The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Good, gritty, resolutely unglamorous espionage story. Anyone who enjoyed the British series Callan would love this. It was my first Le Carré - I'd be happy to read more in a similar vein.

Interesting how totally the political and cultural landscape has changed in the 50 years since this was written. This world is still recognisable to me, but to anyone a bit younger it would probably would seem as alien as the Victorian era. The detailed depictions of spy rings, and how they do their jobs, also seems like something from a bygone age - complicated but at the same time strikingly basic. Maybe things have not changed so much - but I think there was something unique about the paranoia instilled by having two such powerful and evenly-matched show more sides, living on top of each other as in Berlin, where everyone is suspect and you assume that you are constantly watched.

The plot itself is very well crafted. Le Carré carefully keeps you from knowing exactly what's going on, which is the exact situation that his compelling lead character, Alec Leamas, is in. It brings empathy with a difficult-to-like character, and leaves you wide open for the inevitable reverses and reveals. show less

I don't read spy novels, but I've always been curious about John le Carré and chose this as my sample of his work. He identifies it as one of his best, and it's hailed as a classic. I can see why.

I've almost no experience with the genre, so my only basis of comparison is James Bond. The differences are obvious. James Bond is a no-nonsense superman who any man can idolize, the 'ideal spy' in a black-and-white world. Alex Leamas, on the other hand, is an everyman, just trying to do his job and hating it a good amount of the time. He gets fired from a senior posting, only to receive a second chance as an undercover operative. He has to go to extremes to establish this cover that would be far below Bond's dignity, and must resign himself show more to his role as expendable pawn in an enormous game he doesn't understand the full workings of.

Alex has no special gadgets at his disposal, and he can't fight his way out of his problems. He shies away from discussion about right and wrong because it makes him uncomfortable. He recognizes his enemy is a mirror image of himself. He feels the toll his work takes on his life, he feels the sacrifices, and he knows fear.

With James Bond, we wish we were in his shoes. With Alex, we're very glad we're not. That difference made this novel a hit when it was published in 1963, hailed as a landmark for its very human and realistic portrayal of unglamorous international espionage that probably opened a lot of people's eyes. Maybe someone who reads contemporary spy thrillers will find nothing unique here, since I'd imagine it must have set a template for many acts to follow, but it will always remain a quick read and well told story. show less

I'd like to start by saying "woah" and various other exclamations of surprise and wonder. This was a book that completely changed the way I view spy novels. My previous prejudice stems from quite an obvious source - Ian Fleming - who never gave me anything much of what I would want to read about or what I even find remotely interesting. Big guns, fast cars, hot girls... surely every teenage boy's wet dream, but not what tends to be my cup of tea.

Fleming, like most writers of spy novels, caters exclusively for the straight male reader. His books were never intended to be read by women because in real life women don't fall back with their legs in the air for every guy in a tux who says "shaken, not stirred". Laughable.

And, yes, there is a show more point hidden somewhere amidst the waffle... John le Carre is a genius, an inventive and wonderful writer. I effin loved this book... it was gripping, sad and funny! Alec didn't waste his time drinking martinis and shagging his way through the women of Europe, he had emotion and he had personality. Alec Leamas would run rings around James Bond any day and in every way possible.

Written in 1963, it was inevitably entwined with the Cold War and the darkest side of East German Intelligence. There's nothing like fiction with aspects of historical and/or political truth! And I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I simply adored it... and I want more of John le Carre right now. Highly recommended, even to you chick-lit lovers who will automatically think "no thanks", trust me you want to give this one a chance. show less

A brilliant spy novel. It dips into the psyche of the protagonist from time to time, and one can never be sure about whom to trust which is an inherent feature of the world of spies. Above all, the reader realizes how helpless even the best of spies can feel which contrasts very well with the resourcefulness they have to display all the time. Morality is always on the line and one starts to wonder how much of it to give up when chasing the 'greater good'.

The writing is great. The twists and turns come after the right amount of build-up and even if sometimes things get a tad slow when reaching them, the pay-offs are always huge!

It is especially interesting, of course, for those who like mystery and suspense in general. It also presented show more something refreshingly different from detective fiction (like Sherlock and Agatha Christie) which I usually drown myself in. A must read! show less

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre is a brilliant literary thriller that was originally published in 1963. This book exposes the dirty, messy business of spies on both sides of the Cold War and is totally unlike James Bond with his martini on one side and a beautiful woman on the other. In this book we meet Alec Leamas, a disillusioned British spy who is both mentally and physically fatigued. He is being used as a faux defector to help a British mole from being exposed.

It’s obvious that the author has a strong understanding of how the British intelligence worked during the Cold War and the result is a unique and flawlessly crafted story. His characters are complex and nuanced to give the book a feeling of authenticity. show more As disturbing as the story content is, I was even more upset by the casual immorality of the characters. They go about their shadowy dealings much like playing a game, there is no sense of right or wrong in the unethical world of espionage.

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold is my first book by this author and I am now looking forward to reading more. This was an intelligent and dark story that shows how the line between good and evil can be blurred and the many twists and turns it takes, along with the excellent writing rises this book beyond the “spy genre” into the Classic it has become. show less

Pretty typical of this author. No guts and inner workings – just action. No time for political reasons, except at the end. Even then, not everything was clear.

Actually it is clear. This is an updated review from 2011. I can't remember when I wrote the above, but probably around 1990.

Because it’s been so long since I first read this, my re-reading was blank enough to be essentially a fresh one. One thing that struck me this time was the terrific rhythm Le Carre’s prose has. I even read some of it aloud to better appreciate it.

Leamas is a tough person to root for because he doesn’t really seem to root for himself. He does his masters’ bidding without question and sometimes even enthusiastically. I disagree with whoever wrote show more that old synopsis up there that Leamas is trying to come to terms with his Service. To me he seems all too aware of what they'll do and how little he means to them in the grand scheme of things. Only when it comes to Liz does he muster any outrage or rebellion. The overall tone of the novel isn’t uplifting and so while the very end does give us glimmers of hope in our sentimental selves, our rational selves know there is no hope. The audacity and casual cruelty is the real cold in the title, I think. It is pretty galling how seemingly without compunction the Circus can set up and do away with one of their star performers. Considering what happened to Karl though, it isn’t surprising at all.

Another thing I really appreciated is how focused the story is. Unlike a lot of writers today (and even of yesterday, I’m thinking of Eric Ambler here) Le Carre doesn’t fill out his story with a lot of inner monologue, back-story or sub-plots. All the action has purpose and moves the story along at an relentless pace. All the people, their actions and their interactions have meaning and are important to the story. Remove any one of them and the whole operation comes apart. I wish more writers told their stories this way.

Read more: http://thebookmarque.blogspot.com/2011/11/spy-who-came-in-from-cold-by-john-le.h... show less

'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' (1963) was John le Carré's third book and his breakthrough novel. Together with Len Deighton's 'Ipcress File' published a year earlier, it changed the tone of spy fiction, moving away from the glamorous image of espionage created by Fleming and, to some extent, Graham Greene, towards something grimly seedy, morally bankrupt and totally credible. Le Carré made the Cold War real, stripping it of its ideological trimmings and displaying it for the covert but ruthlessly brutal conflict that it was.

John Le Carré

Le Carré worked as a British Intelligence Officer in the early 1960s, in Bonn and Hamburg. His career ended a year after 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' was published when the double agent show more Kim Philby gave the names of British agents to the KGB. This first-hand experience may explain the confident mastery of an insider's view of a secret world that makes 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' seem so authentic.

Although I've read many of Le Carré's later spy novels, I've never read his Cold War stories before. His later stories seem to me to be sophisticated, a little world-weary and totally unromantic but his main protagonists, usually men of few illusions, still find a way to muddle through and at least mitigate disaster. 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' isn't like that. It is unremittingly bleak. It's clever, so clever that I didn't see the twists coming, but it's also fundamentally repugnant. There are no heroes in this book, just players and the people being played and you don't know who is which until the novel ends. The novel is as compelling as a slow-motion car wreck, you know it won't end well but you can't look away.

Some of the grimness is simply a reflection of England as it was in the early 1960s, still struggling to achieve more than survival seven years after the end of the war. Some of it comes from a brutal Realpolitik that placed national interest ahead of ideology or personal integrity. Class also plays its part.  Alec Leamas, the spy of the title, is, from the point of view of people who run the security service, 'not one of us'. He didn't go to the right schools. He's not a member of the right clubs. He is valued only to the extent that he is successful. If he stops being successful, he will lose all value. That Leamas knows and accepts this only makes everything more depressing. Leamas is a man who does not value himself. He's resilient and persistent but more from an ingrained habit of aggressive belligerence than from any belief in change. I didn't like Leamas but I understood him and believed in him completely. As a character, he's a remarkable achievement.

The plot of 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' is fiendishly clever both in its content and its exposition. Even when I knew the outcome I found myself staggered by the depth of deception and the ruthlessness of the execution.

The only false note in the story for me was Elizabeth's love for Alec Leamas. I could see that the plot required it but I struggled to believe it. Partly that was because I couldn't see what there was about Leamas that attracted her. He was significantly older, emotionally withdrawn, secretive, bad-tempered, sometimes violent and often drunk. What was the appeal? I felt that, by comparison to the portrait Le Carré painted of Leamas, Elizabeth was little more than a pencil sketch, an accessory rather than a person.

Even so, most of the novel was strong and it has encouraged me to read the rest of the Cold War books. show less