Extraordinary Aging

John le Carré has a new book, Agent in the Field.  It is his 25^th book in a writing career that began in 1961.  What’s notable about the book is that le Carré just turned 88 and Agent in the Field is a terrific book, one of his best.  Age can be a limiting factor on creativity, but here is an example of someone who like many of the characters in his books has beaten the odds.

If you are not familiar with le Carré, which is the pen name for David Cornwall, he is the master of spy novels.  He rescued the genre from the James Bond comic book portrayals of spies.  His novels are serious and thoughtful.  They address enduring human qualities—trust, deception, betrayal, and the search for truth.  His best-known novels include The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy and the other Cold War books that feature George Smiley.  As the Cold War wound down, le Carré, began writing about other conflicts, among them Russia’s involvement in Chechnya (The Russia House), Israeli-Arab struggles (The Little Drummer Girl), and the corruption of international drug makers (The Constant Gardener).  Like the earlier Smiley books, these novels are engaging, tense, and interested in character as much as plot.  

In 2017, Le Carré published A Legacy of Spies.  The book was set in the present, but it revisited characters and events from The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Taylor.  The book seemed to be a summing up, a capstone for a long odyssey.  By tying up loose ends from the early books, it seemed almost like a retirement announcement.

Yet here is le Carré with a new book.  Agent in the Field has a contemporary feel, not just because it is set in the present, but in the characters and the issues they confront.  Events are colored by Brexit, the disintegration of American foreign policy, and the power of outrageously rich people.  The book has a compelling plot, and like all le Carré’s books, you experience the dilemmas and anguish of the main characters.  The denouement is shocking.  I won’t give any clues, but It took my breath away, and perhaps most upsetting, the ending is quite plausible.  

How has le Carré persisted over his long life as a writer and commentator on contemporary society through his novels?  I really don’t know much about him.  Does he eat a healthy diet and exercise, or like some of his characters in the novels drink a whiskey or two every evening?  In the end, we don’t know much about what makes for successful aging, but le Carré demonstrates what can sometimes be achieved in a long life.

A few additional notes:  

·      If you haven’t read any of le Carré’s books, I’d suggest starting with the classic Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy.  In addition to the book, there is a 2011 movie that was quite good, though it would help to read the book first to be able to keep the characters straight.  There is an even better BBC series based on the book with Alec Guinness playing George Smiley.  It may still be available on Netflix or some other source.   I also just read there is another Guinness series based on the book Smiley’s People.  

·      Other movie versions of le Carré’ books are good.  I particularly liked The Constant Gardener, both the book and the 2005 movie.  

·      And finally—the old writer of the East-West cold war struggles has some choice words in Agent in the Field, about Putin and Trump.