John Le Carre is a masterful writer; he creates satisfyingly complex plots and  beautifully detailed characters. With prose that is elegant, muscular, sometimes moving and sometimes witty, he writes novels about espionage that manage to transcend their own genre.

Links to articles written by Le Carre:

• I was a secret even to myself; The Guardian, 13 Apr. 2013
• The madness of spies; The New Yorker, 29 Sept. 2008

Links to interviews with John Le Carre:

• Le Carre betrayed by ‘bad lot’ spy Kim Philby; by Jon Snow, Channel 4, 13 Sept. 2010.
• John le Carre, The Art of Fiction No. 149; by George Plimpton, The Paris Review, Issue: Summer 1997 No. 143

Analyses of Le Carre’s writing:

• How to Show (Not Tell): A Writing Lesson From John Le Carre; by Mary Jaksch, Write to Done website.
• The spy who came in from the typhoon; by David Bordwell, Observations on Film Art website, 26 Mar. 2010

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world”.

“I am still making order out of chaos by reinvention.”

“A committee is an animal with four back legs.”

“Sometimes we do a thing in order to find out the reason for it. Sometimes our actions are questions not answers”

“I mean, I’m in the business of storytelling, not message making.”

“Most people like to read about intrigue and spies. I hope to provide a metaphor for the average reader’s daily life. Most of us live in a slightly conspiratorial relationship with our employer and perhaps with our marriage.”

“One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.” John le Carré via ‘Barley’ Scott Blair (The Russia House)

“Ideologies have no heart of their own. They’re the whores and angels of our striving selves.”

“The more identities a man has, the more they express the person they conceal”

“All men are born free. Just not for long”

 

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For information about why I am referring to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy please look here.