The Spy Who Never Got Too Old

Just finished le Carre's latest and a fine stroll down the Cold War memory lane it was.

Peter Guillam is hauled out of retirement by newgen British intelligence to answer awkward questions about an operation gone awry when the Berlin Wall was still going up. An operation run by his mentor, Smiley, who is currently 'unavailable'. As the plot thickens we realize it is the back story to 'The Spy who came in from the Cold' (in fact, if le Carre errs, it is in assuming the reader still remembers the details of his 1963 masterpiece).

Dramatis personae include such Circus regulars as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, Bill Haydon, Toby Esterhase and a young Connie Sachs.

Rich in tradecraft and Iron Curtain atmosphere, the book has its flaws - not the best plotted spy story - but le Carre's espioprose is as strong as ever (he's 86, I believe). And, as always, his characters are weighed in the scales of moral dilemma and the human cost is examined as closely as the the payoff from the operation.