{"id":141,"date":"2021-02-21T15:10:51","date_gmt":"2021-02-21T14:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iwrbgjp.cluster030.hosting.ovh.net\/?p=141"},"modified":"2022-05-05T18:09:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T16:09:18","slug":"john-le-carre-writer-and-spy-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grenoble-oxford.org\/index.php\/2021\/02\/21\/john-le-carre-writer-and-spy-master\/","title":{"rendered":"John le Carr\u00e9, writer and spy master."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John le Carr\u00e9 was the pen name<\/strong> of David Cornwell, who died on 12th<\/sup> December 2020, aged 89. He was a best-selling, international writer. Of his nineteen mainly espionage novels, many have been made into successful films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his national service in 1950 he worked for the Intelligent Corps in Austria. Later, he studied at Lincoln College Oxford and graduated <\/strong>with a first-class degree in modern languages before becoming an Mi5 officer in 1958.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the 50s to the 60s he worked for Mi5, then Mi6. However, he left in 1964 after his cover was blown<\/strong> by the double agent Kim Philby, later depicted as the traitor in \u201ctinker, tailor, soldier, spy\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, many of Le Carr\u00e9\u2019s characters were based on people he knew, like his conman<\/strong> father, Ronnie Cornwell, who became Rick Pym in \u201cThe perfect spy\u201d or Lord Clanmorris, the role model for George Smiley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Le Carr\u00e9\u2019s novels were set in or after the cold war era. Although they were works of fiction, he was able to draw on<\/strong> his own experience in espionage to create his storylines<\/strong>. This is especially evident in his best best-known novel \u201cThe spy who came in from the cold\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to<\/strong> historian Simon Schama, Le Carr\u00e9\u2019s writing is \u201ca sharp-focused portrait <\/strong>of his age\u201d As for literary critic Neil Hayes Le Carr\u00e9 \u201cpaints a vivid, often exaggerated portrait of characters out of place in their context\u201d like George Smiley, the antithesis of James Bond\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sum-up<\/strong> Le Carr\u00e9\u2019s writing, its hallmark<\/strong> is meticulous construction and a detailed rich, elegant style in which thrilling plots are combined with a measured formal narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John le Carr\u00e9 was not just a writer, he was also a strong critic of modern politics and was pessimistic about the future of western democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it is as a literary master for a generation that John le Carr\u00e9 will certainly take his place in the great Pantheon of English writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Veronica Smith, member of AGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n