Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

so, very, many, commas–and asides

There are things I adore about this novel–George Smiley in particular, but also the jargon, the focus on intricacy over action, and the interwoven plot. I mean, it basically defined my all time favorite genre of intricate espionage novels

And there are things I hate about this book. People always complain about the convoluted plot and the abundance of characters, but I had no issue at all with that (if anything I found it a bit too straight foward for the genre). What I can't deal with is le Carre's convoluted sentences and the abundance of commas. I couldn't focus on the plot because I was too busy rearranging his sentences in my head

I think I finally understand the plot! It took many viewings of the BBC mini-series, a couple of the 2011 movie, and a slow read of the book; comparing it to the 2 shows to understand this!

Although I can't identify with any of the actors in the mini-series I think I had to see this plot visually and it had the plot I could understand better. Of the entire book I surprised myself by enjoying the last couple chapters and I realized it was because I finally had the 1st person point of view. I like being able to see how someone thinks; I hate intentionally missing plot points and unexplained actions.

I will take ownership of my star rating as a personal failing - I read the first half of the novel in too many, too distanced spurts, and it took me recommitting to the read to feel the pace of the plot and keep the characters straight. I will say that I still have trouble imagining this as a movie (although perhaps I shouldn't doubt Gary Oldman's acting prowess) because it is mostly talking and psychological intrigue as opposed to action. It's great talking and psychological intrigue, though. Overall, it strikes me as an American reader as pleasingly British, and George Smiley is as lovable as an unglamorous-but-brilliant intelligence officer as one could ask for.