The Little Drummer Girl to me is LeCarre's best work. The book is about an English actress, Charlie, who is recruited by Israeli spys to help find and stop a Palestinian bomber and his network. The novel's overriding theme is the motivations of various people who are willing to do anything for their cause. LeCarre is a master of characterization; these people seem so real it is hard to believe this is fiction. To me, Charlie is every bit as memorable as George Smiley, LeCarre's best-known and much-loved creation. In fact, she may be more remarkable in that LeCarre, a man, has revealed this woman's heart so well. Females turned off by the macho spy novel genre should take note: This is also a very moving love story.

This is a genuinely amazing book. It lists and analyzes all the characters in the novels, gives a detailed history of the Circus, and provides absorbing commentary on who did what to whom in the books and what that says about Le Carre's most important themes. I've never seen anything like it, and that includes books about writers who have devoted followings like Conan Doyle or Tolkien. And Monaghan's book is lucid and readable as well. He really should update this to include "The Russia House" and "The Secret Pilgrim."

Speak Clearly Into The Chandelier: Cultural Politics Between Britain And Russia 1973-2000 is the political memoir of John Roberts who was appointed Director of the Great Britain-USSR Association in 1973 (eventually renamed The Britain-Russia Centre). A post he held for almost twenty years. From this unique advantage, Roberts presents the reader with a real-life adventure story set during and after the Cold War and starring a roster of British and Russian cultural and political personalities. His candid, revealing, fascinating account of people and events, politics and compromise, accomplishments and setbacks, in a complex struggle of ideologies is nothing short of riveting. What finally emerges is a respect for the Russian people, their culture, and their efforts to establish a post-communist future. Speak Clearly Into The Chandelier is an informative and welcome contribution to international studies in general, and Cold War era cultural politics in particular.

Smiley's people does not have the suspense of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; or have the action and tension of The Honourable Schoolboy. Smiley's people is a about people, and the weakness of character that spy craft thrives on. There are no poorly written characters in this book and I could not put the book down because I was drawn into the life and emotions of George Smiley. I could sympathize with his inability to use scotch tape, amoung other defining charactistics. A brillent book, and recommended.

This is in my opinion, and I have read every one of John le Carre's novels and have written a book about them, his finest book. It features le Carre's most memorable character, George Smiley, on his ultimate quest for his nemesis Karla. "The last scene, the dnouement of both this novel and the trilogyis, I believe, the most moving that le Carre has written. Like a narrative laser beam, it poignantly fuses the themes [dealt with in his novels] in a concentrated drama." (Myron J. Aronoff, The Spy Novels of John le Carre: Balancing Ethics and Politics, St. Martin's, 1999).

This is the last volume in a trilogy which, without any doubt, the best spy story ever written in English. _Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy_ began it with the story of George Smiley?s uncovering of the mole in British Intelligence HQ, known as "the Circus." _The Honourable Schoolboy_ -- which largely stands alone from the first and third books, and is a superior piece of work by itself -- tells of Smiley?s first steps toward revenge against Karla, head of Moscow Centre and his personal enemy for nearly thirty years . . . only to be denied the fruits of his own success by political machinations at home. _Smiley?s People_ brings everything to a very satisfying conclusion, via the discovery that Karla has an unsuspected human side, which makes him vulnerable. As always, Le Carre?s development of his characters is masterful and his dialogue and descriptive passages make it clear why, at his best, he is considered an exceptional stylist. The pace of the action in the early part of the book is purposely rather slow, drawing you in, making you pay attention to what?s happening and thinking about what secrets might be behind it all -- just as one imagines George is doing. But as the story develops, the pace picks up, until the last quarter is nearly a headlong gallop toward a triumphant final chapter. Unreservedly recommended.

This is the best spy novel - and one the best books - I have ever read. Le Carre gives a very real look at the world of espionage during the Cold War. A real novel of suspense, deceit, and intrigue. He holds you on the edge of your seat as Leamas tries, for one last time, to "come in from the cold". If you're looking for a fast-paced book, don't look here. You won't find it. And if you can't handle hard-to-follow plots, you won't like this one much either. Reading this novel makes me want to read even more of Le Carre. A must for a "real" spy enthusiast.

The book that I read is called "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold". It was written by John Le Carre and first published in 1969. The book is a very good but a complicated spy story. It focuses on the espionage back in the 1960s when Berlin was divided into West and East Berlin. The main character of the book is Leamas, a clever English spy. After finishing his job of spying in East Berlin for London, he started to drink and deteriorate. Leamas had done a good job while he was working for London, but when he retired he appeared to have no savings and no income. Being extremely poor, he resented the Organization for which he had been employed. However, one day he met other spies who worked for East Berlin and who took him to a man named Fiendler who was interested in obtaining information that Leamas had. They offered Leamas money and he accepted. The story is an astonishing one. It is mostly about the rough times a man goes through while spying and how he is left out at the end by the Organization he worked for. Trying hard to avoid poverty, he falls into a very dangerous business. The book is good because it has a lot of mystery and suspense. At the same time it is very hard to understand because it has a lot of information that makes your head spin. I don't like the characters that much. I don't agree with the desicions they make, because of their selfishness and greediness. I think that "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" is a good story. It is full of suspense and adventure. It is the story of a man who had to make a hard decision after being let down by the ones he trusted. It is a story about betrayal, hatred and jealousy. At the same time it can be very confusing because of too much mystery.

This is it - the best spy novel ever written, so good that not even Le Carre has ever been able to match it. If your image of espionage is formed by the cheesy gadgetry and high adventure of James Bond, then get ready for one very rude awakening. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a heartbreaking story, full of lonely people sadly making their way through a cold world - the Cold War was never more chilly than it is here. It's a sad and depressing book, but a smashingly good one, too. Read it.

When I make my fantasy list of the best books I've ever read, Le Carre's trilogy about George Smiley is near the top. The author is difficult reading. You have to pour over most paragraphs, so as not to miss each nouance. Smiley is the ultimate father figure in espionage literature. You are comfortable when he is there and figuring things out, but you marvel at the complexity and difficulty of what he has to do, and how he does it. I commend this to anyone who loves rich characterization, and wants a book he or she will come back to again and again.

I was interested in the espionage story but what I found most compelling were the characters and how much i grew to care about them over time (especially Smiley). The conclusion, that if you choose the methods of your enemy you are no better than your enemy is quite true. I do not like much modern fiction but found these three novels completely compelling, and have read them twice.

'Spying is waiting'. So believable. Unlike the breakneck speed of events of popular espionage fiction, John Le Carre takes us into the REAL world of spying where you do your bit and wait for the reactions. Things don't happen at the speed at which we wish them to.

His characters don't speak from high moral grounds, so typical to Tom Clancy's characters. Nor they are reluctant heroes of Robert Ludlum. They are real people, afraid, greedy, selfish, people who you can relate with, people who don't have the power to eliminate the evils of the world single-handedly. These are the people who know that the evils are here to stay, and in some sense they are also part of it. Elimination of evil will mean self-destruction. They just play the part in the manner they are told to and wait to get out of the evil-machine of espionage. 'Spying IS waiting'

****Precaution: Stay away from the movie if you haven't read the novel.

This is in my opinion John Le Carre's best book. Through a terrific novel, he explain us the issues behind the middle east conflict, in which the hatreds between the two bands go far deeper than in the West-East conflict of the other Le Carre's novels. Though the nominal heroes of the novel are Israelis, Le Carre is clearly sympathetic to the palestinians. All the characters of the novel are believable, and you can see why they are willing to do what they do.

As a suspense author with my debut novel in its initial release, I admire John Le Carre's LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL because it achieves what all authors of such types of fiction hope to achieve. Le Carre takes the complex issues involved in the Middle East and personalizes these issues with an intricate plot and vividly drawn characters. He makes the underlying and conflicting truths beneath this permanent international hotspot comprehensible to all who read his novel. Charlie, a beautiful actress, is lured into participating in a mission to entrap a Palestinian terrorist. Le Carre avoids simple answers and presents the views of all sides fairly. LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL is a terrific book, one I always recall when there is additional senseless violence in that most unfortunate world region.

A masterpeice written by a master. As an Israelian I had special interest in this book, and I really liked it. The plot is thrilling and fun to read and the book is very well written. Yet, the most important thing about this book is, in my opinion, that it reflects the reality in the middle-east: A cycle of old hates and old revenges. No one can remember who started it, and it doesn't really matters. There are no bad guys or good guys because the whole concept of justice doesn't exist anymore. Everybody knows they are angry about something, that they are revenging something, however, does it really matters? Does it right? Does anyone really remember why it all started? This book is recommended as a good thriller and a thought provoking book.

The story begins in mid 1974 with the pullout of intelligence operatives from Hong Kong, for fear of the how much was compromised, following the uncovering of Bill Haydon as a Russian 'mole' at the highest levels of British Intelligence in London.

If that sounds like it has the makings for an involved and intricate espionage thriller then that's only part of the story. It's not the plots or the politics that are the gems in Le Carre novels - it's the characters. Character development is his forte'. No character is as well developed or more complex than the awkward and unlikely superspy George Smiley. On the other hand no character is as simple to get a grip on as the central character - Jerry Westerby, whose case name - "The Honourable Schoolboy" defines and contains him perfectly.

Smiley as head of the Service sends Westerby east to Hong Kong following the trail left by Haydon. The target - two Chinese brothers supposedly in the employ of his arch nemesis 'Karla'. Along the way Le Carre lets us peek at ex-colonial life in East Asia and he misses no opportunity to tweak the nose of the serious British Civil Service.

As an addict of Le Carre, the Honourable Schoolboy is my favourite of his stories.

The intricate plotting of the chase, the utterly realistic and flawed geniuses that make up Smiley's team after the fall of the Circus in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy make this a compelling read.

The twist at the end was as unexpected as it was believable, and Jerry Westerby is one of the great characters of modern fiction.

I give a strong recommendation that if you are new to Le Carre that you read Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy first (or buy the Smiley trilogy). British spooks, but clever and compelling.

John Le Carre's mistakes (e.g., "Naive and Sentimental Lover") are more interesting than most other writers' crowning achievements, but "Schoolboy" is as good an intrigue and adventure novel as one will ever find.

Le Carre is the bravest popular novelist around. He panders to no one's politics; he doesn't care how much work a reader might normally choose to invest in a book; and he adheres to no formulae. You either trust him utterly, and let him take you where he's going, or you read Grisham.

"Schoolboy" features a Le Carre regular character, George Smiley, and centers on a bit character from earlier work, Jerry Westerby. In a sense, the novel is a contrast between, on the one hand, the bluff, hearty, athletic, noble, and, well, superficially superficial Westerby; and on the other, the deepest and most complicated character in the genre, George Smiley. But there's so much more here: the contrast between Eastern and Western cultures; between England in its late-twentieth century posture and the then-seeming decline in influence of the U.S.; between the young Turks at the Circus and its old guard.

What unites it all is Le Carre's remarkable gift at storytelling, dialogue, and character development.

I read many authors in the intrigue, mystery, and crime fields. But they're all just faint echoes of Le Carre. If you want real gold, and not just cheap imitation, he's your man.

I'm a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole's machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It's the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn't a James Bond yarn, either, as the "action" is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middleaged, and in secret agonies over his wife's habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.

Le Carre is the best spy novelist ever and truly a modern master of literature. Tinker Tailor takes the reader on a journey through the murky labyrinths of british intelligence as the antihero Smiley, a plump, confused, betrayed, but deceptively steely and intelligent spy, ferrets out a mole burrowed into the highest levels of British Intelligence by his Soviet nemesis, Karla. The themes of betrayal, downfall, and the inescapable immorality of spying permeate this finely written book, while the challenge of discovering, with Smiley, who the mole is, captures the reader from the start. Le Carre's character developement is superior to almost any writer, living or dead, and the complexity of the mole, Smiley, Connie Sachs, and a host of other characters adds another superior facet. Finally, Le Carre's use of wonderfully quaint terminology, with "moles", "legmen", "burrowers", "the circus", and others making frequent appearances, spices up the book. The best spy book I have ever read, and I have read every book by Forsyth, Higgings, Clancy, and Craig, and almost every Ludlum. This may be a great spy book, but it is also an outstanding work of literature, like its two successors, and is a classic in every respect. Everyone should read it who has a mind and appreciation for a nobly done turn of phrase. However, this book isn't for the James Bond Boom Boom kiss the girl and fly off sort- requires thought!

I?m a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole?s machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It?s the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn?t a James Bond yarn, either, as the ?action? is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middle-aged, and in secret agonies over his wife?s habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.

For those who still wonder about Le Carré's past and secret life, "A Perfect Spy" unveils lots of small mysteries. But besides the fact this book tells us a lot about the author's childhood, it remains a fascinating trip in the depths of the diplomatic society, the beautiful people, misery in the darkest places of England and dozens of small unreachable worlds. Once again but better than ever Le Carré takes you to a mystery tour that change your looking at your own world. Pym becomes your closest friend, his wife the one you'd like to tell everything, the other caracters become your foes... This time you learn everything , bit by bit, but you still remain helpless, you can't do anything but keeping going deeper and deeper through the complexity of one's life and feelings. Turning the last page is like being knocked out, but guess what ? You want more of it ! Satisfaction guaranteed...

A Perfect Spy shocks, provokes, weaves a story of Magnus as he plots the ultimate betrayal. When I say the story is woven, I mean it. The structure is similar to The English Patient, where the story skips back an forth in time and amoung characters. I rate this book highly, much as I had done with other Le Carre books. A perfect Spy, however is not another Spy novel, indeed the suspence is not as central to the plot but the character development is truly epic. Magnus Pym becomes a close relation throughout the narrative, all the good, bad, ugly, and even sometimes boring. A Perfect Spy is a gripping portrait of a twisted life, and the injury of the life a spy.

A Perfect Spy is an unreal, yet believable journey in the life of a Spy. I highly recommend this book, if like me, you enjoy a non-linear story.

I've always liked John le Carre novels best, re-reading each as soon as I finish it the first time, and reading it a third time a year or two later. Of all, my favorite has been (neither of the obvious -- neither the spy who came in from the cold nor tinker tailor -- but rather) the uncomfortable novel of chronic betrayal, "A Perfect Spy." The Dickensian vitality of Pym's wayward father and his cronies is the perfect foil to le Carre's astringent sensibility for amorality, Whitehall-style. Pym's life journey carries with it more atmosphere and vibrant detail than all of Len Deighton together. While I've never been to a desert island, a day trapped in Germany (a late flight out of Leipzig, a missed connection at Frankfurt) recently put my love of this book to the test! Ordinarily an official national standard for the Type A Personality, under any other circumstances I'd have fumed, cursed, stomped, shouted, badgered ticket clerks, and harassed impotent middle managers about my plight and their indifference to it. But I had brought Pym along as my companion for the flights, went happily off to an airport hotel, and re-read the book straight through till dawn.