The Looking Glass War, a Remembrance of the Cold War - 2003-06-28

The Looking Glass War by John le Carré, 1965, is the first work I read by this great author of spy novels, and I understand why he is recognized as a master in his specific field, which is filled with nonsense known as 'trash literature' or 'supermarket books.' In fact, he writes with such precise and solid prose and possesses such characteristics that his novel transcends the genre and is truly within the realm of acceptable literature. Intellectual writers will have difficulty accepting my judgment about him, especially after le Carré's not-so-pleasant stances regarding the fatwa for Salman Rushdie's assassination. It is likely that those intellectuals, officials, and Western thinkers who stood against various forms of Soviet expansionism in general and the powerful threat of communism in particular for decades have drawn significant moral, spiritual, and even technical lessons from le Carré's stories. The subject of the novel is simple: the covert deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in East Germany, which could lead to a crisis similar to the Cuban missile crisis. Of course, the Queen's intelligence service tries to understand and counter the situation. The dialogues and the spirit of the heroes are entirely British, and le Carré emphasizes this; the well-known environment of the country clubs where English men apparently feel comfortable and secure only among their peers is vividly alive and even tangible for me as a foreigner. Apparently, the relationships that are very determinant in the life of the upper class in Britain and many plans take shape in these clubs: male bonding. The reader also becomes somewhat acquainted with the private lives of secret agents and their problems. The book begins with the shocking murder of a junior agent in Finland. Throughout the work, the reader notices the internal contradictions of the security services and their lack of cooperation with each other; everywhere, the scent of enemy espionage agents is felt. Of course, who does not know the reality of the extensive infiltration of the Soviets into the British security apparatus? A few years ago, a high-ranking MI5 officer claimed in a controversial book he wrote after retirement, titled Spycatcher, that the Soviets had infiltrated up to the highest levels of the British intelligence agency and possibly within the government of the then Prime Minister. Interestingly, many of these moles were from the aristocracy of the country. Apparently, some were tormented by their social positions that they had obtained without personal merit, some were merely 'lords' who were bankrupt, and others were homosexual men whom the Soviets serviced, and they naturally reciprocated. The technical details of 'The Looking Glass War,' regarding the use of Morse code and other tools, are precise and engaging. The 'secret' that exists throughout the book, and essentially in the spy story, which the reader continues to study to understand, differs from the concept in mainstream literature. The book contains a sentence about how information must be provided by an agent or fighter to those around him and to those who ask him: 'Never invent information; it must be an expansion and development of the existing truth.' (p. 188) I do not know about spies, but I have no doubt that clever political fighters everywhere, by applying this guidance from le Carré, have saved their lives and perhaps the lives of others from disaster.