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"Life is duty... It’s just a question of establishing which creditor is asking loudest. Life is paying. Life is seeing people right if it kills you."

I’ve been reading John le Carré’s espionage novels like I would that little bag of my favorite dark chocolates that I hide in the bottom drawer of my refrigerator. Not one right after the other, because honestly, there are other treats I like to indulge in as well. There are the Reese’s peanut butter cups and the Trader Joe’s roasted pistachio toffee (dark chocolate as well, naturally.) But I like to make a good thing last, savor it a while, before dipping my hand back into the bag for another best of the best. In terms of books, rather than chocolate, I have to say that I don’t recall reading an author’s work in such relatively quick succession as I have since childhood when I devoured one mystery novel after another. Despite the fact I won’t share my favorite stash of candy, I have been more than happy to share the le Carré journey with a fabulous little group of women that have the same joy in reading these over the past year or more. The adventure has been that much more rewarding as a result.

It has always been a debate rather nature versus nurture shapes us more as a person. In the case of Magnus Pym, I think it would be safe to say that both contributed a significant piece. This is not so much an espionage thriller, though it is that too, but a reflection on a man’s life and how he was shaped for the role he plays. Magnus has been dubbed the perfect spy. His childhood was one of deceit and lies, yet he yearned for love and always aimed to please. He could just as easily have been the perfect actor. He managed to create and portray the character he felt each person wanted him to be.

"Magnus is a great imitator, even when he doesn’t know it. Really I sometimes think he is entirely put together from bits of other people, poor fellow."

My heart broke for the young Magnus Pym. The elder Pym was more of an enigma to me. By book’s end, I felt little sympathy for him any longer. He was groomed from an early age to work in the spy business. He was good at it. His talents did not go unnoticed. I believe his fate was sealed in one moment in time.

"In a single Christmas, God had dished him up two saints. The one was on the run and couldn’t walk, the other was a handsome English warlord who served sherry on Boxing Day and had never had a doubt in his life. Both admired him, both loved his jokes and his voices, both were clamouring to occupy the empty spaces of his heart. In return he was giving to each man the character he seemed to be in search of."

If you’ve ever read le Carré, you’ll know that his books are not bursting with action. The spy world is not the glamorous, fast-paced one that we see depicted in most films. Rather, what draws me to his work is the fine writing, the sharp analyses of the inner workings of the agent’s mind, and the intricate dynamics between the various characters. Yes, some action-filled scenes are appreciated. In A Perfect Spy, much of what happens is relayed to the reader after the fact. These are the musings of a hunted man on the run as he writes his own book about his past and what drove him to do the things he did. As a result, I felt a bit more distanced from the man himself. Much like I would feel being stuck in the back row of the theater. I understand what is going on, but I don’t feel like a part of the drama myself. Of course, I’m unfairly comparing this one to my last le Carré, The Little Drummer Girl, which so completely absorbed me that I could not let it go for a number of weeks after finishing. The brilliant prose is still here, but the emotional pull was wanting. Don’t get me wrong though, even one of my least favorites by this best-loved author still ranks higher than most of what is out there right now!

"Love is whatever you can still betray... Betrayal can only happen if you love."