Might this be the last Le Carre I read? Certainly I enjoyed it more than the previous one, read a year or two back; nevertheless his books more recently have left me troubled and dissatisfied. Though clever, his writing is wordy, and though the general direction of the narrative is clear, his final twists seem to me unlikely and nasty-tasting.

It took me two starts, but I finally got through this book. Not the type of book (or author for that matter) to read bouncing on an elliptical cross-trainer or treadmill -- the plot is laid out on several different levels. An interesting book for Le Carre -- on a new path at the end of the Cold War.

I would not have read this book if not for summer book bingo. It’s not my genre. The only good thing I can say about it is that John le Carré read the audio version, and he did a good job with all the characters.

I recently watched mark Lawson's BBC4 interview with Le Carre and this book was referenced by the writer as one of his favourites. What is interesting in this book is Le Carre's ability to develop an initially comic situation within a few chapters into a story about vanity and greed. It demonstrates how a lie develops through the wishes of the intelligence service and media interests into the premise for an invasion. The story itself pitches a newly appointed spy sent to Panama , Andy Osnard, into an opportunity to build his reputation and line his pockets by blackmailing a tailor, Harry Pendel, into divulging secrets. Pendel is tailor to the president, the American army general on their base in Panama, and he knows friends who have been victim of torture by the countries brutal regime in earlier days of revolt. The twist comes in what Harry does, how Osnard reacts and consequently how Britain sees this as a new area of influence post cold war. It is a very clever book which as it progresses sees you move from the comic to a poignant reflection on intimate betrayals and the effects of powerplay. Le Carre moves from the espionage of the cold war into the politics and corruption of money, media and countries scrabbling around to maintain their position as a world player, so the story of the growing Panama crisis is prescient of crises that will come dominate the early 2000's. A brilliant writer who is more deserving of literary plaudits than some of the tosh that wins the major awards .

Back in the 1970s I read “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” and it was a classic. (sidenote: having just watched Juliet, Naked in which the boyfriend complains because the girlfriend listened to the cd before he did - a similar situation occurred over this book...) Anyway, I’ve had this book hanging around since 1997 and never got beyond the first few pages. I wasn’t missing much. I didn’t care about any of the characters and the plot was lukewarm at best. It wasn’t even very funny, although some reviewers apparently found it so.
My last read was a chick lit spy novel and it was much more rewarding. And dare I say, better written?

great book; Pendel is a gem of a guy, holy smokes what a character. i continue to love LeCarre's books. even if i don't follow a not-insignificant percentage of the plot & dialogue haha.

i wonder if the movie is good

Oof. It was a cleverly-written fun romp about liers lying until it got serious and dark and sad and... oof.