The Looking Glass War

by John le Carre
Category: "Fiction - Mystery"
Pages:271
Year of Publication:1965
Date Added:09/17/2008
Date Read:01/05/2009
Notes:Number four

During the war, the Department ran agents into Europe, but that was a long time ago. Now they've decided to run another one. They drag up Fred Leiser, a German-speaking Pole who works as a mechanic in England. They give him a couple weeks of training and send him over the border to scout a rocket site. Things go wrong immediately — he has to kill a German soldier. Then he messes up his first transmission. The government sends Smiley to inform the Department men that their agent is compromised and the mission is over.
My Rating: 7

Reviews for The Looking Glass War

Review - Looking Glass War, The

Slow-moving at first, but the ending is compelling. Le Carre was pointing out the inefficiency of spycraft, and I could really feel the ineptness of the mission, the insecurity of the agent, the ease of discounting life.

Reviewed by Roger on 2009-01-05 09:53:32

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