and adventure-filled than earlier books. There was also a lot of politics, and one or two rogue operators - reminded me a bit more of James Ellroy novels (pleasantly - not always a given with Ellroy). There's still plenty of the digging away in the vaults by the eccentric characters at the Circus, and lots of political jockeying in London. Smiley is still as engaging as ever, but I didn't have the same through and through enjoyment of earlier LeCarrés. Looking forward to Smiley's People though. Very little of the inner turmoil of the other Le Carre books I have read, but a lot more outer turmoil. The books starts very slow and steadily the pace increases until it's a total train wreck. Quite a bit of variety in the scenery - Hong Kong, Bangkok, Vientiane, the Thai backwoods... yeah maybe the basic foundation here is given by a quote that I think is repeated - it's not what a person thinks, but what a person does. So what we have here is a lot of action, and we get to figure out their thinking from their actions. Westerby says he's not an owl, not like Smiley.
A retired missionary and his daughter, a Hong Kong policeman, an Italian orphan, an English schoolmaster, an American narcotics agent, a slovenly Kremlinologist, a mad bodyguard, the quite splendid Craw -- all are burned on the brain of the reader. If they are not marooned in loneliness, their cynicism corrodes or they go blank when there are no explanations, only helicopters. Loneliness, in fact, rather than betrayal, is the leitmotif. It is the leper's bell around their necks. They have only themselves to be true to, and they are no longer sure who they are. Not a page of this book is without intelligence and grace. Not a page fails to suggest that we carry around with us our own built-in heart of darkness. The Honourable Schoolboy brings the second sequence to a heavy apotheosis. A few brave reviewers have expressed doubts about whether some of the elements which supposedly enrich le Carré later manner might not really be a kind of impoverishment, but generally the book has been covered with praise - a response not entirely to be despised, since The Honourable Schoolboy is so big that it takes real effort to cover it with anything. At one stage I tried to cover it with a pillow, but there it was, still half visible, insisting, against all the odds posed by its coagulated style, on being read to the last sentence... Smiley's fitting opponent is Karla, the KGB's chief of operations. Smiley has Karla's photograph hanging in his office, just as Montgomery had Rommel's photograph hanging in his caravan. Karla, who made a fleeting physical appearance in the previous novel, is kept offstage in this one - a sound move, since like Moriarty he is too abstract a figure to survive examination. But the tone of voice in which le Carré talks about the epic mental battle between Smiley and Karla is too sublime to be anything but ridiculous. 'For nobody, not even Martello, quite dared to challenge Smiley's authority.' In just such a way T. E. Lawrence used to write about himself. As he entered the tent, sheiks fell silent, stunned by his charisma. Is contained inContainsHas the adaptationHas as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
George Smiley has become chief of the battered British Secret Service. The betrayals of a Soviet double agent have riddled the spy network. Smiley wants revenge. He chooses his weapon: Jerry Westerby, 'The Honourable Schoolboy', a passionate lover and a seasoned, reckless secret agent. Westerby is pointed east, to Hong Kong. So begins the terrifying game ... 'His command of detail is staggering, his straightforward, unaffected prose is superb. In short, wonderful value' The Sunday Times No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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