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Jason's Reviews > Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (George Smiley, #5; Karla Trilogy, #1)
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A few months ago a stylish looking British adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was released in theaters and I was intrigued. But I knew better. Movies are for smart people. If I had to constantly nudge my wife during to ask questions like, “so who is that guy again?� and “wait, is she the same one from before?� then I had to admit that seeing this movie would only serve to make me feel very confused and intellectually inadequate. I do better with books. Books explain things. Books are for people who need a little, uh, help in the hand-holding department. So like any other self-respecting moron, I decided to read the book instead (or at least, before seeing the movie)—that way I could have everything explained to me nice, nice.
But I was duped.
When my friend asked me to go with him to see Tinker Tailor, I told him it was not possible. I explained my reasoning while he nodded agreeably, accepting my oddities without judgment. But then he said, “I think you’ll find this to be an exception to your rule. In this particular case, you’re going to want to have seen this movie before reading the book. Trust me.� What. A Freaking. Liar.
As soon as those last two words were uttered, warning bells should have gone off in my head. But I took him at his word and went to see a movie with the most convoluted plot I’d ever tried to absorb. 120 minutes later I had a raging migraine.
I now understood the lengths to which someone would go in order to have a companion at the movies. I suppose I can’t begrudge a man that small favor, and I was not entirely the worse for wear�800 mg of ibuprofen and a good night’s sleep restored my faculties wonderfully. And that’s when I decided to read the book.
John le Carré’s novel retains all the plot complexity of the movie and then some, but it is delivered in such a way that is digestible. Even though I knew the fate of Colin Firth’s character, my pulse still raced at the novel’s climax. The author opens up a world of secrets, lies, espionage, and scandal that are somewhat missing from my everyday life, but seem to be more or less commonplace in a Europe engulfed in the Cold War. Mistrust and paranoia run as naturally as snowfall in New England. I am generally very glad to have read this book despite having done so after seeing the movie.
But I was duped.
When my friend asked me to go with him to see Tinker Tailor, I told him it was not possible. I explained my reasoning while he nodded agreeably, accepting my oddities without judgment. But then he said, “I think you’ll find this to be an exception to your rule. In this particular case, you’re going to want to have seen this movie before reading the book. Trust me.� What. A Freaking. Liar.
As soon as those last two words were uttered, warning bells should have gone off in my head. But I took him at his word and went to see a movie with the most convoluted plot I’d ever tried to absorb. 120 minutes later I had a raging migraine.
I now understood the lengths to which someone would go in order to have a companion at the movies. I suppose I can’t begrudge a man that small favor, and I was not entirely the worse for wear�800 mg of ibuprofen and a good night’s sleep restored my faculties wonderfully. And that’s when I decided to read the book.
John le Carré’s novel retains all the plot complexity of the movie and then some, but it is delivered in such a way that is digestible. Even though I knew the fate of Colin Firth’s character, my pulse still raced at the novel’s climax. The author opens up a world of secrets, lies, espionage, and scandal that are somewhat missing from my everyday life, but seem to be more or less commonplace in a Europe engulfed in the Cold War. Mistrust and paranoia run as naturally as snowfall in New England. I am generally very glad to have read this book despite having done so after seeing the movie.
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Reading Progress
January 25, 2012
– Shelved
January 28, 2012
–
40.0%
"As Smiley retraced path after path into his own past, there was no longer any difference between the two: forwards or backwards, it was the same journey and its destination lay ahead of him."
Started Reading
January 31, 2012
–
Finished Reading
April 7, 2012
– Shelved as:
for-kindle
September 2, 2012
– Shelved as:
2012
September 2, 2012
– Shelved as:
reviewed
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Francesca
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Feb 01, 2012 07:34PM
Best. Review. Ever!
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This is an awesome review! Thanks for it. I've been wanting to see TTSS the movie (I'm a huge fan of Benedict Cumberbatch and I learned he plays Peter Guillam) but decided I want to read the book first, because too many movies are based on books, and I feel like I'm being lazy by seeing a movie without reading its book, and movie adaptations can get confusing to someone who hasn't read the book, so I checked TTSS out from the library today. It sounds like I'll be glad I did.
I think you'll definitely enjoy the movie more once you've read the book and understand how the characters are involved in the mystery. I liked le Carré's dry style, too. Also, Cumberbatch was great in the movie (also, check out the British series "Sherlock"!), but Gary Oldman stole the show!
I have to agree with Brianna and Francesca! Superb review and now anxious to read this! Thank you so much for this wonderful, informative review!
hahaahah but the movie had some wonderful scenes in it! but - yeah - a little confusing...
Great review. Thanks.
Ha nice, I'll continue to hold off the film until I read this. Anything with Gary Oldman is usually good though, so I should probably get on this book.
Gary Oldman is aaaawesome in this. But yeah, I think you'll totally get more out of this movie if you read the book first. Don't listen to my jerkoff friend. :)
I just watched the movie and am very confused and my head is spinning. Your review gives me hope that the book will fill me in on everything I didn't quite absorb in the film. I can't wait to read it now!
The book will clear the whole plot right up. I think it will make you reassess the film in a better light, too.
IMHO, Colin Firth is a terrible Bill Haydon. They take a great character and a great actor and totally mismatch them. Tragic.I liked the movie when I first saw it, but having read the book and seen the BBC miniseries, I feel the movie totally misses the point.
Aw, I don't think it missed the point. But it's hard, probably, to cram all those layers of intricacy into a 2-hour block of live action. That's probably why you liked the BBC series better (I haven't seen it but I've heard it's excellent). That said, I think the movie succeeded in what I thought was its goal, which was to produce a smart, sexy adaptation of this. It was thick, but it was fun.
Honestly, guys, 3 or 4 of you have delivered spoilers in review and comments. Think of those that haven't read / seen, please.
I just read through the entire review and all 13 comments and I still have no idea what you're talking about.
I really enjoyed the recent movie adaptation they made out of it, despite not reading the book first. The novel holds the status of classic espionage fiction and it's been on my radar for a while. Great review!
I think you'd really like this, Maciek.
I'm sure I will. Thanks, Jason. Have you read any other of LeCarre's Smiley novels? I've read The Spy Who Came in From the Cold which features him as a passing character.
Nope. This is the only le Carré I've read so far.
I have heard so much about him that I decided to explore his work. This will be the next one of his that I'll read!
Huh. I actually found myself rather thankful that I'd seen the movie before reading this, as I think I would have found the book fairly difficult to follow had I not known the story beforehand. In either medium, it's a pretty dense plot, but I didn't have too much trouble following the film. I feel Le Carré's prose, however, can tend to be a bit ambiguous at times. Also, whenever the novel went into more depth than the film, I started to get lost in the details.
See, I'm the opposite. I rely on the book to spell it out for me. If the plot is dense (which this definitely is), I tend to get lost in its film-version form more more so than in its novel form. And it was also the case for me here; I had a much easier time following the book. I'm glad you liked it, though.
MAJOR SPOILERS!!!Here's a passage that I think illustrates my point:
The night had its own madness after that; events ran too quickly for him to fasten on them singly. Not till days afterwards did he realise that the figure, or the shadow of it, had struck a chord of familiarity in his memory. Even then, for some time, he could not place it. Then one early morning, waking abruptly, he had it clear in his mind: a barking, military voice, a gentleness of manner heavily concealed, a squash racket jammed behind the safe of his room in Brixton, which brought tears to the eyes of his unemotional secretary.
Okay, so I think this is foreshadowing that Guillam is going to deduce that Prideaux was the one who assassinated Haydon, but this paragraph is so damn vague that, even after having read the whole thing, I can't say for certain. As it is, it's only heavily implied that Prideaux is the one who shoots Haydon, and if the movie hadn't explicitly spelled it out for me, I'd probably only consider myself to be 75% sure about that.
Oh wow, dude, that is so awesome that you posted all this. Unfortunately I am drunk. So lemme revisit this tomorrow; I'll look it up on my Kindle or whatever and get back to you.
Man, Jason, you waste no time with your Friday night revels. Now, go write a drunk book review!
Jason wrote: "Oh wow, dude, that is so awesome that you posted all this. Unfortunately I am drunk. So lemme revisit this tomorrow; I'll look it up on my Kindle or whatever and get back to you."Haha! For reference, that was the last paragraph of chapter 34.
Okay, so Matt, I just re-read the whole of Chapter 34, actually, which really did a good job refreshing my memory. It's probably the most revealing chapter in the book, as it reconciles Smiley's suspicions with Tobey's limited knowledge (suspicions that Merlin's information is false and that Polyakov was actually planted by Karla to make it easier for 'Gerald' to supply real information to him under the guise of being a source for Witchcraft material).None of this I deduced by watching the film, by the way, although that might speak to me being obtuse when it comes to grasping film plots (which I am). I understood the complex interconnectivity of espionage a lot better by reading the book.
That said, your post above is essentially Guillam seeing Jim Prideaux in the street, even though he doesn't recognize him and only realizes who it is much later. I do think this is a huge hint as to who kills Bill Haydon, but I also think the film version made certain choices that the book didn't make (which is not the same thing as saying the movie is easier to understand). I think the film chooses to have Prideaux kill Haydon, whereas the book has Haydon killed in secrecy and only alludes to the fact that Prideaux might have been the murderer (although I still think it's a pretty strong allusion), just as it only alludes to a potential gay relationship between them.
A gay relationship that would also explain the murder, by the way, as Prideaux would have taken Haydon's betrayal of him much more personally than he would have otherwise.
Wow thanks for this. I have been putting off watching the movie until I've read the book. Told my friend about this. She said that was a good decision since she found the movie a tad confusing, and she's one smart cookie! So now that I'm done with the book, I'm so looking forward to watching the movie. Cheers!
You'll love it, I bet. Have fun!
There's also TV series starring Alec Guinness from 1979. I would recommend trying that after you've read the novel
Hahaha! Great review!
I saw the BBC adaptation of the book, done as a miniseries. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Alec Guinness played George Smiley to a "T". The series is on you tube if anyone is interested.
Absolutely loved your review. People will say anything to get you to tag along with them to the movies. BOOKS OVER MOVIES ANY DAY.
Ha, I enjoyed reading this review because I have seen this movie but I pretty much fell asleep and don't remember any scenes other than the first one. I'm going to give it a second chance but plan on reading the book first. I can totally relate to needing the "hand holding" of books. Whenever I read a book and then see the movie, I always feel I would be lost in certain scenes if I hadn't read the book beforehand!
I went to see the movie... I didn't understand anything!So I'll follow your example and try the book
The original TV series with Alec Guinness as George Smiley is a masterpiece. This is, as far as I am concerned, the only film of the story worth watching.
Your review is gold. GOLD.
The first Le Carre' I ever read, Murray, and still think the best. Le Carre' is a lot like Raymond Chandler: Who cares about the plot? It's the prose and the puzzle that count.
"Somewhat missing from my every day life"You are so funny
