Illudere (to delude) comes from Latin verb 'ludere' (to play), so you're introduced to the 'spy game' as a cruel and yet elaborate and intelligent (!) activity stemming from a complex and as it may appear absurd and vain personal history, whatever it may be; and yet I feel fascinated by the mechanism of treason and loyalty that we are presented in this narrative, the raw material of any relationship, from the personal to the social.
Many years ago when I finally finished reading the book it was a revelation!
At the beginning I was so bored if not for the surprising style of the writing (I really started to love Le Carre after that novel).
The main character is not wavering at all: he has made a choice to redeem his weakness by following the path of faith to friendship and love, or is he not?
After this novel you can have a clearer understanding of the darker version of Green's 'Our Man in Havana', LeCarre's 'The Tailor of Panama'; there you'll end up where there is no game left, there it ends either in tragedy or in a grotesque comical way, or both.
There is no Smiley here to upheld decent human qualities in 'the service', or at least there is no point to introduce him in this case. The BBC has done a superb work with these series from LeCarre's novels: the actors are excellent, as are the locations and sets; the script here is adapted in a linear way that somehow disarm the explosive narrative of the book.
Be warned though, even if someone may find the main character's end laughable in a cynical way, the after taste is bitter.
Many years ago when I finally finished reading the book it was a revelation!
At the beginning I was so bored if not for the surprising style of the writing (I really started to love Le Carre after that novel).
The main character is not wavering at all: he has made a choice to redeem his weakness by following the path of faith to friendship and love, or is he not?
After this novel you can have a clearer understanding of the darker version of Green's 'Our Man in Havana', LeCarre's 'The Tailor of Panama'; there you'll end up where there is no game left, there it ends either in tragedy or in a grotesque comical way, or both.
There is no Smiley here to upheld decent human qualities in 'the service', or at least there is no point to introduce him in this case. The BBC has done a superb work with these series from LeCarre's novels: the actors are excellent, as are the locations and sets; the script here is adapted in a linear way that somehow disarm the explosive narrative of the book.
Be warned though, even if someone may find the main character's end laughable in a cynical way, the after taste is bitter.