::READERS REVIEWS::

Audiobook: Dramatization for Radio Comes Close to Perfection - Using the audiobook, it's similar to attending a play. This is the old school craft of radio drama combined with a master spy story. All characters have unique voices with realistic personalities. There are sound effects such as bottles and glasses, doors, cars, the beach and sirens. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is quite a show.

The story doesn't glorify anything although it probably is a draw for Cold War history buffs. Those "in the game" are in it for the game, not ideals. At their professional level, this would make sense. There's really not much glamour depicted about the personal lives of spies.

I can see why this story became known as the definitive traditional spy story. The plot moves very quickly, the characters take the spotlight but only long enough to carry a scene here and there. I never guessed what was going to happen next. The ending was abrupt yet meaningful.

I only listened to this book, not having read it. I'd recommend this audiobook because the radio drama format worked perfectly. This style is rare, costs far more to produce than just using a reader, and when done right is surprisingly entertaining.

good quick read - the book was fantastic from start to finish. the story moves very quickly and isn't overly long. if you like other books like Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene, I would highly recommend this book.

Cold Like No Other - The Spy Who Came in From the Cold This is a jewel in the crown of espionage novels. I fell in love with this book upon its first reading, and have read it many times. No glory here. No other book captures the cold, hard feel of Post War Berlin and the intrigue and duplicity that accommodates the craft. This novel is beautiful in its dreariness, evocative of the desolation and the consciousness of the doomed. After reading this book, you can never pass by the Brandenburg Gate and not think of this novel.

Excellent story with tight plot and unforeseen twists... - While I'm still at the beginning of John le Carre's bibliography, I'm still amazed at how he can write a complete novel yet still keep the page count down. It's so different than today's 400 page doorstops that could stand a fair amount of trimming. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a tightly woven espionage story from the Cold War days, and le Carre keeps the twists and turns coming at a non-stop pace.

The story revolves around a burned out British spymaster, Leamas, who wants to call it quits. But before he does, he's asked to do one more job involving the capture of East Germany's most notorious espionage agent, Mundt. The scene is set to make Leamas look like a washed up spy who is on the outs with his government, and therefore ripe for recruiting. And of course, the other side takes the bait. He's debriefed for much of the basic info, but they want to take him over the border back into East Germany and beyond to find out even more. Things take a bit of a sideway turn when the British government puts an all-points bulletin out for him, and it looks as if Leamas may really need to follow through on what looks like a full defection. But the deeper he gets, the more confused he is as to who is working for who, and whether he ever will be allowed to come in from the cold...

The aspect of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold that I enjoyed most was le Carre's way of keeping the reader guessing as to what was actually going on behind the scenes. As with real-life espionage, nothing is ever black and white, and shades of grey are the best you can get. Leamas thinks he has everything under control, but he soon finds that what he signed up for and what is actually happening could well be two different things. le Carre does this all in 212 pages, which is remarkable. I'm looking forward to continuing on with all his other books, as I expect them to follow in the same vein of tight writing and good storytelling.

a memorable read - Although published many years ago, this book still holds up well in its depiction of the murky, treacherous world of espionage. LeCarre is still the best at the spy thriller game.

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - What can one say about a novel by a master storyteller that is not laudatory? If you really thought about it it should be required reading by anyone interested in playing the "spy" game. Le Carre has presented us with a devilishly clever plot line which holds your interest page after page. Le Carre has you in his grip and won't let you go as he makes you wonder where he is leading you and what comes next in this thriller. There is no need to spell out all the details since it is written in a manner which challenges your imagination totally as you get deeper and deeper into this mystery.

There is very little of this saga that in uninteresting. The characters, the plot, the interplay, makes one come away with the feeling that all the characters are totally involved in an action which makes this story one of the finest spy stories ever written. This is a page turner which holds you and never lets you down. Viva Le Carre!!

E.J. Walden, author of "Operation Snow Owl"

fantastic espoinage/intrigue novel from the master.... - I read Secret Pilgrim a few years ago, and after spending most of my afghan deployment reading Clancy, I decided to shelve him for a bit and return to Le Carre. When I received it in the mail, I was surprised how short it was (the edition I read was only 112 pages), and yet The Spy Who Came In From The Cold hooked me from the very beginning and didn't let go until the very end. The characters are real and believable - ironically I felt the most empathy for Liz Gold and Fiedler...the two main communists. The supposed "good guys" are son of a bitch bastards (Leamus, Mundt), who I found myself rooting AGAINST until the very end. Even then, they aren't good people. Nature of the game, I guess...

Set in Berlin in the early 1960s when the Wall was first constructed, LeCarre paints a beautiful portrait of the turmultous city at the height of the Cold War. The suspense didn't cease from the opening word to the final one. The ending was an ending, not a drawn out epilogue of events. Short, and to the point.

In summary: Read this book. You won't be disappointed.

One of th Best - One of the best peices of fiction in the 20th Century.
It is a jewel.
If you don't understand it, then it may be that you may have missed the history of the "cold war".

Recreating a world I never knew - Being a child of the late 1980's, I entered the world way after the setting (and writing) of this book. For whatever reason, though, the 60's spy scene fascinates me and I really enjoyed reading this book as my first foray into the period and genre. Le Carre seemed to reach right into my mind and create an atmosphere, and on more than one occassion his outline of a setting allowed me to imagine a vivid and detailed scene. While I wish I had started the series at the chronological beginning, each of the characters were quickly brought to life and became distinct players in the story. I found myself confused once or twice as the story meandered through the twists and turns of a spy ring, but I know that's exactly what Le Carre wrote for. Excellent book, and one that can be read in a single sitting.

A thoughtful critique of espionage - The spy games portrayed in this book are not like James Bond. There are no card games or cocktail parties, and no novel weapons and fancy gadgets. Instead, there are intelligent people playing mind games with each other, each only knowing a part of the whole story.

The common theme throughout this book is that in the world of espionage, the ends justify the means. That ideals are an unnecessary burden that must be discarded in order to succeed. This message has just as much relevance today as it did when it was written; it's an interesting exercise to imagine this taking place with modern day terrorists rather than East Germans.

Overall, if you are looking for pulse-pounding action, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a fast, gripping read that makes you think, this book is for you.

Review published by The Literate Man ([...]) posted on July 15, 2010 - You'd have to be a product of Generation Y not to love a good old Cold War spy story. No matter how many times I see or hear or read it, the ideological conflict as presented in the form of a dour-faced, steroid-pumping, muscle-bound Russki versus a hard-scrabble, street-smart, freedom-loving American is enough to bring back memories of bomb drills at school, a vision of Reagan declaring the Great Satan, and those epic Celtics/Lakers battles that defined a decade. All of us here at The Literate Man freely admit that we still pause in our channel surfing to watch long scenes (which we all know by heart) of Rocky IV, Red October, and Red Dawn, among others. Ah ... those were the days when gas was cheap and you knew who your enemies were or, more importantly, where your enemies were. It seems so long ago now.

What was I talking about again? Oh right, the novel. Sorry about that, I got lost in Cold War reverie.

So, I picked up my first le Carré novel, Absolute Friends, in the Frankfurt Airport on return from a visit to the former East Germany and the Czech Republic in, oh say, 2004. The novel chronicles the Cold War relationship of Mundy and Sasha, who work together to help MI6 bring down East Germany and eventually find themselves betrayed by the forces of globalization, which (as products of the Cold War, like me) they never fully understand. It was a very enjoyable book, and I made a mental note to pick up more le Carré as I was able. I saw the film adaptation of The Constant Gardner and I read Mission Song, both of which I enjoyed, though neither as much as Absolute Friends. And so, when my mother sent along a copy of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (thanks, Mom!), I thought it would be an enjoyable read and a trip down memory lane along the lines of what occurs when I watch any of the aforementioned Cold War movies.

I. WAS. BLOWN. AWAY. It was like I was that high-tech PPSI punch-measuring machine at the end of the Ivan Drago training montage in Rocky IV. This is--bar none--the best Cold War spy story we have ever heard, seen, or read. And I now understand why it was named one of Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Novels. Ok, so about the story. It's dark ... and I mean depths-of-the-human-soul dark, German winter solstice dark, Vito Corleone's office dark, well ... you get the idea. Alec Leamas heads up the West Berlin office of the British Secret Service (known as the Circus), until his best double agent is killed, his leadership comes under severe scrutiny, and he is recalled to London. Then, in the Cold War espionage equivalent of a last-second, Hail Mary pass into the end zone, Leamas is fired, sent to jail, and hung out for defection like a slab of beef set dangling from the roof of a den of wolves (sound familiar, The Departed?). Anyway, the bait is taken, the trap sprung, and Leamas goes over the wall to East Germany, leaving the lovely (love interest) Liz behind with instructions not to try to follow him. His mission? To frame his counterpart, the East German Muntz, as a double-agent for the British.

I'd give you the rest of the story, but then there'd be no point in you reading it. And you need to read it. The plot is exquisitely crafted, with twists and turns aplenty, but it is the psychological realism in the context of counter-espionage that sets the book apart from anything I have ever read on the subject. Le Carré does an excellent job of describing the amorality practiced on both sides of the Berlin Wall (and the English Channel) in the name of idealism. My advice? Turn off that rerun of The Hunt for Red October (as good as it is--I love Sean Connery as a Russki, I don't care what his accent is) and get your hands on a copy of this book. Do it now, comrade.