This is not the average spy novel. This novel stands out as one of the best achievements of English literature in the second half of the twentieth century.

Much more than an typical spy novel is a Well written book about the dark side of the human condition and the damage that children of crooks endure all their life. It is some biographical since Le Carre father was a con man and painted in this fiction book.

Difficult for me to single out my favorite JLC work, but as much as I love TSWCIFTC and TTSS and TRH, I think this may be it. JLC is at his time and perspective shifting best here. This can be a daunting work, and for my first JLC, I would not start here. But do not save it for last.