The Honourable Schoolboy

The follow up to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a different kind of novel with far more action, a humid East Asia setting, and a focus on the foreign correspondent industry of that era. Le Carré is such a brilliantly evocative writer I feel like I now know what it was like being a journalist stationed in Asia in the 70's.

Turns out I prefer my spy novels set under cold grey skies with the majority of the plot involving the protagonist visiting various government buildings and reading files, but I can appreciate this kind too.

Spoiler warning (though I'll try not to spoil it too much) for both this book and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

The ending of the novel felt off while reading it but in retrospect made more and more sense. It was just a shock realising Jerry Westerby was actually much pettier than I thought he was, even though the signs were there.

It's a tragically pointless ending caused by the confused pride of a man who is trying to be the hero, which (and this is a deep cut reference) I think makes it a rather brilliant subversion of the conclusion of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. The endings mirror each other in a lot of ways but where one characters journey ends with noble tragedy, Jerry's ending is unnecessary and stupid. It even undercuts the “damsel in distress” trope from the other book, Jerry thinks he has a damsel in distress but he's just projecting onto her what he wants to see.

I have no idea if that is an accurate assessment but since no one I know will ever read this book or this review I may as well say it here and move on.