The book tells the story of an incompetent British intelligence agency known as The Department and its multiple botched attempts to verify a Communist defector's story of a Soviet missile buildup in East Germany. For me a difficult book to rate, on one hand I enjoyed it although I came to have a marked contempt for some of the major characters. In doing so, he also culled details from his own time as an MI5 and MI6 agent, calling the book – along with The Secret Pilgrim – one of the most accurate reflections of his own experiences. Although his role ultimately proves to be quite significant, he's more in the background this time. And is best read as another example of Smiley's involvement in intercontinental incompetence. This book, often hidden or neglected between two of La Carre's more exceptional works, honestly describes how wishful thinking and misperceptions run rampant in the intelligence world where information must be produced to confirm things that are unknown or nonexistent. John le Carre's The Looking Glass War is a scorching portrayal of misplaced loyalties and innocence lost. From the John le Carré novel about a British spy, who sends a … The Looking Glass War is a novel of profound disillusionment, As a spy in the book says before leaving on his assignment, operating during the cold war is much different than it was operating in World War II: This is a novel of questions which, at their heart, all come down to: Why do we do it?

I am so enjoying this journey through Le Carré’s work. Proof Intelligence Efforts are Self-Fulfilling Delusions, Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2019.

Although some reviewers have commented that 'The Looking Glass War' is not one of Le Carré's best spy novels, it is still hugely enjoyable. My plan, and I reserve the right to change it, is to read all of the books and review them as a group when I have finished. Most of the book involves his training and politics around the organisation. They are very well-drawn, though, and their efforts to be useful will keep you reading, even if you wonder from the beginning whether what they are trying to do will really add up to much. I got the impression that the producers were not sufficiently committed to the project. A clandestine world made up of an old boys club who are happy to throw the lamb to the wolves .....all in the name of glory, I found this to be a bleak and quite dour story, not for the faint of heart.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. First American Edition. Get this from a library! Choose your poison. See the article in its original context from February 14, 1965, Section X, Page 7 Buy Reprints. Of the four books I’ve written by John le Carré. Something went wrong. [original research?]. Start by marking “The Looking Glass War” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The book tells the story of an incompetent British intelligence agency known as The Department and its multiple botched attempts to verify a Communist defector's story of a Soviet missile buildup in East Germany. Very Good Condition. The whole house gently asserted an air of old age; it had a quality, like incense, of courteous but inconsolable sadness. View Full Article in Timesmachine », See the article in its original context from. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. The missile site, meanwhile, almost certainly never existed. Sometimes he was like a man in flight, but running toward the enemy, desperate to feel upon his vanishing body the blows that would prove his being, desperate to imprint upon his sad conformity the mark of real purpose, desperate perhaps, as Leclerc had hinted, to abdicate his conscience in order to discover God. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. I'll tell you: it is whatever you can still betray.”, “There were times when he confronted his own image as a man confronts an empty valley, and the vision propelled him forward again to experience as despair compels us to extinction. We’d love your help. There is a valuable lesson in this book: when an author uses a novel’s introduction to suggest it may be his worst, believe him. The Looking Glass War is a 1965 spy novel by John le Carré. Learn more about the program. The Looking Glass War by John Le Carre. A satire about an incompetent military … I don't think Leiser's training at al. If I skip it will I miss information necessary to understand Tinker, Tailor? It was directed by Frank Pierson.[4]. Critic Reviews for The Looking Glass War All Critics (2) | Rotten (2) They feel like real le Carr, people, even though this sympathetic, hard- pressed movie is never really enough of a le Carr, film.

But faith is never found, as Avery, the youngish member of the team, finds again and again, as in this scene which may have suggested the novel’s its title: There were times when he confronted his own image as a man confronts an empty valley, and the vision propelled him forward again to experience, as despair compels us to extinction. $29.95.

Jack Johnson: Veteran wireless operator for the Department, assigned to refresh Leiser's wireless skills on an obsolete, World War II-vintage radio set. The government authorities responsible for political and military intelligences were separate.

It was probably much to do with our perception of spies as being on top of their game while the spies here are bumbling amateurs. Welcome back.

Have you ever wanted to be a spy? by Le Carre, John (SIGNED) New York: Coward-McCann, 1965. They choose a polish refugee of german extraction. The Looking Glass War by John Le Carre. The Looking Glass War is billed as “A George Smiley Novel.” It is the fourth installment in the series of John Le Carré books where Smiley plays a part, but his role here is very small. Everything, even an inanimate object, such as the Victorian home where the training of a spy takes place, expresses this despair. This is a difficult book for me to rate.

I'm really eager to get onto Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The New York Times Archives.