A Perfect Spy by John le Carré

This is my third John le Carré novel, but perhaps it should have been the first I read. This is the most autobiographical of le Carré’s works, in which he describes the life of the spy Magnus Pym.

Pym stuggles with a tension between loyalty towards his friends and loyalty towards his country, something I have read is a major theme in le Carré’s work. In le Carré’s own words: “love is whatever you can still betray”. Without revealing too much about the details of the plot, this theme comes across strongly in this novel.

Pym’s father, Rick, is a caricature of his own father, Ronald Cornwell, a notorious con artist with an astounding history which even le Carré struggled to fathom following his passing. Rick’s incredible escapades throughout the novel are a glimpse into what must have been an extremely interesting and unconventional upbringing for le Carré, filled with “lovelies” (Rick’s lovers), horses at racecourses, promised payments that never materialise, and more. Yet Rick’s love for his son persists in its own strange way despite all of this, and we see a picture emerge of a man who – despite his actions – does seem to believe that he will be judged by God in the end and come out fine.

Le Carré gives an interesting insight into the realities of being a spy. “In every operation there is an above the line and a below the line. Above the line is what you do by the book. Below the line is how you do the job.”. This is not just advice for would-be intelligence agents, but rather words of wisdom about any “job” in life: it is never a case of following the rules, and sometimes your job implicitly requires you to bend the rules, but – paradoxically – cannot tell you to do so. In addition, the world of espionage is laid bare as a game both with and without honour at the same time. Each side wants to recruit its own eyes and ears and encourages double agents to double up, but still somehow tolerates those that wish to remain loyal to their own country. In le Carré’s words “playing both sides against the middle”.

Overall, this book is an interesting novel and simultaneously gives an interesting insight into le Carré’s life. In another life, like Magnus Pym, perhaps le Carré might have fallen into the world of academia and retired as an Oxford professor. But that didn’t happen for le Carré, nor did it happen for Pym. One cannot say exactly how autobiographical this novel is, but perhaps it is more interesting not to know for sure, and to have the luxury of imagining.