The success of John Le Carré is that his language is very vivid, which makes the spy characters he creates more realistic to the reader than the real people and events. This has something in common with some other books and films: our impressions of the old American South are inextricably linked to the scenes depicted in Gone with the Wind. In addition, it is said that even real-life mafia members learned how to speak after watching "The Godfather".
The same is true of Le Carré's work. In the past, spies were referred to as "penetration agents" or "sleepers," but le Carré later promoted the term "mole," a term used by today's intelligence agents. In Le Carré's work, there is a branch under the British intelligence agency circus called the lamplighters. Members of this group are known as "pavement artists." Thanks to Le Carré's description, every reader learns the basic operations of eavesdropping on intelligence technology. In addition, George Smiley (the character in the book) is more vivid than any intelligence officer in MI6.
The challenge for Le Carré is that today, these famous characters belong not only to the author, but also to the reader. In the new book, John Le Carré describes Georges Smiley as "like an owl," which some readers may be unhappy about — please, we know what Smiley looks like. I think the reason why Le Carré, after writing Smiley's People, began to abandon these roles in favor of creating new roles for the next part of his career. Many of Le Carré's later books were not so good, but he was able to write independently without any hindrance.
The challenges le Carré encountered were exactly what other writers dreamed of. He has written three books on espionage novels, The Berlin Spy, The Potmaker, the Tailor, the Soldier, the Spy, and The Man and Horse of Smerley. He is already so perfect, what room can he improve? (I don't mention his Honorable Student here, the honourable schoolboy, 1977, because I think the book is a bit clumsy.) ）
On the basis of his famous work "Spy in Berlin", Le Carré wrote a prequel "The Legacy of The Spy". In this new book, the protagonist he chooses is not the former Smiley, but The Peter Guillam, Smiley's assistant. Fans know that Kirum is Smiley's most trusted colleague, having helped Smiley recruit alec leamas to participate in the brutal operation across the Berlin Wall and remove bill Haydon, who treacherously infiltrated the "round field" as an undercover agent. Eventually, he also designed to capture Karla, who was the cunning rival of Smiley.0
But who is Kiram? From the previous books, we know that he was a man of strong character, a front-line agent who led the scalphunters. The actions carried out by this squad were all tragic and dangerous. He, like another beloved supporting character, Toby Esterhase, may have foreign ancestry: Kirum is half French. He was a womanizer and an alcoholic. However, he left his contemplation and self-blame to his mentor Smiley. Now, in The Legacy of the Spy, we will see the heart of this "scalper".
At the beginning of the book, the elderly Kirum is on vacation in Brittany. However, his former colleagues in the "round field" sent him a task, so this leisurely time was interrupted. "A few years ago, you played an important role in an operation, and now, suddenly, the incident has reappeared," the mission required him to rush to London immediately. The incident stemmed from a plot in The Berlin Spy: Long ago, Smiley had sent Alek Limas and Liz Gold to protect The Circle Field's undercover agents in East Germany. Now, their children are trying for revenge. Readers may forget that at the end of the book, Gelder tried to climb the Berlin Wall, but unfortunately was killed. Alec Limas was martyred. Two reliable agents are killed in a high-level mission, and this is the final scene of the book. The scene is imbued with a sense of moral ambiguity, and in later works, Le Carré continued this style.
The deaths of Alec Limas and Liz Gerd could have been a tragedy in the Cold War. But for the younger generation, it's a potential lawsuit. People such as Bunny and Tabitha began questioning the unnatural deaths of Kiram spies and demanded that secret records be dug up and displayed in court.
This current legal case pushes people to explore the truth of history. However, Le Carré's approach was not satisfactory. The essence of Le Carré's early novels is that the plot can slowly move the story forward. Relying too much on memories to tell a story is never a satisfactory approach, especially since many memories use fragments of documents as well as recordings from long ago. These contents disturb Kirum's memories, disrupt the logic of the story's development, and the views of the characters in the book are slightly blurred.
But this was only a small deficiency, and I still read most of the book in a comfortable position. Le Carré was an extremely gifted writer who was able to weave all the cards in his hand so that they not only applied to the book, but also complemented the plot of previous books. Fans who want to learn about Hans-Dieter Mundt's secret relationship with the Circle, or Dr. Carl Rimek's network, or inspector mendel's plans in the special branch, will find the answer here and will not be disappointed.
The Legacy of the Spy is perhaps the last in The Smiley series of novels. But I don't want that to happen. I'd like to see this talented author go on to write other prequels and sequels even at the age of 85. But if this is really the last one, I think two things are very important. First, it seems to me that Le Carré was very supportive of the spies in the book—yes, he did think deeply about whether the mission was really worth performing. This time, however, there is no doubt that these spies are indeed good people. Because of past mistakes, the younger generation that pursues them wants to punish the spies, and their cynicism about life is evident.
"You are all sick. "You all these spies," one of the future Avengers roared. "You're not good medicine, you're a fucking virus... You fucking live in the dark because you fucking can't touch the sun. These words are very indecent, and they are not very convincing. The Avenger was not afraid to face the difficulties, but eventually lost in front of Kiram.
Le Carré's work implies his emotional attitude. He relentlessly criticizes the characters he doesn't like (in recent works, many of the tyrannical and unreliable characters are American intelligence officers), but he doesn't criticize the younger generation in this way. At the same time, Le Carré praises the old character in the book: Kirram is admirable, even if he has lied to cover up the past.
By the end of the book, Kirum, like Smiley, is growing tired of the world. "How many human feelings can we have in the name of freedom before we no longer have humanity and freedom?" He mused. His thinking and Smiley's were getting closer and closer. Le Carré believes that spies in every country are tainted by their profession, a symbol of his emotions. But the words taken from Kirum's mouth would sound like they were forced. At this point, he seems to be more of a figure in Richard Helms' "Let's Go Ahead" spy school. In this book, the sacrificial Alec Limas does not have such a great idea. What we know more is that tenacious loyalty drove him to sacrifice himself during the Cold War.
In this book, characters such as Alec Limas and Kirum are portrayed as virtuous figures, overshadowing our often betrayed hero, Smiley in his previous works. In recent years, people have applauded and cheered for returning fighters at airports and at sporting events, without taking into account how we feel about the wars they are involved in. This is also reflected in The Legacy of The Spy. Soldiers may be in a gray area, but we still pay tribute to their persistence and bravery.
Finally, what does this book tell us about George Smiley? For most of the book, he is a deus absconditus. People kept asking to see him, but he didn't show up. You might think the old man is dead, and perhaps, like many previous MI6 agents, turned to advising investment banks. However, this is not the case. The article concludes by mentioning that Smerley read obscure books in a library near the Border between Switzerland and Germany, just as he had done in Water Street. So I don't think we've lost anything.
Le Carré had a little intrigue in choosing the setting of the story: In his memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, he tells us that his favorite place is the Swiss Alps. He used the money he earned from Spy Berlin to build a cabin there. And it's also special for his mentor Vivian Green when he was a student at Oxford University. John Le Carré once said, "He used himself as an example to show me the inner life of Georges Smiley. ”
At the end of the novel, Smiley gently comments on the long battles he experienced on the eve of the end of the Cold War, but readers may find it nonsense—Smiley doesn't really know what he's doing for. He would not tell us, nor would he consider losing faith in his subordinates, such as Kirum and others. For Smiley and other great mysterious characters, less is more. John Le Carré left us room to fill in between words and sentences, and I love that.
(Translator: Wei Yanhua)
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