A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré 1945-2020

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No, you are not rotund or double chinned, though I think I have seen you in rôles where you have, almost as an act of will, acquired a sort of cherubic look!

He told an audience in 1997: “I was brought up in a bookless household, and I have a natural sympathy for people who grow up without the example of reading, or come late to it, or never come at all.

It seemed to him that “once I have the whole book, I should take it on safari, read it in different lights, moods, places, sharpen it, remove all adverbs and find the right verbs instead, and make love to you. His first overseas operation was in Austria, still in the guise of a Communist sympathizer, where he recruited a local boy to trade pornography to Russian soldiers in exchange for military gossip. So often, ambition in public life can be tethered to achievement in the moment—rising through the ranks, reaching the heights of bureaucracy or political office. Tim Cornwell, the third of le Carré’s four sons, took on the mammoth task of organizing this unwieldy mass.

It was extraordinary to be in each other’s company at last, after more than a year of corresponding. How wonderful to have your letter, the contents of which I passed to Jonathan Powell at the BBC this morning. He spoke excellent German,” le Carré said, “and he always reminded us in German class, as everyone was demonising Germany with justice, that there was another Germany, an enduring one and a much older one and a wise and loveable Germany.This collection is a treasure trove, revealing the late author’s humour, generosity, and wit–a side of him many readers have not previously seen.