Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (John le Carre)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not your typical spy novel.  There are no high-speed car chases, or scenes of overt violence or sex.  It's a story of a man, George Smiley, called back from retirement to weed out a suspected mole in the highest levels of the "Circus" (the British Intelligence Agency).  The majority of the novel is Smiley piecing together the identity of the mole through a variety of investigations- old files, interviews, etc.

There are elements of this I really enjoyed.  Like the recently-released movie, this book really forced you to interact- it doesn't "hold your hand" and walk you through the story.  Many subtle insinuations within the story are made, which (for me) was both good and bad- I like a little hand-holding now and again.  Jargon is thrown around with no explanation- though to be fair, this is the fifth book in the series, so starting with it wasn't the brightest idea (see here for a list of some of the terms).  Despite the lack of "chase scenes" and the like, le Carre maintains suspense and interest in the novel, which impressed me.  The gloomy, Cold War atmosphere is well done, and overall, I was pleased.  A worthy read, though I believe le Carre's earlier work, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, is better.

Rating: B