The Looking Glass War (Paperback) by John le Carre

from librorumamans

Rereading after fifty years this fourth of the Smiley series, I am struck by the quality of Le Carre's writing: the vivid creation of scene and mood, the deft characterization, the subtle manipulation of point of view. The scathing satire exposing the shoddiness of a service addicted to fantasies...

from Cecilturtle

Le Carré does a fantastic job of keeping a tension between love, play and game where political aspirations clash with friendships, war games with love and compassion. The final chapters are gripping as cynicism drips off the pages, and falsity, lies and indifference collide with loyalty, fear and...

from br77rino

Short, and one of Le Carre's better spy novels, though there is little action in it and Le Carre's intro says it was very poorly received. We instead meet a sister service to the Circus, one that is in danger of being dropped altogether, and so goes out on a limb to prove sinister bomb developmen...

from TheTwoDs

John Le Carre follows up The Spy Who Came In from the Cold with this more realistic take on the mundane, and inane, world of cold war espionage. The brief sparks of idealism occasionally present in the previous book is replaced here by an almost pervading cynicism as rival intelligence agencies c...

from DinadansFriend

This the Le Carre book that sets up the world of George Smiley's Circus. And I recall it as a "Business as usual" book, before Le Carre began to discuss the cost of the spy business, at which he was the master. One doesn't fully understand the following works without this home base book.