A Small Town in Germany

One of le Carré's early works, set in the Cold War era, but none the worse for it. Sure, the mores and attitudes may be challenging in the difference for a contemporary reader, but the moral ambiguities with which all his characters have to deal remain timeless. A common strand across le Carré novels is a quest for justice and retribution, a sense of innate fairness, even if the route taken to achieve it may sometimes be circuitous. What makes A Small Town in Germany so interesting is that it approaches the same question that is asked in a different way in Bernard Schlink's recently read The Reader, namely: what is to be remembered and also forgotten given Germany's troubled past? There is also the dynamic of who should take responsibility for these decisions, and it is immediately clear that le Carré sees Britain's standing in the world as diminished versus its former self. A Small Town in Germany admittedly does start slowly and requires some perseverance, but the tension builds palpably to a page-turning crescendo. The poignancy of the recent Trump assassination attempt also resonates at the novel's conclusion. The reader is left pondering multiple counterfactuals. 8.5 out of 10.

By John le Carré