The first words that I read of the book were the author's note and the opening of the first chapter - these were available from the a link in the Guardian article, although I should point out that later they were replaced by other material, also from the first chapter.
The author's note was very interesting, although it had very little to do with the book itself. It explained how Nick Harkaway (a nom de plume - Nick is the youngest son of JlC, aka David Cornwell) came to write the book. NH is aware of the problem of Smiley's age2, linking it to the age of Karla. But for the latter, an extra, possibly previously unknown, datum is added: [he] served as a kitchen boy on a train in 1904 (also in Tinker Tailor). Remember this when reading the book.
So what's the book about? Initially it is about the search in Britain for a Hungarian publisher called László Bánáti who has disappeared; shortly after, it transpires that he is better known - at least, to the Circus - as Ferencz Róka, a veteran Centre agent. After tracing some of his movements in London, the search of Róka then moves to the continent, giving the author a chance to introduce all manner of characters, some of whom we met in 'The spy who came in from the cold' and some we will meet in TTSS. The plot thickens and possibly over-thickens.
Why was I unsatisfied by the way I read the book? After the initial meeting with the opening words on a web page, I found a copy of the audio book. As I had just received a new pair of headphones (replacing the unsatisfactory pair that I described3 a month ago), I thought that I would try them whilst listening to an audio book. I found this to be very unsatisfying for a few reasons - I could listen for only about half an hour at a time as I walked the dog in the morning and evening, and had to concentrate entirely on the reading (no thinking about other problems!). Names especially became mangled, especially as there were several non-English names and words in the opening chapters. But probably what I missed the most was the ability to go back to the beginning and reread something that wasn't initially clear.
I had listened to about half of the book when the epub version arrived, so I quickly transferred my allegiance to that. I lightly reread the book to where I had left the audio version, then continued with computer and Kobo. I've noticed that over the past few weeks I haven't been concentrating as much as I usually do when reading, discarding several books after having read their first chapter. Thus I don't know whether it's me being unorganised or it's the book itself that is causing my dissatisfaction. I shall try and reread "Karla's choice" in one dedicated sitting - we are promised a power cut on Friday morning from 7am - 11am, and this will be an excellent time to read as there will be nothing else that I can do.
"In universe", one problem that I noted was that the identification of Bánáti
as Róka was made by Bill Haydon. As we discover in TTSS, Haydon is a Russian
mole; surely it would have been better for a mole to keep his mouth shut here
instead of blowing Róka's identity. As the Circus had been unaware of Róka's
presence in Britain and his role, it seems unlikely that Haydon would have
been briefed about Róka in the past and so wouldn't have been able to use the
opportunity to get rid of someone who is out of favour with Centre. Anyone
else, e.g. Toby Esterhase, a Hungarian himself, could have made this
identification without problem. On the other hand, Haydon does try to take
hold of the investigation, presumably after having discussed it with his
controller, so this attempt does make sense. Maybe I am reading too much into
this; it could be, as David Lodge puts it in 'Nice work', an aporia,
a figure of undecidable ambiguity, [an] irresolvable contradiction. I doubt
that I will ever learn if this was laziness on the author's part or genuinely
intended.
Control does wonder what Róka's role was in Britain, but little to no effort is expended in discovering what it might be. I see this as an authorial problem and not one of the Circus. In the book, the pace heats up once the action leads to Europe and the British connection is forgotten.
And wither Karla and his eponymous choice? All through the book I wondered when this was going to appear, and it's only around the last two chapters that what it is becomes clear. The final chapter reads more like an epilogue than part of the story.
I recall that I had to read TTSS several times before it achieved clarity in
my mind. I read "The Honourable Schoolboy" whilst travelling around America by
bus, which is most certainly an unsuitable environment for reading material of
this nature, and so that book too took a long time to become
assimilated. On the other hand, the third part of what was to be called the Karla
trilogy, "Smiley's People", was clear from the start. So not understanding the
grand design of this book on its first reading is not necessarily a failure on
my part or on the author's part.
Internal links
[1] 1843
[2] 1070
[3] 1842
| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 142 | Seasons - a song | MIDI, Song writing | |
| 302 | What are the 10 songs that defined one's tastes? | King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator, Beatles, Richard Thompson, Randy Newman, The Band, 1971 | |
| 646 | Minimalistic arrangements | MIDI | |
| 774 | Navigating by machine | Mobile phone | |
| 986 | Headphone amplifier | Computer, Musical instruments | |
| 1356 | Date set for doctoral oral defence!!!! | DBA |
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