He's 72 years old and has been writing for nearly five decades. His books have defined the spy novel genre, exploring the nuances of the Cold War. George Smiley may be the most memorable character in the genre. In the hands of John LeCarre, the spy novel has often risen to the level of fine literature. Absolute Friends reveals contemporary world politics up close; the novel was finished in June 2003.
If you believe that the United States did the right thing in invading Iraq and generally support the war policies of President George Bush, you may feel that you are being attacked by the polemic in the novel. LeCarre clearly disapproves of America's incursions into Iraq and Britain's support of this policy.
That having been said, you must be willing to bring a "willing suspension of disbelief" and believe in the integrity of the plot and the characters who inhabit its world. Do so and you will find a compelling novel of intrigue. A novel consistent with LeCarre's greatest work in which the reader is never sure who the good guy is, who is telling the truth, who will live or die, who is loyal, who is arguing for the "right" side. Indeed, what is "right"?
If you believe that the United States did the right thing in invading Iraq and generally support the war policies of President George Bush, you may feel that you are being attacked by the polemic in the novel. LeCarre clearly disapproves of America's incursions into Iraq and Britain's support of this policy.
That having been said, you must be willing to bring a "willing suspension of disbelief" and believe in the integrity of the plot and the characters who inhabit its world. Do so and you will find a compelling novel of intrigue. A novel consistent with LeCarre's greatest work in which the reader is never sure who the good guy is, who is telling the truth, who will live or die, who is loyal, who is arguing for the "right" side. Indeed, what is "right"?
We meet Ted Mundy in the present time, an erstwhile retired double agent for the British secret service and now a tour guide at one of the castles of Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria: "On the day his destiny returned to claim him, Ted Mundy was sporting a bowler hat and balancing on a soapbox... It wasn't a classic bowler, more Laurel and Hardy than Savile Row." His old friend Sasha from the 60s reappears after another ten-year absence, and a nearly 200-page flashback begins. It ends with a bang.
Mundy's reconnection with Sasha "has its source not in the shires of England but in the accursed mountain ranges and ravines of the Hindu Kush that under three centuries of British colonial administration became the North-West Frontier Province." It is all captured here: colonialism and all that implies, set against natives living in what we in the West too often consider cultural and economic backwaters. At one point, Mundy tells a potential lover, "It's one thing to keep searching in life. It's another to have no firm ground under one's feet." This is true of the spy business. There seems to be no firm ground in the lives of these memorable characters. "In spying there's always a second version."
Mundy's reconnection with Sasha "has its source not in the shires of England but in the accursed mountain ranges and ravines of the Hindu Kush that under three centuries of British colonial administration became the North-West Frontier Province." It is all captured here: colonialism and all that implies, set against natives living in what we in the West too often consider cultural and economic backwaters. At one point, Mundy tells a potential lover, "It's one thing to keep searching in life. It's another to have no firm ground under one's feet." This is true of the spy business. There seems to be no firm ground in the lives of these memorable characters. "In spying there's always a second version."
Mundy One is a hero of Weimar, the Major's loyal only son, a cricket player. Mundy Two is an ex-Oxford leftist and Berlin rowdy, a failed writer. Mundy Three is "the silent spectator…made up of all the odd bits of his life…." Mundy Four works outside the box through his meetings with Sasha. Each Mundy is real in each separate milieu. Mundy is quintessentially English. He wants to belong, to be a part of something. He has failed with his wife and son, for example, but has achieved success with Zara and Mustafa, her son. LeCarre presents a protagonist who is every bit the equal of George Smiley in complexity.
Sasha became a spy because of his wrongly directed hatred toward his father, his hatred "of the malodorous and heartless bureaucracy that squeezed the very breath out of its citizenry in the name of democracy. Both Sasha and Mundy are searching for knowledge rather than power, and it is this search for knowledge that brings the two of them to the brink and pushes them over the edge in a stunning and ultimately appropriate conclusion.
Sasha became a spy because of his wrongly directed hatred toward his father, his hatred "of the malodorous and heartless bureaucracy that squeezed the very breath out of its citizenry in the name of democracy. Both Sasha and Mundy are searching for knowledge rather than power, and it is this search for knowledge that brings the two of them to the brink and pushes them over the edge in a stunning and ultimately appropriate conclusion.
Absolute Friends is a classic case study of the spy genre and business. LeCarre creates Mundy and Sasha as fully realized characters. He adds detail upon detail. I initially thought I was getting too much detail, but I soon realized that an extraordinary complex world and set of relationships was being created. A set of facts means one thing to those in once circle of friends and acquaintances. Those same facts are interpreted quite differently by another set of friends and acquaintances. The facts are the same, and they are equally true in each instance.
I wish I could tell you the ending because it is absolutely, perfectly appropriate. To have ended in any other fashion would have effectively denied the elaborate house of cards created by LeCarre.
The Cold War is long gone, but LeCarre perseveres. No, he shines with the glow of his best work. At his best - and he is here - the glow is a supernova. I recommend Absolute Friends absolutely without reservations.
I wish I could tell you the ending because it is absolutely, perfectly appropriate. To have ended in any other fashion would have effectively denied the elaborate house of cards created by LeCarre.
The Cold War is long gone, but LeCarre perseveres. No, he shines with the glow of his best work. At his best - and he is here - the glow is a supernova. I recommend Absolute Friends absolutely without reservations.
