A Few Words about John le Carre
In a few weeks I am going to write about a great author of espionage novels - John le Carre.
Who is he ?
John le Carre was born in 1931 in Poole, Great Britain. His real name is David John Moore Cornwell. He has graduated from the University of Berne and Lincoln College, Oxford. For 5 years, since 1959 le Carre served in British Foreign Service – MI6. First he worked as Second Secretary in the British Embassy in Bonn. Then he became Political Consul in Hamburg. He has been writing spy and detective novels since 1961. Most of them include autobiographical themes. John le Carre said about himself: “In the old days it was convenient to bill me as a spy turned writer. I was nothing of the kind. I am a writer who, when I was very young, spent a few ineffectual but extremely formative years in British Intelligence”.[1]
Who is he ?
John le Carre was born in 1931 in Poole, Great Britain. His real name is David John Moore Cornwell. He has graduated from the University of Berne and Lincoln College, Oxford. For 5 years, since 1959 le Carre served in British Foreign Service – MI6. First he worked as Second Secretary in the British Embassy in Bonn. Then he became Political Consul in Hamburg. He has been writing spy and detective novels since 1961. Most of them include autobiographical themes. John le Carre said about himself: “In the old days it was convenient to bill me as a spy turned writer. I was nothing of the kind. I am a writer who, when I was very young, spent a few ineffectual but extremely formative years in British Intelligence”.[1]
Le Carre’s works are
characterized by psychological and historical realism. Plots of his books are
usually set in Central Europe in the Cold War period. Le Carre has built many
realistic characters, including the most famous - a secret agent George Smiley.
Almost all of his 21 books were bestsellers in Great Britain, for instance, A Perfect Spy, The Constant Gardener, The
Russia House, The Spy who Came in from the Cold, Smiley’s People, Tinker Tailor
Soldier Spy (Skrunda 336). He
writes screenplays, what is more, many movies are based on his books, such as
BBC TV shows – Smiley’s People and A Perfect Spy, films - The Tailor of Panama with Pierce Brosnan
or The Russia House with Sean Connery
and Michelle Pfeiffer[2].
John le Carre’s books are
full of geographical details (i.a. London, Budapest), realistic intrigues and
well-known institutions (e.g. the KGB). The
Times called him a master of espionage novels[3]
yet, le Carre said during one of his rare interviews: “(…) nothing that I
write is authentic. It is the stuff of dreams, not reality. Yet I am treated by
the media as though I wrote espionage handbooks.”[4]
One of the most popular
spy novels of John le Carre is Tinker
Tailor Soldier Spy published in 1974.
It is the first part of The Karla
Trilogy – books about a secret agent - George Smiley’s war against the KGB led
by his most dangerous enemy Karla. In the book le Carre invented his own
technical words to describe certain functions in the Foreign Office Service,
which “went into the language”, e.g. a mole, or a nanny.
[1] John Le Carre.”About John le Carré” , Web. 24
Oct. 2012. <http://www.johnlecarre.com/author, access 24.10.2012>.
[2] Flávio S. Armony. “John le Carré IMDb Mini Biography.”.IMDb, Web. 23 Oct.
2012. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0494170/>
[3] Ed Potton.” John Le Carré:
Szpiegostwo było moim pierwszym zawodem.” Polska The Times, Web. 6. Dec. 2012.
<http://www.polskatimes.pl/artykul/480305,john-le-carr-szpiegostwo-bylo-moim-pierwszym-zawodem,id,t.html>
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