Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 1974 spy novel by British-Irish author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received critical acclaim for its complex social commentary—and, at the time, relevance, following the defection of Kim Philby. It has been adapted into both a television series and a film, and remains a staple of the spy fiction genre. [2] [3] a b Ascherson, Neal (11 September 2011). "The real-life spies of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". The Guardian . Retrieved 14 May 2018. Hoskin, Peter; Mason, Simon (23 October 2010). "Interview – Tomas Alfredson: outside the frame". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011 . Retrieved 23 March 2011. His masterpiece was 1974's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy — not merely the greatest spy novel ever written, but the source of a 1979 BBC adaptation that's the greatest spy show ever made. In anticipation of a new film version that's coming out in a few weeks — the story, you see, is irresistible — the series has just been re-released on DVD, along with its sequel, Smiley's People. Watching again, I found it every bit as gripping as the first three times I watched it. And what the devil, he demanded of this document are they doing in Immingham?Who ever had a love affair in Immingham, for goodness' sake? Where was Immingham?"

The British Secret Service, resembling a corporation that has suffered sagging profits, has reshuffled key players, ousted others, and in the process forced George Smiley into retirement. Smiley, in his twilight years, could have easily decided to take up gardening or researching an interesting point of history, but he has wife problems. Ann has left him, leaving him to cover her missing presence with little lies and subterfuge. Given his past he is quite good at it. He is somewhat surprised to discover how much he misses her given the problems she continues to create for him. He has spent a lifetime controlling his emotions, but she is quite good at making him suffer. He imagined that, like himself, Jim had had a great attachment that had failed him and that he longed to replace. But here Bill Roach's speculation met a dead end: he had no idea how adults loved each other." In fact, Nilpferd didn't miss the novel/film/TV series blog. This is it. And s/he's got it off to an excellent start. That's an entirely reasonable and well-balanced position to take on the subject – which makes it all the more fun to disagree. I didn't dislike the film, but it seemed the weakest of the three to me. All those carefully rendered 70s browns were too studied, the silences too significant. It wasn't a bad film. It just wasn't quite good enough. As TimHannigan wrote: a b Le Carré, John; Matthew Joseph Bruccoli; Judith Baughman (2004). Conversations with John le Carré. USA: University Press of Mississippi. pp.68–69. ISBN 1-57806-669-7. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was followed by The Honourable Schoolboy in 1977 and Smiley's People in 1979. The three novels together make up the " Karla Trilogy", named after Smiley's long-time opponent Karla, the head of Soviet foreign intelligence and the trilogy's overarching antagonist.I refuse to bequeath my life's work to a parade horse. I'm too vain to be flattered, too old to be ambitious, and I'm ugly as a crab. Percy's quite the other way and there are enough with men in Whitehall to prefer his sort to mine."

Duarte, M. Enois (20 March 2012). "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Blu-ray)". High-Def Digest . Retrieved 20 March 2012. The thing about Guinness's performance – again, for me– is that his Smiley is obviously a soulful person, and a competent person, and that sensation is just not the seeming cipher who triumphs – terrifically ambiguously – in the books."Small, podgy, and at best middle-aged, he was by appearance one of London’s meek who do not inherit the earth. His legs were short, his gait anything but agile, his dress costly, ill-fitting, and extremely wet." I believe it makes him more likeable that his dreams are as unlikely to come true as any we might dream ourselves. He sees into the hearts of other people, a deft listener who understands what is going on beneath the surface; but he is often blind to himself, and aren’t we all. Morris, Lauren (4 December 2021). "Tinker Tailor director hints at TV reboot for Smiley, doubts film sequel". Radio Times . Retrieved 25 February 2023.

Of course, there are the usual elements of a spy novel. The Russians are pitted against the Western world and, in this particular case, there is a mole within the Circus that is wreaking havoc on the entire system. Although he has been ousted from the service, George Smiley is called in to sort through the detritus and unravel the gordian knot, and the strands seem to run in all directions right up to the end. Ah, but there is so much more than that. The production reunited Alfredson with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema and editor Dino Jonsäter, with whom he had made his previous film Let the Right One In. [17] Post-production and music [ edit ] French, Phillip (17 September 2012). "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – review". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 February 2012. Impossible to think how anyone could live the life of one of John le Carre’s cold war spies and not be assaulted by doubt day and night. Still, they must all be entertaining just the right amount, because none of these characters is a bore. Nobody does spy thriller quite as well as John le Carre, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is John le Carre at his best. Travers, Peter (8 December 2011). "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 17 March 2012.

Retailers:

Note that "quietly," as the tension here is all cerebral, the violence and spectacle off-stage, and the stakes themselves, though no less dire than the fate of the world, are entirely ideological.