John le Carré

John Le Carre

Secret agent Leamas is on a mission in East Berlin, but he has doubts about the organization he serves.

The Spy who Came in from the Cold

John le Carre

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

Chris Dailey

Fantastic yet realistic, enthralling yet a slowburn, the novel lives up to its reputation as one of the best spy novels of all time. Not much to add to the pages upon pages raving about Le Carre's breakout. The best aspects were the ambivalence and gray areas, the fact that good guys are bad, and bad ones good in the game of international intrigue. Or maybe everyone is awful.

Laura Mauler

Fantastic espionage book. The pace builds steadily, with a subtle suspense growing relentlessly in the background, and then all of a sudden it takes off like a shot. This book should be read on an express train, preferably one traveling through Germany or another country touched by the Iron Curtain. Highly recommend.

Jayme Cochrane

I decide to start reading a few le Carré books, and he passes away the day after I start. What odd timing.

Written over a period of about five weeks in response to the fear and ugliness of the Berlin Wall, its bitter, devastating story crystallised the doubts and moral dilemmas of the time. It altered irrevocably our understanding of the Cold War, the shape of the spy novel, and John le Carre's writing career, propelling him to international fame.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

My first le Carré novel, and definitely not my last.

Frederik De Bosschere

Alex Leamas is tired. It's the 1960s, he's been out in the cold for years, spying in Berlin for his British masters, and 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. With a new introduction by William Boyd and an afterword by Le Carré himself.

Colleen

3 Stars
 
*A slow, cerebral story of espionage and moral deliberation *
 

I’ve seen the The Spy Who Came in from the Cold on a lot of lists of best thrillers. This is touted as one of the best spy novels ever written. So my expectations might have been too high. The story was quite different from what I expected.

The major surprise (and disappointment) was that this book is mostly dialogue. Slow, drawn-out dialogue. There are a few scenes of action that build tension. But the majority of this book is talking, talking, and more talking. Sometimes those conversations sneak in important information, so you shouldn’t skim over them. But I’ll admit that despite how short this book is, I found it tedious at times. I suppose that, like the actual Cold War, the story was about posturing more than action. The dialogue includes much conjecture and manipulation and trying to outmaneuver each other. It’s a slow story. Although if you want to be nice, you would call it cerebral.


  “This is a war," Lemas replied. "It's graphic and unpleasant because it's fought on a tiny scale, at close range; fought with a wastage of innocent life sometimes, I admit. But it's nothing, nothing at all besides other wars - the last or the next.”

I liked the setting. Parts of it did remind me of stories of living in Germany when the wall was still up. And the ending was good. Maybe if I had read more about the book before picking this up, I would have gone into it with different expectations. I think this is still a good book to read if you like espionage and glimpses into the past – even if this isn’t going on my favorites shelf.

 
RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Jesse J. Anderson

Interesting writing style that was difficult to follow at times. I would read 20 pages and only have a general idea of what actually happened, and often characters weren't distinctive enough to keep mentally separated. The middle got boring and I put the book down for a couple of years. Glad I picked it back up though to finish it, probably would've enjoyed the story more as a whole if it were about 70% of the length.

Rick Dobrowolski

I was never into spy novels before so I didn't know what to expect. This book was very well written and kept my interest as well. The plot was deep and well-connected and abounding with surprises.

Tom Turner

I absolutely love this book. After reading the first two le carre novels, which were very much the author finding his feet, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is definitely the man established and in control of his literary voice.

I will admit I struggled mid way through, and without knowing why it's all happening it you could find your mind wandering due to lack of action, - there a lot of chapters that are just two people, and often the same two people, talking. However once you get to the final third all of that makes sense and it becomes a masterpiece. I'm going to take a brief break from Le Carre, but be assured - I'm going to return!!

The Spy who Came in from the Cold

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