John Le Carré, 1994 (December 2014)
Complex, tense and, as is usual for Le Carré, futile, this book
explores the internal life of a man drawn into the most dangerous of roles, a
secret agent operating a criminal gang, and the personal conflicts that allow
him to be drawn into this work. The psychological profile is Le Carré’s stock
in trade, and he applies it adeptly in a new setting, making the story less of
a typical spy novel and more a study of character and circumstance. It would be
a misnomer to call the book a spy novel (as the term is commonly used in marketing),
but in fact Le Carré’s preoccupation with this theme is probably truer to the
actuality of spying than the action adventures that usually go under that name.
But this has always been Le Carré’s theme, and he excels at it.
The troubled characterization of the agent Jonathon Pine seems
convincing enough, although internal verbalizing about his desire for the
boss’s wife seems a bit overstated. Perhaps it is standing in for the passion
that drives Pine – the reason he accepts such a role in the first place is his
fury over the murder of another woman linked to the gang and his own propensity
for uncontrolled rage. (But this is another recurring theme for Le Carré – men
driven by an unattainable passion for a woman. Also as usual for Le Carré, the
women’s roles are thinly sketched, primarily being just an object of interest
for the male protagonists.) Pine’s passions underlay his military past, and
carry him through the mistakes and betrayals to his heroic if unsuccessful
achievements.
Interesting here is how the betrayals that, in other Le
Carré books come from conflicting national interests and organizations, here
come from corruption, careerism and conflict within the British secret
services. And equally bad is the way that the protectors of international law
profess to be against crime, but turn away when commercial interests are at
stake. In this scathing characterization, the internal conflicts lead to the
destruction of good operators who try to protect honor and truth, and to the
torture and near death of the agent Pine. It is one of the few (somewhat) happy
endings in Le Carré’s books that sees Pine’s handler make a trade with an
utterly venal and despicable criminal for Pine’s life. It’s interesting to see
how the bureaucrats manoeuvre to gain and lose control, and how a principled
operator tries to rescue his operation. This seems much more realistic than the
spectacular technology and personal heroics of the trashy spy novels.
Like Le Carré’s other
novels, his tone is that of a distanced observer, even when describing the
internal workings of his character’s mind. This again distinguishes it from the
more conventional spy novels, where the point is the visceral excitement of the
action. That isn’t the point with Le Carré, although he does build suspense and
tension as his plot develops. But for a thoughtful examination of ambiguous
morality, deceit and corruption in and between governments, Le Carré succeeds
in illuminating what is really going on.
