Rating: 
Summary: A Classic
Review: I have read most of LeCarre's works and find that his recent output cannot come close to the magnificent Smiley trilogy, of which, for me, TTSS is the masterpiece. Character, atmosphere, and mood seem pitch perfect. Calling it a "spy novel" is as beside the point as calling Huckleberry Finn a novel about a boy and a river. The test of a great book is whether you look forward to re-reading it, at the expense of reading something new. I look forward to re-reading TTSS every few years and continue to marvel at the depth of psychological insight and artful construction. Lovers of the book, of course, will also want to own the magnificent DVD, which captures one of the finest productions ever mounted for television.
Rating: 
Summary: What's With All The 5-Star Reviews on This Book?
Review: I just finished this book and feel that I need to warn others.Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy just never interested me at all, not one page. Sometimes a book can be bad and still have some good parts that reward you occasionally. Not this book. I dreaded reading it and almost gave up and threw it away several times. However, I am not one to quit reading a book once I start since there will always be the question as to what happened or did I give up right before it got good. It was strange to me that every time I picked this book up I could not rememeber what I had read before or what was going on. I would have to review back several pages and sometimes chapters. It was frustrating. I have decided, now that I have completed it, that the book was just so dull that while I was reading I was thinking about other things, like maybe much washing and ironing I needed to do. I was just reading words with my eyes glazing over and my mind elsewhere. I flat out was bored silly. Without question this was a long, long 369 pages. I am so glad it is over! Now I can get my sanity back and move on to something that is more worthly of my time. As always your helpful votes are appreciated so that I can get the fame and recognition that I so justly deserve.
Rating:
Summary: SMILEY AND LE CARRE-MASTERS BOTH
Review: I read my books or listen to the tape of this trilogy every couple of years. It's a pleasurable ritual. I look forward to the next time the instant I turn the final page of Smiley's People and the hairs on my forearms stand erect and the shiver starts at the base of my spine. DON'T omit The Hounorable Schoolboy. The gold seam is critical, and to fail to know Jerry Westerby is a great loss. The actions taken by George after the fall are some of the most intricate and subtle examples of foreshadowing in literature. To carry all the threads, from Oxford in the twenties through the ascendency of the Cousins, to the final, fateful humanity of Karla, one must not skip a paragraph. The video referred to I remember as delightful to watch. I saw it on PBS in the 80's and failed to tape it and have been trying to locate a copy. I discovered the fact that TTSS was televised in 1979 and Smiley's People was televised in 1982. I intend to continue to search for the source of the videotape and will write again if I find it. If anyone else has a lead, please let me know.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty darn good.
Review: I tried reading this book shortly after college in 1994 & it didn't capture my attention then. I reread it this year & liked it much better. I did find myself drifting a bit during certain passages...Le Carre is somewhat long-winded at points. The book does contain some funny British humor. The story itself isn't all that exciting but it is a good mystery...we work along with Smiley to determine who the mole is. Smiley is an interesting character...in addition to his spy work we also go through the pain of his wife deserting him for another man. I'll try reading some other Le Carre stuff...this wasn't bad at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, but not his best
Review: I write this as a complete Carre enthusiast. His works are the top of literature, and yes, with Greene gone, he is the best in Britain. TTSS is alittle hard to get into, but it certainly grabs you by eyeballs once you meet Prideaux (that would be page...uh, 1?). I started reading it knowing who was the mole (The Secret Pilgrim is a spoiler), but that made it more enjoyable in the how-did-he-do-it sense. But if you want to get to know JLC, don't start here. Start with easier reading, such as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, A Small Town In Germany, or Our Game, or my all-time favourite The Night Manager. Got it? Good. Spying is Waiting. /Alec Corday
Rating:
Summary: Le Carré can't be beat!
Review: I'm a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole's machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It's the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn't a James Bond yarn, either, as the "action" is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middleaged, and in secret agonies over his wife's habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.
Rating:
Summary: Le Carré can't be beat!
Review: I'm a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole's machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It's the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn't a James Bond yarn, either, as the "action" is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middleaged, and in secret agonies over his wife's habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.
Rating:
Summary: More than a spy novel!
Review: I've read this book at least a dozen times, along with the other two in the Quest for Karla trilogy, and it bothers me to know there are those who've read LeCarre and still think of Cold War writers like Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum. This can only happen when readers are inattentive or lacking perception. Tinker, Tailor could be summarized as a classic British whodunnit--and it's mighty enjoyable on that level-- and it is, on the surface, a spy procedural, a very good one, with obscure jargon any smart reader can decifer without help. I understand a German intelligence veteren criticized LeCarre's accuracy in depicting the spy world. Who cares? LeCarre creates the atmosphere of inertial bureaucracy perfectly. And the story here isn't an action/adventure, it's a study of betrayal and loyalty. And this with some of the funniest silly twit dialog I've ever read. (You'll never find a Roddy Martindale in Tom Clancy.) Graham Greene is gone now, is it reasonable to consider John LeCarre the best English novelist now living?
Rating:
Summary: The best ever, no argument
Review: I?m a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole?s machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It?s the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn?t a James Bond yarn, either, as the ?action? is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middle-aged, and in secret agonies over his wife?s habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.
Rating:
Summary: The best ever, no argument
Review: I?m a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole?s machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It?s the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn?t a James Bond yarn, either, as the ?action? is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middle-aged, and in secret agonies over his wife?s habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.
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