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Summary: If Camus Had Written Spy Novels ...
Review: *The Spy Who Came In From The Cold* is a bitter, disturbing Cold War tale in which a depressed, aging spy who thinks he has seen everything is given a last assignemnt: enter the gray recesses of the East Germany as a defector. Little does he know that his fake defection is only a small part of a intricate drama of betrayal so inhuman that it chills even his jaded soul.
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Summary: Enthralling is too mild and modest a word...
Review: This is not only one of the best spy novels ever written, it's one of the best novels ever written, period. I just finished it. Fantastic. So good, I'm going to read it again soon, perhaps after "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." You'll love this book for all the right reasons. You'll not find a better plot, nor will you find characters more loathesome and lovable. I wish I could give it six stars. 'Nuff said.
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Summary: A Must
Review: It's a very interesting book an you can't stop reading it. The central figure is Leamas, a secret agent. After he lost all his agents in East Germany he got a new job to do- he became a defector. The reader too can't trust all the persons and till the end you don't know on which side the agents are. When you read a spy story for the first time, it's a bit complicated. I can really recommend this book
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Summary: Graham Greene and I Both Liked It
Review: Graham Greene called this "the finest spy story ever written" (according to the Amazon review) or "the best spy story I have ever read" (according to the back cover of my edition), and certainly a recommendation from Graham Greene is a lot more powerful than a recommendation from me, but I would differ from the estimable Mr. Greene in saying that this is not a _spy_ story. I hate spy stories. I loved this book but I hate spy stories. It should be called The _Man_ Who Came In From The Cold, or tried to, as we all do in one way or another. And it will haunt you...
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, though overrated
Review: Now, I know this is supposed to be THE definitive spy novel. Yes, the plot was interesting, and it kept my attention throughout the story . . . yet, it does have definitive flaws also. But let's go over the virtues first: tight plotting, no-nonsense prose, well-drawn characters (the men, at least), and some clever, though not altogether unexpected, twists. So, overall, the novel is above average. Yet . . . the dialogue is lame and unbelievable. Witness the exchange between Leamus and Liz in the escape car: people just don't talk like that. Likewise, Liz's character is flat: she's a bedazzled damsel in distress, befuddled one moment, weeping the next, pathetic throughout. Another clumsy area is the stereotypical communist characters in the novel, the ones sprouting "comrade" and "the Party" in every other sentence as if they'd popped out of a Hollywood cold war propaganda reel. Check out the exchange between Liz and the Wardress, and you'll get the idea. So, overall, a good solid novel. But please, don't make this out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread cause it ain't. There are novels much better, like The Day of the Jackal.
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Summary: This is the best Spy novel I have ever read
Review: This is the best of the best when it comes to John Le Carre. I am a long time fan of Le Carre and this book is the cream of the crop from his selection. I read this along with David Lehman's reissue of "The Perfect Murder: A Study in Detection" and found the two books perfect companions for anyone who loves sleuthing the classic spy/detective novel.
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Summary: Probaly the best spy story ever written!
Review: And I mean it, I'm a spy buff and have read a lot of them, ranging from the best to the worst and this is amongst the best! It's a story about a British spy runner, Alec Leamas, who takes care of all the defectors from the other side of the Berlin Wall but when his agents start getting found out and killed one by one(by the head of the Abteilung, Fiedler) his boss sends him to the other side of the Wall to play a disgraced spy who wants to defect but who's real motive is to cause havoc in the Abteilung! From that moment begins the greatest quest for the truth in spy fiction history! Le Carre is a true master of suspense, take my word for it, you won't even get till the ending! Deserves 5 stars!
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Summary: Bitter.
Review: But I loved the whole damn thing.
Rating:
Summary: 5 blown agents for Cold War Classic
Review: If one is to read only one spy story and certainly only one Cold War novel, that story is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. LeCarre established himself with this one novel as not only a popular writer but also one of the best novelists of the second half of the 20th century. In LeCarre's spy world, secret weapons and glamorous action are not present. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is full of twists, turns and betrayal. It presents seamy people living seamy lives without ideals, just playing a deadly game to win at all costs. Spying is like a giant chess game in which the players can very quickly become the pieces and become discarded when they have lost their value. The novel features Alec Leamus, a middle aged spy who wants to come in from the cold. That is to say he wants to stop spying. He is persuaded to accept one more mission to discredit the East German who has been catching all his agents.. He must pretend to sink into alcoholism and eventually defect. What follows are the twists, turns and betrayal that are stock LeCarre. The presence of George Smiley is felt throughout much of the novel. The protagonist of Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality is present in very few scenes although his spectre follows the action. However, he is a Kafkaesque figure. What is Smiley doing? Why is it important? All is ultimately revealed or is it? In subsequent Smiley novels, the reader gets to see Smiley the player. In The Spy Who Came in From the Cold we get to see Smiley from the viewpoint of one of the pieces. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold works on one level as a straight spy story, perhaps the best ever written and there is more depth. The "cold" referred to is not only a metaphor for the discomfort one feels when one is isolated from home and security it is also a metaphor for the Cold War. Leamus is involved in a nasty, dirty business from which he cannot easily withdraw. Essentially he represents the west, not wanting to engage in the business, not sure why it is involved and who benefits but unable to withdraw. Ultimately, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold answers all the questions but in doing so creates far more unanswered questions. It is a thought-provoking masterpiece and one of the great novels of the 20th century.
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Summary: very fine pre-Smiley LeCarre
Review: ....and a stunning glimpse of the espionage arena and what it (as metaphor of the world itself) can do to those who dare to love...
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