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    John le Carré: The Biography
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    John le Carré: The Biography
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    John le Carré: The Biography
    Ebook1,076 pages18 hours

    John le Carré: The Biography

    By Adam Sisman

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    About this ebook

    The definitive biography of the undisputed giant of English literature, a man whose own true history has long been hidden behind the fictional world of his books

    'Compendious and compelling ... it is impossible to imagine this Life being bettered' WILLIAM BOYD, NEW STATESMAN

    'Smiley himself could not have done a better job' SUNDAY TIMES


    Long after The Spy Who came in from the Cold made John le Carré a worldwide, bestselling sensation, David Cornwell, the man behind the pseudonym, remained an enigma. In this definitive biography, written with unprecedented access to the man himself, Adam Sisman offers an illuminating portrait of a fascinating and enigmatic writer.

    In Cornwell's lonely childhood, Adam Sisman uncovers the origins of the themes of love and abandonment which dominated le Carré's fiction: the departure of his mother when he was five, followed by 'sixteen hugless years' in the dubious care of his father, a man of energy and charm, a serial seducer and conman who hid the Bentleys in the trees when the bailiffs came calling - a 'totally incomprehensible father' who could 'put a hand on your shoulder and the other in your pocket, both gestures equally sincere'. And in Cornwell's adult life - from recruitment by both MI5 and MI6, through marriage and family life, to his emergence as the master of the spy novel - Sisman explores the idea of espionage and its significance in human terms; the extent to which betrayal is acceptable in exchange for love; and the endless need for forgiveness, especially from oneself.

    Written with exclusive access to David Cornwell, to his private archive and to the most important people in his life - family, friends, enemies, intelligence ex-colleagues and ex-lovers - and featuring a wealth of previously unseen photographic material, Adam Sisman's extraordinarily insightful and constantly revealing biography brings in from the cold a man whose own life was as complex and confounding and filled with treachery as any of his novels. 'I'm a liar,' Cornwell once wrote. 'Born to lying, bred to it, trained to it by an industry that lies for a living, practised in it as a novelist.'

    This is the definitive biography of a major writer, described by Richard Osman as 'just the finest, wisest storyteller we had.'
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateOct 19, 2015
    ISBN9781408849446
    Author

    Adam Sisman

    Adam Sisman is the author of Boswell's Presumptuous Task, winner of the US National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, and the biographer of John Le Carré, A. J. P. Taylor and Hugh Trevor-Roper. Among his other works are two volumes of letters by Patrick Leigh Fermor. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Honorary Fellow of the University of St Andrews.

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    Reviews for John le Carré

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      One assumes that this huge, dense, satisfying work will become the definitive guide to an author I have enjoyed my entire adult life. Le Carre is presented as something of an obsessive: he is either writing or researching or he is not happy. This excludes the typical seductive elements that accrue to someone of his fame and commercial success; it is a tribute to his ability to not compromise; his unique and intellectually challenging style has not prevented his becoming a favored author for millions of readers in many nations. Popular and critical success began for him with his third novel, a living lesson for creatives in every field that it is the strength and persistence of the artist that counts--the work or output--and not the completion or response that matters most. The dedication of le Carre to publish only the best is shown in his willingness to rewrite and hone until he achieves precisely the structure, language, dialogue, and setting he seeks. His past is haunted; yet it was also privileged and he learned very early in life about resilience and brilliance as well as disloyalty and abandonment. But there is a sense that his charm, his good looks, his ease at moving at the highest levels of society prepared him for triumph. Yet, it also fashioned his ability to deceive and to avoid the entanglements that snare most people. Complex is a word designed for a man like le Carre, and this wonderful, compelling assessment of his work and life provides a comprhensive view of its subject. My only quibble is that at times it is too thorough and academic, for example, citing numerous passages in le Carre's novels to illustrate a particular character trait or aspect of his personal history.
    • 5/5
      Magnificent read on the life of one of my heroes. I rarely read biographies, but this one was one I savoured – reading sparingly in it, spreading it out over one whole month, after buying it straightaway in a bookstore in Utrecht. I came in, saw it from the corner of my eye, and despite a rucksack full of books, picked this thick one and almost ran to the cashier, in disbelief. Off to the central station, jumping in the train, and there it started. The book seller looked at me, and said – ‘Yes, interesting man. I would read this one too’. It is any good? As a biography? I dunno. It seems that Sisman was critical at the start with his references to events David Cornwell made up and which Sisman attributed to ‘false memory’. In actual fact it becomes clear that David specialised early on in the art of cultivating multiple personalities and multiple versions of events. This is not surprising considering the propensity at conjuring, scheming and double-dealing of Ronnie, David’s maverick father. It provided an excellent preparation for David the spy and an even better school for David the entertaining raconteur, who could add spicy elements to a suspenseful story. The countless incidents of humiliation foisted on David and his brother John by their father, must have given David a bleak outlook on life and the motives of men. Ronnie was a womaniser, a drinker, a gambler, a connoisseur, a British gentleman, a Mafiosi. David’s mother disappeared from the scene early on in his life – she was fed up with Ronnie’s tricks which invariably resulted in another bankruptcy or jail sentence or both. Two traits emanate from such a childhood – a remarkable capacity to please and charm while at the same time embellishing the truth AND some difficulties with the female species (certainly when his father’s absence resulted in boarding school at Sherborne and later, teaching at Eton). One other remarkable thing about le Carre is his tendency to become an angry ‘old’ man over time, moving steadily to the left and more radical part of the political spectrum (contrary to many men, and particularly rare among the class of filthy rich men, whose ranks David has joined, no matter what or how). Ironically that is how I got to know le Carre – my first le Carre novel was a ‘The constant gardener’, one of his angry books, written in old age, speaking out against the baseless and morally bankrupt behaviour of the pharmaceuticals. Once I had read that I was hooked. Le Carre showed how one could write a book which is a million times more effective than whatever scientific research. This provided the seeds of my own writing aspirations (and disillusion with academia). I continued with reading all his recent work and then going backwards in time. Of course another influential event in Le Carre’s life was his magnificent success with A spy who came in from the Cold. His third book was a game changer, not only for the genre of spy thrillers but also for David himself. My personal favourite of his cold war spy novels is Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy. In between these two spy thrillers David went through a process of adjusting his life to his newly found affluence, experimenting with adultery – big time – and searching, initially, in vain for renewed success and greatness. It was only Tinker, tailor, which brought him back to the pinnacle of success. And from there it went on and on and on, starting with the magnificent BBC tv series made of Tinker, tailor with Alec Guinness starring as George Smiley (I still haven’t seen the series, but I did hugely enjoy the 2012 movie with Gary Oldman as George Smiley – one of the best movies made, ever – and with Gary Oldman starring big time, after his magnificent 24 hour Party people, a forgotten movie on a forgotten era of tremendous success of Manchester music). Throughout the book it becomes clear David is a serious writer, who lives like a Hermit most of the time, talking books with his second wife Jayne whilst sticking to a strict writing routine in his rural dwellings in Cornwall. David is meticulous in his writing – rewriting complete manuscripts up to 8 times in a row, throwing out hundreds of pages, starting afresh if it does work for him. The man is a monument. In terms of his craft, I found it revealing that David seems capable only of developing his main protagonist characters once he meets a living equivalent, or to put it better, when he has met or been able to observe the base material of that character in the flesh. A final thing about the craft of writing is that David can develop a draft of a novel and then visit its main locations, and work his scenic impressions back into the novel. There are several scenes and moments that are described in the biography that provide interesting snippets and nuggets on the life of David. Like the scene where David has dinner with the PM at the invitation of Margaret Thatcher. The Dutch PM Ruud Lubbers also attends and despite him being the most savvy of all Dutch PMs in the post-war era, he confesses he doesn’t know Le Carre (Auchh!). I was equally delighted to read that David for his book The Mission Song, which engages with corporate resource exploitation in the Congo, visited the Eastern Congo with Michaela Wrong (so, so) and Jason Stearns (yes! The leading analytical light on the topic!!).
    • 4/5
      If you are even remotely interested in John Le Carre, you should read this book. No question it is a masterful study of an extremely complicated man and writer.
    • 4/5
      I thought Le Carre was a long-time spy turned writer, but he was a dedicated writer almost from the beginning. One with connections. One with contempt for the upper class Brits.
      The latter chapters deal mostly with details of publishing, reviews, etc. The beginning with his coming to terms with life. Beginning is more interesting.
      I found myself wanting the biography of his con-man father, Ronnie, more than of the son. Ronnie puts Trump and his shady deals to shame. Ronnie would take from his son, his mother, old widows, young just-got-my-inheritance aristocrats, princes, dictators, and even his jailers. Many still loving him after they were fleeced. He would have made a classic American businessman.
    • 5/5
      I’m not a fan of spy fiction and have never read anything by Mr. le Carré, so I was prepared to be underwhelmed by this book, which I’m reading for my non-fiction group. I was VERY pleasantly surprised. What an interesting character the subject is, and what a horrible childhood he had to endure! It’s amazing that he has functioned at such a high level for so many years. John le Carré: The Biography is also a mini-clinic on the workings of the publishing industry when it comes to the world’s top-selling writers, as Mr. le Carré certainly is. Such intrigue! I love the way the author points out discrepancies between the way Mr. le Carré describes an event in his life and what the documentary evidence shows and/or various versions of the same story the subject has spoken or written of in the past. Then the author gives his impression of where the truth lies. There’s lots to like in this book for just about every biography reader.
    • 5/5
      This is a pretty good book, which made me want to read all of the books that Le Carre has published recently. I went through a period of reading all of his books, inspired by the Alec Guiness portrayal of Smiley in the TV :Tinker'. Lately, the only one of his books that I have read is Absolute Friends. This is a savage book, clearly written in white heat. The ending may have seemed frivolous and too strained at the time, but from what we have learned of the American military or police since then it appears highly likely. I have bought the CD of Geoffrey Burgon's Nunc Dimmitis, which the TV show used to great effect in the 'Tinker' drama, As an old fart American, I feel just as angry as Le Carre about the depths to which this country has sunk in recent years. He was right in his rage in Absolute Friends and he is probably correct on other matters as well.