Our Game

As is always such a pleasure reading le Carré novels. This one had me gripped, so much so I woke up early one morning to continue reading and found myself dreaming of the book too. Beyond the power of the narrative — will there be resolution and how? — the joy of reading a work such as Our Game is in le Carré's (presumably accurate) depiction of how organisations operate: the ‘Establishment’, the secret services, police and civil service. In his post-Cold War novels such as this, le Carré is also critical of Britain's (and the US's) effective abdication of responsibility from what the future Russian landscape might look like. The final strand of strength in all le Carré's novels is that of morals, duty, obligation and the ambiguity that underlies decisions. Cranmer, the narrator, ultimately does choose the ‘right’ course of action, even if it was somewhat unexpected. Nine out of ten.

By John le Carré