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The Looking Glass War John le Carre Books

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The Looking Glass War John le Carre Books

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.

The main story concerns the U.K.’s “Department” (military intelligence) competing with its “Circus” (political intelligence) for glory. The Department ran agents against the Nazis during World War II but has since fallen in missions, personnel, and funding. The Circus, on the other hand, seems to be gobbling up all those things. So, when the Department receives intelligence of a possible missile program in East German, it reactivates an old agent to confirm that program’s existence. The program doesn’t exist, the agent is captured but his fate left unknown, and Smiley is sent by Circus’ “Control” to communicate to the reorganization of the Department.

While The Looking Glass War has some interesting bits about interdepartmental rivalry, the training of spies, and the perils of espionage to those who are carrying it out, on the whole, the novel failed to capture my imagination. I read it more out of duty than delight. Even Le Carré admits in his Introduction that it was received poorly by critics. After reading The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, this novel was a disappointment. Thankfully, Le Carré followed The Looking Glass War with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, which I am currently reading, and that is a real page-turner.

If you, like me, prefer to read series’ novels in order, I can honestly recommend that you skip this one and go directly from The Spy Who Came in from the Cold to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. You won’t be missing much.


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The Looking Glass War John le Carre Books Reviews

Here's the main reason I like this book all of our heroes are ugly, even the pretty ones. This story starts off with a tragedy and ends in an even bigger one. You see the train wreck coming, but as has always been the case for me with Le Carre novels, you can't put it down. That he knows the materials is patently obvious to anyone in the business. That he could write a story that shows just how quickly human life can be disregarded in pursuit of regaining some equity and/or relevance as a government's collection priorities shift, is a testament to his willingness to show the ugly side of the business.
In the forward of the re-release, Le Carre reminds us that this book was largely panned when it came out. Critics and fans disliked the message and, in particular, the ending. I would say Le Carre was simply ahead of his time. In a very recent NYTimes interview, the author said that spies and spying made little difference in the Cold War. This book reflects that belief by putting the reader right in the middle of Britain's dubious espionage culture.
One of his earlier novels, it uses a power struggle between two post-war intelligence agencies as its background. His depictions of this internecine combat ring true but there really aren't any memorable characters in this one - whether major ones like Smiley and Guillan, or the minor ones who sparkle like Esterhase and Connie Sachs. By the way, it's not really a Smiley novel - he's a very minor character whose only role is to clean up someone else's mess at the very end of the book.
By far and away the worst of the Smiley series. With the exception of a bright start, it is a collection of le Carre's worst traits. Long winded, depressing, and a series of characters that struggle to attract any sympathy (indeed any emotion) from the reader. More than 80% of the book deals with the build up to the final mission - which is then dealt with over a handful of pages and the outcome is never in doubt.

It is interesting to compare this with The Secret Pilgrim - written much later and with more maturity (or a better editor!) - which was impossible to put down.
I have always heard that John le Carre is the preeminent spy writer, that he came from that world and is also a serious writer. I cannot vouch for the authenticity in THE LOOKING GLASS WAR but I can confirm this book is more than “just” a spy story.

The setting of the story is post-World War II, but near the beginning of the Cold War. The plot involves a division of British Intelligence attempting to place an agent in East Germany to investigate rumors of a possible missile installation. It is interesting to see the planning and execution, which is definitely World War II era “old school” rather than James Bond high-tech.

This is part of the “real story” that LeCarre is telling because the agency in charge of the operation is small and manned primarily by veterans of World War II, when they conducted similar operations against Hitler. Since the war, history seems to have passed them by with new equipment, new techniques, and younger men. They are almost forgotten by the British overseas intelligence agency referred to as “the Circus.”

Le Carre describes these men without emotion, but the reader almost winces at the way they try to recapture past glories and succeed only in fooling themselves.

Adding another level of meaning is the way le Carre shows the rigid class structure of England. Those running the show are all “gentlemen” while Leiser, the agent they recruit is lower class, a Polish national living in England. They see themselves as naturally superior “They saw that the Department had provided direction for his energy like a man of uncommon sexual appetite, Leiser had found in his new employment a love which he could illustrate with his gifts. They saw that he took pleasure in their command, giving in return his strength as homage for fulfilment. They even knew perhaps that between them they constituted for Leiser the poles of absolute authority the one by his bitter adherence to standards which Leiser could never achieve, the other by his youthful accessibility, the apparent sweetness and dependence of his nature.”

This leads to the third level of meaning. As le Carre describes the men, it is almost as if they have lovers’ relationships that are deeper than with their women. Even the wife of one of the team notices “When you came back earlier in the evening you looked as though you’d fallen in love. The kind of love that gives you comfort. You looked free and at peace. I thought for a moment you’d found a woman. That’s why I asked, really it is, whether they were all men . . . I thought you were in love.”

A spy story? Yes. But also a fine novel.
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.

The main story concerns the U.K.’s “Department” (military intelligence) competing with its “Circus” (political intelligence) for glory. The Department ran agents against the Nazis during World War II but has since fallen in missions, personnel, and funding. The Circus, on the other hand, seems to be gobbling up all those things. So, when the Department receives intelligence of a possible missile program in East German, it reactivates an old agent to confirm that program’s existence. The program doesn’t exist, the agent is captured but his fate left unknown, and Smiley is sent by Circus’ “Control” to communicate to the reorganization of the Department.

While The Looking Glass War has some interesting bits about interdepartmental rivalry, the training of spies, and the perils of espionage to those who are carrying it out, on the whole, the novel failed to capture my imagination. I read it more out of duty than delight. Even Le Carré admits in his Introduction that it was received poorly by critics. After reading The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, this novel was a disappointment. Thankfully, Le Carré followed The Looking Glass War with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, which I am currently reading, and that is a real page-turner.

If you, like me, prefer to read series’ novels in order, I can honestly recommend that you skip this one and go directly from The Spy Who Came in from the Cold to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. You won’t be missing much.