Scan barcode
A review by kaylielongley
The Looking Glass War by John le Carré
2.0
I’ve never read anything by Ian Fleming and have only examined exurbs of Arthur Conan Doyle. Though I love how both authors’ works have been translated to television and film, I can’t yet bring myself to read arguably the two best thriller authors in the world. I know I’ll dive in once I do, but commitment is holding me back. It’s shameful, I know. So when picking up another round of books from the little free libraries around my home, le Carre’s The Looking Glass War looked unpresumptuous, appearing as a standalone thriller with bright yellowed pages in a sea of romance paperbacks. I’ve never been exposed to le Carre before, so I didn’t know this was one of many books in a series (Why do covers never have the book’s place within a series anymore?). Perhaps consequently, I could not form connections with any of the characters, but I think the author intended to withhold information from readers, to keep his pages turning, and his readers guessing.
In The Looking Glass War, an intelligence agency of unknown history or location, nicknamed the Department, takes on one last case. All but one of its constituents are nearing retirement, and so this will be their final moment in the sun and young 30-something Avery’s rise to the occasion. They unearth details of a supposed transfer of Soviet nuclear missiles to Germany. Thus begins the plotting and planning, a game within a much larger game of nuclear war. Divided into sections, each catalog in gruesome detail the run of Taylor, a courier whose death moves the plot forward, Avery, and Leiser, a Polish fellow who once coded in the war and now the Department’s infiltrator. The plot is arguably exciting enough, a hodgepodge story of learning the ways of spy life, as Leiser befriends Avery, shoots/fights/codes/kills/retreats, and ultimately takes (and fails) his mission. Though the budding relationship between Leiser and Avery is compelling, as they represent old and new, every other character is stereotypical. Worse, the women play wife or secretary and no other role whatsoever. Le Carre’s bitter writing suggests the agency thinks their workers are composed of heroes, but they are in reality pawns, praised for their attempts at glory, but none can be saved. Leiser’s, as well at the entire Department’s, hubris of the old ways comes with a price. The final pages of condemnation of the bureaucracy ties the book together, but I still felt distant. This isn’t an idealistic Bond tale.
In The Looking Glass War, an intelligence agency of unknown history or location, nicknamed the Department, takes on one last case. All but one of its constituents are nearing retirement, and so this will be their final moment in the sun and young 30-something Avery’s rise to the occasion. They unearth details of a supposed transfer of Soviet nuclear missiles to Germany. Thus begins the plotting and planning, a game within a much larger game of nuclear war. Divided into sections, each catalog in gruesome detail the run of Taylor, a courier whose death moves the plot forward, Avery, and Leiser, a Polish fellow who once coded in the war and now the Department’s infiltrator. The plot is arguably exciting enough, a hodgepodge story of learning the ways of spy life, as Leiser befriends Avery, shoots/fights/codes/kills/retreats, and ultimately takes (and fails) his mission. Though the budding relationship between Leiser and Avery is compelling, as they represent old and new, every other character is stereotypical. Worse, the women play wife or secretary and no other role whatsoever. Le Carre’s bitter writing suggests the agency thinks their workers are composed of heroes, but they are in reality pawns, praised for their attempts at glory, but none can be saved. Leiser’s, as well at the entire Department’s, hubris of the old ways comes with a price. The final pages of condemnation of the bureaucracy ties the book together, but I still felt distant. This isn’t an idealistic Bond tale.