HomeGroupsTalkZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

A Legacy of Spies (2017)

by John le Carré

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: George Smiley (9)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,744708,733 (3.89)42
"The undisputed master returns with a riveting new book--his first Smiley novel in more than twenty-five years Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, is living out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London, and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself, are to be scrutinized by a generation with no memory of the Cold War and no patience with its justifications. Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own intense story, John le Carre has spun a single plot as ingenious and thrilling as the two predecessors on which it looks back:The Spy Who Came in from the ColdandTinker Tailor Soldier Spy. In a story resonating with tension, humor and moral ambivalence, le Carre and his narrator Peter Guillam present the reader with a legacy of unforgettable characters old and new"--… (more)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 42 mentions

English (57)  German (4)  Catalan (2)  Spanish (2)  Danish (2)  Italian (1)  Dutch (1)  Greek (1)  All languages (70)
Showing 1-5 of 57 (next | show all)
George Smiley kom att bli sinnebilden för den tänkande spionchefen, som i klassiker som Spionen som kom in från kylan och Mullvaden jagade spioner och dubbelagenter i det kalla krigets osynliga fältslag. Nu är han, och flera av hans kumpaner, tillbaka. I Spionernas arv tvingas Smileys vän Peter Guillam återvända till de avgörande fall som skakade Smileys nätverk av spioner under det kalla krigets kyligaste dagar. Vad offrade de för den goda sakens skull?
  CalleFriden | Feb 17, 2023 |
And the legacy of John le Carre. This was a sort of a wrap-up of the cold war era, about the fallout and damage to the abandoned children of spies, and to the institutions.

I've read all of the author's books, or nearly all of them, and wanted to read what looks like a final one. Not satisfying at all as a spy story but revives some of the characters and fills in some of the organizational backstory. Peter Guillam as one of the last remaining cold war spies, is interrogated regarding the incidents involved with Spy Who Came In From the Cold, and the story is told in reports and interviews with a few flashbacks and in-person encounters with other people involved. Smiley is still alive but doesn't appear until the last few pages.

I've changed my rating from three stars to two, since I was glad I've read it but won't recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a legacy of their own with these books. ( )
  JudyGibson | Jan 26, 2023 |
Really enjoyed this short novel that my wife got me for Christmas. I’ve never read John LeCarre before and I’m not sure I’ve even read a spy novel before unless a few James Bond novels that I read in my teenage years count. But I certainly enjoyed a few of the LeCarre movies and this book just brought back the characters and accents and locations to me. At first, I thought maybe I’d seen a movie of this book, but no, it hasn’t been filmed. From reading reviews, this book is sort of a prequel sequel to The Spy Who Came In From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and I think I saw both of those, so I guess that’s why it all seemed so delightfully familiar. Probably in retrospect this wasn’t the -right- book to start on, but I think I may try some more LeCarre anyway. ( )
  steve02476 | Jan 3, 2023 |
Stinker, Ailer, Blunder, Cry
Review of the Penguin Books Canada paperback edition (2018) of the 2017 original hardcover

I did not care for this revisionist version of The Spy Who Came In From the Cold. ( )
  alanteder | Dec 13, 2022 |
It was very nice to have Peter and George and others back again, but this book felt unfinished. ( )
  Jeffrey_G | Nov 22, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 57 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
le Carré, Johnprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Östergren, KlasTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hollander, TomNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Belongs to Series

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one. Attributed to Heidegger
Dedication
First words
What follows is a truthful account, as best I am able to provide it, of my role in the British deception operation, codenamed Windfall, that was mounted against the East German Intelligence Service (Stasi) in the late nineteen fifties and early sixties, and resulted in the death of the best British secret agent I ever worked with, and of the innocent woman for whom he gave his life.
Quotations
Information from the Italian Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
… sarò una specie di studente fuori corso costretto a prepararsi per un esame che avrebbe dovuto dare già da un pezzo. Di tanto in tanto l'allievo dal talento inespresso sarà trascinato fuori dall'aula per essere interrogato da esaminatori che, nonostante abbiano conoscenze inspiegabilmente inferiori alle sue, passeranno il tempo a torchiarlo. Di tanto in tanto sarà così scioccato dalle sciocchezze che ha commesso in passato da essere tentato di negarle, ma le prove che lo condannano usciranno dalla sua stessa bocca.
La scrivania a cui sono seduto non è affatto una scrivania, ma un tavolo con i cavalletti sistemato nel bel mezzo della biblioteca, come la forca per un condannato a morte in piazza. Le librerie alle pareti sono sparite; restano, sulla carta da parati in rilievo, alcune tracce della loro presenza, come ombre delle sbarre di una cella.
Quando la verità vi raggiunge, non fate gli eroi: scappate.
Visto alla luce della lampada a olio, il suo viso scavato appare contorto per l'età e la sofferenza. La sua schiena sbilenca si appoggia alla modesta tappezzeria. I torturati sono una classe di persone a sé stante. Si possono fare ipotesi su dove sono stati, ma mai su quello che hanno riportato indietro.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

"The undisputed master returns with a riveting new book--his first Smiley novel in more than twenty-five years Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, is living out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London, and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself, are to be scrutinized by a generation with no memory of the Cold War and no patience with its justifications. Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own intense story, John le Carre has spun a single plot as ingenious and thrilling as the two predecessors on which it looks back:The Spy Who Came in from the ColdandTinker Tailor Soldier Spy. In a story resonating with tension, humor and moral ambivalence, le Carre and his narrator Peter Guillam present the reader with a legacy of unforgettable characters old and new"--

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.89)
0.5
1 4
1.5
2 13
2.5 6
3 64
3.5 34
4 136
4.5 10
5 83

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 185,323,675 books! | Top bar: Always visible