I worked for MI6 in the Sixties during the great witch-hunts when the shared paranoia of the Cold War gripped the services.
I worked for MI6 in the Sixties during the great witch-hunts when the shared paranoia of the Cold War gripped the services.
Author: John le Carre
In every war zone that I've been in there has been a reality and then there has been the public perception of why the war was being fought. In every crisis the issues have been far more complex than the public has been allowed to know.
In every war zone that I've been in there has been a reality and then there has been the public perception of why the war was being fought. In every crisis the issues have been far more complex than the public has been allowed to know.
During the Cold War we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.
During the Cold War we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.
The Cold War was over long before it was officially declared dead.
The Cold War was over long before it was officially declared dead.
My definition of a decent society is one that first of all takes care of its losers and protects its weak.
My definition of a decent society is one that first of all takes care of its losers and protects its weak.
But I think the real tension lies in the relationship between what you might call the pursuer and his quarry whether it's the writer or the spy.
But I think the real tension lies in the relationship between what you might call the pursuer and his quarry whether it's the writer or the spy.
Until we have a better relationship between private performance and the public truth as was demonstrated with Watergate we as the public are absolutely right to remain suspicious contemptuous even of the secrecy and the misinformation which is the digest of our news.
Until we have a better relationship between private performance and the public truth as was demonstrated with Watergate we as the public are absolutely right to remain suspicious contemptuous even of the secrecy and the misinformation which is the digest of our news.
If there is one eternal truth of politics it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.
If there is one eternal truth of politics it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.
The Secret Intelligence Service I knew occupied dusky suites of little rooms opposite St James's Park Tube station in London.
The Secret Intelligence Service I knew occupied dusky suites of little rooms opposite St James's Park Tube station in London.
It's part of a writer's profession as it's part of a spy's profession to prey on the community to which he's attached to take away information – often in secret – and to translate that into intelligence for his masters whether it's his readership or his spy masters. And I think that both professions are perhaps rather lonely.
It's part of a writer's profession as it's part of a spy's profession to prey on the community to which he's attached to take away information – often in secret – and to translate that into intelligence for his masters whether it's his readership or his spy masters. And I think that both professions are perhaps rather lonely.
Novelists are not equipped to make a movie in my opinion. They make their own movie when they write: they're casting they're dressing the scene they're working out where the energy of the scene is coming from and they're also relying tremendously on the creative imagination of the reader.
Novelists are not equipped to make a movie in my opinion. They make their own movie when they write: they're casting they're dressing the scene they're working out where the energy of the scene is coming from and they're also relying tremendously on the creative imagination of the reader.
Most people like to read about intrigue and spies. I hope to provide a metaphor for the average reader's daily life. Most of us live in a slightly conspiratorial relationship with our employer and perhaps with our marriage.
Most people like to read about intrigue and spies. I hope to provide a metaphor for the average reader's daily life. Most of us live in a slightly conspiratorial relationship with our employer and perhaps with our marriage.