Silverview

Etter flere filmer er dette den min første LeCarré-bok. Mens filmene har vært elegante. reflekterende med en stille, dyp spenning, skjønte jeg på tross av at jeg forstod ordene og scenene veldig lite av hva som foregikk her, helt til slutten - som ikke var som et klimaks men som en plutselig innsikt som fikk meg til å tenke at dette var verd de timene jeg brukte på den. Livet som en fasade, som offer og som skuespill - mennesker som løkringer - lag på lag men hvor er kjernen? Jeg vil nok anbefale å ikke begynne å lese denne hvis du vil ha en smak av Le Carré. Til det er denne for annerledes - noe sønnen Nick også påpeker i etterordet. Dette er en annerledes Le Carre, muligens nærmere forfatteren selv, men et stykke unna fiksjonene hans.

Silverview by John LeCarre is another—the last, apparently—spy novel from the master of the genre. Completed by his son and published after his death, the novel focuses on a figure outside the Secret Service. He is a disillusioned former trader from London who has cashed in his former lifestyle and moved to a village where he has opened a bookshop. There he becomes acquainted with a mysterious figure, Edward, who claims to have known his father at school. The two begin a venture that is tangential to the bookshop to build a library of classics. For this purpose, Edward needs a dedicated laptop in the basement room where the library will be housed. (Uh-oh, red flag!). Meanwhile, it seems that Edward, who occasionally did work for the Secret Service, is married to a woman who was formerly high-up in the service who is now dying, but he also made contacts with the Muslim world while working in Bosnia during the war there. It's an engaging book, as all of LeCarre's have been. (I listened the excellent audiobook narration but also perused a hardback copy I borrowed from the library.)

I wanted to like this more than I did, but I think this ultimately wasn't my kind of book. I just couldn't get into it. I would've DNF if not for it being one I got from Book of the Month. Even so, I could only skim it. When reading the synopsis (and reading other reviews) it's exciting, but I found it too slow for my taste. Well written for sure, but slow. I'll possibly revisit it in the future because it's a great plot. 

In a sort of postscript, Nick Cornwell, le Carre's (David Cornwell's) son writes that his father had made him promise to finish any novel le Carre may have left unfinished. On le Carre's recent death, the son was puzzled that his father had left unpublished a manuscript that was essentially finished, barring minor editing, and which had been written several years prior.

Darwin8u calls this a novella, and at roughly 44-45K words, maybe that's the best description for it. I finished it in a few days while traveling, and as much as I liked it, I wished several of the characters and events of the back story had been much more fleshed out.

The language was fluid and fleet, but the lyricism and depth of his earlier books, like Smiley's People, was lacking. It was beautifully polished but I can't help but think that had he lived, le Carre would have added several layers of complexity, and made this a fuller treat. It is a good and drinkable wine, but not as complex as we have become accustomed to.

I am grateful for this last gift from this magical author whom I frankly adore. He set such a high bar for himself that I grieve that there will no longer be new le Carre books. Luckily, rereading his books is providing as intense a pleasure as reading them the first time around, and so his work will continue to keep me company.

You shall be sorely missed, Mr. Cornwell.