Magnus Pym, a British spy assigned to an important post in Vienna, has disappeared. After he gets a call that his father has died, he leaves for the funeral in London, but he doesn't return when expected. His wife is worried but his fellow agents are even more concerned and mount a search for him. Being the gifted spy that he is, Pym easily eludes them for the majority of the book.
A Perfect Spy by John le Carré revolves around Magnus Pym's relationship with his father, Rick, a con man who uses everyone in his life to achieve his own goals. Pym's mother died when he was young, so Rick has been the major influence in his life.
Pym's wife and son also feature prominently, as do various people in the espionage and diplomatic community who want him located as soon as possible. Le Carré keeps the reader guessing throughout. Where has Pym disappeared to and why? My sympathies were with the young Magnus, mostly ignored by his father but occasionally useful to him, and with Mary and Tom, his wife and son.
The tale is told in alternating chapters. One chapter is Magnus writing the story of his life for his son, the next puts the focus on a family member or a colleague who is attempting to track him down. More than one reviewer talked about being initially put off by this structure, but this is exactly the type of book I love. And the alternating chapters serve a purpose. The story Magnus tells us is complex and illuminating but can also be a bit overwhelming; the switch to the pursuit of the missing spy gives a needed change of pace.
Some reviewers say that A Perfect Spy is not espionage fiction so much as it is the story of a man's life (and his relationship with his father). However, there is plenty of spycraft going on in this book, enough to keep me happy.
This story is mostly autobiographical. John le Carré's mother died when he was very young and his father was a con man who spent some time in prison.
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Publisher: Bantam, 1987. Orig. pub. 1986.
Length: 517 pages
Format: Paperback
Setting: UK, Vienna
Genre: Espionage fiction
Source: A gift.
20 comments:
I have this one. I have to be in the mood to read this writer. I'm curious to see how I like the structure of the story as it's not something I like either. But then I hate epistolary novels but loved Bram Stoker's Dracula. Go figure. --Keishon
I admit, Tracy, this is one I've not (yet) read. Still, I really like John le Carré's writing, and I can see how you'd be drawn in, even though the book is a long one. Interesting how elements of his own story are woven into the story...
The length kinds of puts me off a bit, I kind of think I could read three other books in the same time span it would take for this one. You do make it sound good though and it's lurking in a tub somewhere.
He's just had a memoir published over here - THE PIGEON TUNNEL. I wonder if it covers any of the same ground?
I do think this is a really major book in the le Carre canon - it is certainly the most autobiographical (the father figure is acknowledged as being very close to the author's) and I love how it often reads like TINKER TAILOR but from the point of view of the mole!
The writing was at times confusing for me, Keishon, because Pym refers to himself sometimes in third person, sometimes in 1st person. But the subject matter was perfect for me and I like stories with multiple viewpoints. So it worked for me.
I always figure I can give up on a very long book if I am not enjoying it, Tim, but with le Carre I cannot imagine that happening to me.
I do like stories about family dynamics, Margot. And it explains why le Carre wrote so well about this type of relationship.
I thought this title looked familiar! ;) Glad you enjoyed it, Tracy.
Col, now that I have gotten into reading books by le Carre, the length does not bother me so much for his novels. I know I will enjoy the writing and not get bored in the middle. The Honourable Schoolboy was about the same length and I did feel it slowed down at places, but not this one.
Forgot to say about THE PIGEON TUNNEL, Col. I just saw a review of that and it appears it does. I will definitely be reading it eventually.
I never thought of that, Sergio. A very good point, TINKER TAILOR looked at differently.
I did, Mathew. Many, many thanks to you for sending it to me. It is definitely a novel I will reread, even though it is so long. But I may try to find a copy with larger print next time.
Tracy, I plan to read this book someday, soon. I think le Carré would be readable in any length. You don't notice the size of his books as you read.
Exactly. I agree, Prashant. I bought a lot of books by le Carre at the book sale because now that I have read several I am willing to try anything by him.
This is on my list - I've read a lot of John le Carre, but never rush to the next one. But with yours and other's reviews, Perfect Spy does sound like a must-read.
The next le Carre novel I will read will be Smiley's People, Moira. Then I will move on to another non-Smiley book, maybe A Small Town in Germany. I may have read some of his books back in my younger days, but reading them now I note no familiarity, so not sure anymore. But it is great getting to them now.
I love LeCarre, but have to say that I have read this book 3 times...I keep hoping that I will find the passages in which he writes about his father more interesting, but I find the father (both in his real life and fictional life) to be a very odious and uninteresting character. Magnus is so intriguing and the tension in trying to find out why and where he went, that for me having to spend time poring over the detritus from his childhood was very boring. Perhaps because I have read so many of his books, and attendant bios and his autobiography, the father stories have grown tediously familiar and old - but LeCarre's books, the subject matter and the characters are so finely drawn that I wish he could bury the ghost of his father and I would have preferred to spend far less time with him and more time with Magnus, Mary and his colleagues in their search for him. It is an object lesson in the type of damage a manipulative sociopath can inflict on a child or a spouse. To me, the father is a combination of Fagan and P.T. Barnum in a nice suit and I just don't want to be in his company so his antics leave me cold and bored. But you can scan those chapters and still thoroughly enjoy this book because those chapters on his father really do not lead you to the core of the story - but they do illuminate the damage he did to the soul of Magnus.
I am sure I will reread this book, but I still have not read many other of his books so it may be a while. I agree that reading about the father is less interesting than the rest of the story, but it is such a good book.
I’m struggling- it is so disjointed. And the names keep switching, along with the time line. Not an easy or for me particularly interesting read. On page 274 of 463. Wish I never started!
I am sorry you are not enjoying this book. It is very long.
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