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The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

by: John le Carre
en

0743442539  9780743442534 

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
By John le Carre




Product Description:

In this classic, John le Carré's third novel and the first to earn him international acclaim, he created a world unlike any previously experienced in suspense fiction. With unsurpassed knowledge culled from his years in British Intelligence, le Carré brings to light the shadowy dealings of international espionage in the tale of a British agent who longs to end his career but undertakes one final, bone-chilling assignment.

When the last agent under his command is killed and Alec Leamas is called back to London, he hopes to come in from the cold for good. His spymaster, Control, however, has other plans. Determined to bring down the head of East German Intelligence and topple his organization, Control once more sends Leamas into the fray -- this time to play the part of the dishonored spy and lure the enemy to his ultimate defeat.



Amazon.com Review:

It would be an international crime to reveal too much of the jeweled clockwork plot of Le Carré's first masterpiece, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. But we are at liberty to disclose that Graham Greene called it the "finest spy story ever written," and that the taut tale concerns Alec Leamas, a British agent in early Cold War Berlin. Leamas is responsible for keeping the double agents under his care undercover and alive, but East Germans start killing them, so he gets called back to London by Control, his spy master. Yet instead of giving Leamas the boot, Control gives him a scary assignment: play the part of a disgraced agent, a sodden failure everybody whispers about. Control sends him back out into the cold--deep into Communist territory to checkmate the bad-guy spies on the other side. The political chessboard is black and white, but in human terms the vicinity of the Berlin Wall is a moral no-man's land, a gray abyss patrolled by pawns.

Le Carré beats most spy writers for two reasons. First, he knows what he's talking about, since he raced around working for British Intelligence while the Wall went up. He's familiar with spycraft's fascinations, but also with the fact that it leaves ideals shaken and emotions stirred. Second, his literary tone has deep autobiographical roots. Spying is about betrayal, and Le Carré was abandoned by his mother and betrayed by his father, a notorious con man. (They figure heavily in his novels Single & Single and A Perfect Spy.) In a world of lies, Le Carré writes the bitter truth: it's every man for himself. And may the best mask win. --Tim Appelo




Summary: Le Carre Thrills in this Roller Coaster Ride
Rating: 5

This spy novel has it all: fleshed-out characters, excellent dialogue, wonderful pacing and a plot that's replete with uncertainty. This writer held me on the edge of my seat right to his thrilling finish, after which the characters and intrigues continued to linger in my mind.

Through the eyes of Le Carre, a genuine spook, I became struck by the high drama of the Cold War period, including the stakes, the rivalries, and most interesting of all, the ambiguities. I say that despite remembering the late Cold War era because the author portrays the battle of the Soviet Bloc versus the West with a vividness and sensitivity one could never glean from TV broadcasts, newspapers and magazines. Le Carre's a brutal and fearless artist; weaned on a diet of Hollywood cliches where "the German" is usually cast as stupid, I was refreshed--even shocked--to visit a world where Mundt could be the smartest man in the room, and where America's arch enemy just might win.

Fantastic read. I thought Le Carre could have tightened up the sequence at the Bayswater Library for Psychic Research, but otherwise there's no fluff here and gobs of suspense.

My Titles
Shadow Fields
Snooker Glen
Dasha



Summary: A change of pace for the normal spy novel
Rating: 5

This is my first review so you know its gonna be good or bad. I am happy to say that it is one of the best novels I have read all year. John Le Carre created a spy novel that had me captivated by the inner dialogue of the main character alone. A must read.



Summary: Intrigue, Intense character development, Spies as they are meant to be
Rating: 5

John Le Carre can put into a 223 page book what some authors today need 600 pages to tell. He is not just a master with the dialogue, but with the mood, setting and gives you a complete rundown of the politics in that small number of pages. There is no need for me to give you a rundown of the storyline; many have done that before me. What I'm here to say is that even after 45 years, this book is still relevant and although some might say it is dated, it gives us an accurate appraisal of the 1960's in Europe - something our current history books can't do.

Loving a good spy novel, I began to read Le Carre, starting with "Our Game" because I bought it at a library book sale. It was just okay at best - very rambling and with no real focus, it seemed. What was I missing? So I read "Single and Single" because I bought it at a church book sale. It was really bad. This just seemed like drivel from an author that had no idea where the story was going. But I knew that Le Carre was the primo spy writer, but nothing I was reading was showing me any of it. So I didn't panic, but instead read all of the reviews on Le Carre's other books. Then I started at the beginning of his success with "The Spy Who..." Wow!! Now this is a master spy writer at his best. The characters were intense and their sweat came through to the reader and I was sweating with them. The Cold War seems so long ago, but this book brought it back to me like I was again living it. The historic information of this type of book is long forgotten and our younger, Nintendo/ PlayStation playing, non-readers should pick up this book and see what they may have missed the first time around, but might not during what may be coming next in the world as Russia is making its comeback.

I will now go back and read the two earlier works and then progress through the best of the rest. If anyone has started reading Le Carre during the last several books, like me, it would be well worth their time to start here and then begin the series when the master storyteller was in his heyday.



Summary: Cold Reality
Rating: 5

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold has been heralded as one of the greatest spy novels ever. John LeCarre, a British Intelligence agent who served during the Cold War until his identity was given to the Russians by double agent Kim Philby, wrote this timeless classic in 1963. It covers the story of Alec Leamas, as an agent, friend, spy, lover, and killer. Leamas takes on a mission to defeat his nemesis Mundt in East Germany, knowing full well it may be his last. Le Carre wrote his novel as a conduit from which he could communicate his viewpoints on matters dealing with morals, politics, ideology, and world affairs. Le Carre was able to do this without all the blood and gadgets so commonly found in your typical spy novel, and in the process, convey much deeper principles.
The novel was a quick and intense read; one that packed quite a punch. The intensity comes not from the blazing guns of a secret agent, but the dialogue, treachery, deception, mind games, and aggression expressed by the many rounded and dynamic characters. Those looking for a bloodbath or risqué spy novel will not find it here. LeCarre tells his story with limited exposure to violence and sex, which made the story more raw and realistic. The true catch of the story is the game of cat and mouse; the never-ending cycle of espionage that winds up enveloping the lives of both participants and innocents. The life and nature of spy work is portrayed quite convincingly and one has to wonder how much of it came from LeCarre's own wartime experiences. My father served in the intelligence community, and it's my knowledge of his experiences there that made me impressed with the way LeCarre's novel exposed the moral dilemmas and paradoxes associated with the perilous work of espionage. As a political science major, I found the book was a metaphor for many schools of thought dealing with world politics and human nature.
Some would complain that LeCarre's novel is all about people's feelings, is too cold, or does not have enough action packed fight scenes. They are exactly right, and those who say it takes away from the novel are missing the point. This book was written to show the world that spy work is unglamorous, unrewarding, uncertain, immoral, and cold. It serves as a reality check to those who are fascinated by spy work because they see movies like James Bond. It exposes the real world, where there is no definitive good and bad. It makes us question our own actions. Luckily for us, not all literature or film is created for pure entertainment value. Sometimes there is a brain behind the final product.
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold conveys the tragedies of war, along with the intensity of forbidden love, revenge, and betrayal. Once you pick up LeCarre's novel you will not be able to put it down. Finally doing so leaves you begging for more.



Summary: Great Spy Novel
Rating: 5

Well if you never read a spy novel like myself then this would be a perfect entry point. First the positives the book was great because it was not so long the book was 224 pages so if you have a couple of hours to kill or on an airplane then this would be a perfect book to read and it was great because it dealt with the cold war era which is pretty interesting stuff.

The negative would be is that it is an old book but a good book certain british lingo such as macintosh meaning raincoat is something we americans would not understand but overall it was a great book and the lingo was not too bad that it confused anyone that read it. I was hoping for a happier ending but I was bitterly disappointed with what did transpired at the end but the book did keep me interested so overall I was happy.