Frederick Forsyth / The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

 

John le Carré

Frederick Forsyth

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by Johnnle Carré (1963)

Although he wrote many fine novels telling great stories, my thoughts always stray back to le Carré’s breakthrough, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. It was not his first but his third, the first two having made no mark until they were relaunched later. But The Spy broke the mould. Prior to that, espionage was about people like W Somerset Maugham’s Ashenden and other gentlemen. Then came Alec Leamas, crumpled, rumpled, malodorous, immoral. A deceiver in a world of deceivers. And the brilliant plot – using a foolish, gullible patsy to destroy an East German enemy by subterfuge. It briefly introduced the subtle, devious George Smiley, who will later be revealed as the infinitely devious controller. The twists and turns of the East German court case are riveting and the double – or is it triple? – sting in the tale masterly. It established le Carré for all time as the master spy-novelist.

Frederick Forsyth: ‘The sting in the tale is masterly.’ Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

THE GUARDIAN

Saturday 9 October 2021