Product Description

The Berlin Wall is toppled, the Iron Curtain swept aside. The Secret Pilgrim is Ned, a decent, loyal soldier of the Cold War, who has been in British Intelligence – the Circus – all his adult life. Now, approaching the end of his career, he is forced by the explosions of change to revisit his secret years.



Ned illuminates the brave past of the legendary George Smiley, his hero and mentor who, in one unforgettable evening, gives back to him the dangerous edge of memory that empowers him finally to frame the questions that have haunted him for thirty years ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129012 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Mail on Sunday
‘Le Carré writing at his exceptional best’

Review

‘Le Carré writing at his exceptional best’

‘John le Carré has created a fictive world which he has made almost as familiar as that of Dickens . . . in terms of scope, skill and ideas, it is streets ahead of most contemporary fiction’

‘This consummate and enthralling mosaic is also Smiley’s nunc dimittis’

Observer
‘This consummate and enthralling mosaic is also Smiley’s nunc dimittis’

Customer Reviews

Smiley in Small Doses!
I was given this book as a birthday present, otherwise I probably never would have read it, since I am not a fan of spy fiction (other than the kind that appears in the factual espionage genre). I am very glad, however, that I did read it.

"The Secret Pilgrim" represents the best of both worlds, since it is actually a dozen short stories tied together within the framework of a novel. The latter depicts George Smiley, the Old Cold Warrior, acting as guest lecturer to a group of young "Circus" recruits, who are learning their tradecraft from one of his old pupils, Ned (who is himself about to retire). Each of Smiley's topics during the lecture and the conversation afterwards triggers Ned's memories and, therefore, his reminiscences about old cases.

The short stories serve as an excellent introduction to the author's earlier works, since Ned, in his adventures, has dealt with the likes of Bill Haydon, Toby Esterhaze, and Percy Alleline, as well as George Smiley--all of whom make cameo appearances. The tales are entertaining, witty, and wholly absorbing, as one gradually learns that the narrator is the pilgrim of the title on a quest to discover why he ever entered the secret world in the first place. Once he had imagined himself as a dragon slayer, who would leave the world in a "safer place." Now, however, that rampant Communism has been replaced by rampant Capitalism, the narrator, in the last chapter, wonders whether the right people have won, noting that "the evil was not in the system, but in the man."

"The Secret Pilgrim" is set in a very different world from the original Smiley books. George Smiley is now presiding over the "Fishing Rights Committee," a joint effort between the intelligence services of London and Moscow.

How Kim Philby would have approved!.

A Delight
This book comprises what, at first sight, seem to be a set of short stories. In fact, the stories are linked, in part by a narrative structure and in part by the presence of George Smiley, brought out of retirement to make an after-dinner speech to a bunch of new spooks.
Much of Circus history is revisited, including the mole-hunting era of Tinker, Tailor etc. New angles and insights are revealed and old motivations seen in new lights.
It goes without saying that the writing style is fluid, intelligent and engaging. [If anything, too engaging-it is all too easy to read just one more story....]
Enthusiasts for the earlier history of Smiley and his associates will delight in this book. I'm not entirely sure that newcomers will find it quite such an accessible read: some background has to be assumed to avoid repetition.
Highly recommended.
Bill

For the reflective Le Carre fan, this is the best
Having read most of JLC's books, this one has a unique effect on me. A series of anecdotal stories, perhaps, connected by a thread summarised by Ned's and Smiley's reflections at the close. Great insight into the real motivation of a spy, and those entrapped in the world of espionage. Wonderfully read, compelling, funny, compassionate and angry.