The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Books | Fiction / General
4.2
(755)
John le Carré
From the master of spy thrillers, John le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a gripping story of love and betrayal at the height of the Cold War. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an afterword by the author and an introduction by William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart. Alec Leamas is tired. It's the 1960s, he's been out in the cold for years, spying in the shadow of the Berlin Wall for his British masters. He has seen too many good agents murdered for their troubles. Now Control wants to bring him in at last - but only after one final assignment. He must travel deep into the heart of Communist Germany and betray his country, a job that he will do with his usual cynical professionalism. But when George Smiley tries to help a young woman Leamas has befriended, Leamas's mission may prove to be the worst thing he could ever have done. In le Carré's breakthrough work of 1963, the spy story is reborn as a gritty and terrible tale of men who are caught up in politics beyond their imagining. 'A portrait of a man who has lived by lies and subterfuge for so long, he's forgotten how to tell the truth' Time 'He can communicate emotion, from sweating fear to despairing love, with terse and compassionate conviction. Above all, he can tell a tale' Sunday Times
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More Details:
Author
John le Carré
Pages
272
Publisher
Penguin Books Limited
Published Date
2010
ISBN
0141194529 9780141194523
Ratings
Google: 5
Community ReviewsSee all
"His first great Cold War book. "
M H
Margot Hentoff
"Maybe this was more gripping during the Cold War, but I found it leaden and dreary. The saving grace is a beautiful moment when Leamas allows the mask to drop and lets us glimpse his inner struggle:<br/><br/>“...but while a confidence trickster, a play actor or a gambler can return from his performance to the ranks of his admirers , the secret agent enjoys no such relief. For him deception is first a matter of self defence. He must protect himself not only from without but from within....Leamas resorted to the course which armed him best: even when he was alone he compelled himself to live with the personality he had assumed...without relinquishing the power of invention identified himself with what he had invented”<br/><br/>This one passage of stunning psychological insight almost redeems the entire book. Almost."
Lesley Williams
"This book was listed as fast-paced so I tried to finish up my yearly book challenge and I found it slow and so boring! I don’t read the spy genre, but there was just so much dialogue and no action or character development."
R T
Rebekah Travis
"Super entertaining Spy vs. Spy story that keeps you guessing the entire time. The audiobook’s narrator is fantastic as well. Really enjoyed this one!"
A R
Andrea R
"LeCarré's best novel by far."
Ray Jordan
"Started out boring, and kind of stayed that way. I did like it though. I don't want to give too much away, but for a book about intrigue, it has very little."
Andrew Greene
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