#52books52weeks — 8/52 John Le Carré “The Spy Who Came In from the Cold”
A contender for the best espionage novel ever written (it’s one of the All-Time 100 Novels by Time magazine), “The Spy Who Came In from the Cold” surpasses any preconception. There are no shaken martinis, supermodels in bikinis, tuxedos and Aston Martins. It focuses on such central themes of Cold War espionage like morality, duty and love and is a stark portrayal of the clash between Western espionage methods and Western values. It is economical in words, sparse in violence and focused on internal conflict. Like an unexpected splash of cold water to your face, it washes away any idealistic interpretations of the lifestyle of a spy.
John Le Carré, a Secret Service agent up until 1964 himself, wrote the novel in Hamburg while working as a political consul for MI6. The first-hand experience is evident in every turn of the page and one can just wonder if the character of Alec Leamas is in any part real.
“What do you think spies are: priests, saints, and martyrs? They’re a squalid procession of vain fools, traitors too, yes; pansies, sadists, and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives. Do you think they sit like monks in London balancing the rights and wrongs?”
This existential reflection from Leamas is the perfect summary of the mood that permeates the book. Le Carré’s writing is stark and outright, unlike the novel’s events taking place in the 60’s, first in West Berlin, then London, East Berlin and the Netherlands. The characters’ lives are ruled by suspicion, deceit and disloyalty, and the world is divided by the Iron Curtain that falls heavy, claiming lives one by one.
The story unravels during a period of heightened tension in the late 1950’s, about a year after the completion of the Berlin wall, as Leamas agrees to one last job — posing as a faux defector in order to aggregate information on a powerful East German intelligence officer. With the help of his English girlfriend, an idealistic communist, Leames gets recruited but soon his charade is unmasked — a revelation that ultimately leads to achieving the main goal of his mission.
When dwelling deeper in the analysis of the novel, there are two central themes that seem very apparent. From the cold in the title of the novel to the Cold War all the way to cold relationships, you’re reminded of an underlying tragedy of a generation lost to a meaningless game of double-crossing, betrayal and death. A generation dedicated to an unknown greater good, stripped of love and compassion.
It is also highlighted in the way Le Carré describes the world. As I read it, the pictures in my head were all muted in inexpressive shades of blacks and greys and khakis. And that brings me to probably the most important point. All agents operate in the grey area. Their actions are not always justifiable, ethical or morally acceptable so the ending will make you question the result. Was it the RIGHT decision? WAS there even a right decision?
“The Spy Who Came In from the Cold” serves as a reminder of how vastly different our reality is in the era of personal growth, personal benefit and personal profit. The era of the great self-regard. But if you really think about it, like really, really think about it, nothing’s changed. Probably there are still Americans tracking your whereabouts, Brits listening in on your conversations and Russians making sure they know the name of your pet. The Iron Curtain hasn’t fallen at all. It’s just moved a little to the East and adopted the name of the Let’s-Pretend-It’s-Not-There Cloak.
Interestingly enough, last month it was announced that BBC will adopt Le Carré’s novel into another spy drama, following the success of The Night Manager. A shift from Middle East arms deals to Cold War espionage. Coincidence? I think not.
