Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Paperback, 448 pages

English language

Published Feb. 1, 2000 by Pocket.

OCLC Number:
43545158

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (48 reviews)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received critical acclaim for its complex social commentary—and, at the time, relevance, following the defection of Kim Philby. The novel has been adapted into both a television series and a film, and remains a staple of the spy fiction genre.In 2022, it was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

40 editions

Review of 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

With apologies to Ian Fleming, I like George Smiley much better than James Bond. I was a little worried that the book would be too dull or dry or technical for me when my husband first read it, but I'm glad i gave it a try. It's true that there are no grand car chases, shoot outs or clever gadgets, no death defying stunts or torrid love scenes, but i was gripped by the story and character right off the bat. The characters are well developed and mostly multi dimensional, i found myself riveted whenever Smiley interrogated someone, the depth of thought and strategy in general were fascinating and the twists and turns kept me thinking about the story whenever i had to put it down. I felt really invested in the characters and what was going on, and actually cried at the inevitable end. I especially like how le …

Review of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Either this book is very complicated, or I'm just old and all my synapses have faded. Two thirds of the way through I had to look up the story on wikipedia because I was having a terrible time keeping track of who was who.

At the same time, when I knew what was going on, I found it pretty interesting. Smiley's a cool character, and it's fascinating to see his cool, methodical approach to spywork.

Overall, this book would be better with a character key in the front.

Review of 'La talpa' on Goodreads

4 stars

I’ve read most of John le Carré’s books, and this is my second time reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. To put it simply, which is difficult to do with a le Carré novel, the story is about the hunt for a Soviet mole who placed very highly in British Intelligence.

Right from the start, I must confess a slight bias against this novel: I don’t like the “whodunit” format. Most writers give us a crime - usually a murder - then they give us several suspects whom the protagonist must investigate, casting equal guilt on all of them, only to have the real villain be someone not even suspected or the suspect with the least obvious motive. This is not that kind of novel.

Nor is it your typical espionage thriller with loads of action and no substance. Where most spy thrillers have two people trying to kill each …

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Subjects

  • Espionage/Intrigue
  • Fiction / Espionage
  • Fiction - Espionage / Thriller
  • Fiction

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