The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - 20120222

Some books could only be admired when you are getting older. This novel is one of those.

Malcolm Gladwell said he has read the book once every five years since he was 15. He started to understand it the third time, that is, when he was 25. If it is true, he is pretty clever, as I doubt I could know an ounce by reading it at the same age. And I have never read any of Gladwell's best sellers.

The novel gets merely 252 pages. Nevertheless, it shines on every aspects. The structure of the story, the beauty of some sentences and most of all, the sharpness of views.

John le Carre is a maestro of story-telling. He traps readers by deftly twisting the story at any point he likes. I knew it from The Most Wanted Man. And The Spy Who Came in from the Cold does an even better job. It is a set-up of set-ups. So, re-reading is necessary to have better understanding of the plot.

People contrast le Carre's works to Fleming's. James Bond is a mass thing. It could be exciting while watching 007's movies. Regarding le Carre, his work gives a profound depiction to human beings, via the squalid operation of espionage. While finished reading this novel, I was so thrilled and moved.

le Carre is still alive at his eighties. I am quite interested in his acting in the coming film, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.