This week, our literary critic embarks on John Le Carre’s ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ (1974) and points out why this thriller, this cloak-and-dagger novel received such critical acclaim. The protagonist - ageing spy, George Smiley - is so vividly delineated that you know and feel that not all his tasks are glamorous. Many are mundane. The novel’s atmosphere and mood is palpable.  A TV mini-series was made of this novel in 1979, with none other than Sir Alec Guinness.

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Tags:  50 books in 50 weeks,  spy novel,  thriller,  british,  intelligence agency