The Honourable Schoolboy: A George Smiley Novel

· Sold by Penguin
4.3
19 reviews
Ebook
624
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

In the second part of John le Carré's Karla Trilogy, the battle of wits between spymaster George Smiley and his Russian adversary takes on an even more dangerous dimension.

As the fall of Saigon looms, master spy George Smiley must outmaneuver his Soviet counterpart on a battlefield that neither can afford to lose.
 
The mole has been eliminated, but the damage wrought has brought the British Secret Service to its knees. Given the charge of the gravely compromised Circus, George Smiley embarks on a campaign to uncover what Moscow Centre most wants to hide. When the trail goes cold at a Hong Kong gold seam, Smiley dispatches Gerald Westerby to shake the money tree. A part-time operative with cover as a philandering journalist, Westerby insinuates himself into a war-torn world where allegiances—and lives—are bought and sold.

Brilliantly plotted and morally complex, The Honourable Schoolboy is the second installment of John le Carré's renowned Karla triology and a riveting portrayal of postcolonial espionage.
 
With an introduction by the author.

Ratings and reviews

4.3
19 reviews
Arlie Davis
December 7, 2017
Awkwardly framed, in a way that deprives the story of much impact. It does have an interesting structure, and the conclusion pivots away from obvious spy story tropes, toward a more personal and introspective story. I enjoyed that. And of course, Smiley is always a joy to behold. But overall, unsatisfying in some unidentifiable ways.
1 person found this review helpful
Did you find this helpful?
Karen Mansbridge-Wood
October 14, 2015
I never knew their was a Karla novel in between "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "Smiley's People," so I really wanted to read it. I'm disappointed. I don't it comes up to the standard of the other two, and I also don't think it adds anything significant to the storyline.
3 people found this review helpful
Did you find this helpful?
James Cape
March 19, 2017
LeCarre. Dude. You can foreshadow without literally saying "this bit is important because of that guy, later." Yeesh. Beyond that, maybe do with a bit less casual racism? Seriously, a cast of white folks who constantly refer to themselves in racist terms is a pretty transparent way to build an excuse for the many, many times persons of color are described in racist terms. It's not droll, it's obvious and weak.
Did you find this helpful?

About the author

John le Carré was born in 1931. For six decades, he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a con man, he spent his childhood between boarding school and the London underworld. At sixteen he found refuge at the university of Bern, then later at Oxford. A spell of teaching at Eton led him to a short career in British Intelligence (MI5&6). He published his debut novel, Call for the Dead, in 1961 while still a secret servant. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, secured him a worldwide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, and Smiley’s People. At the end of the Cold War, le Carré widened his scope to explore an international landscape including the arms trade and the War on Terror. His memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, was published in 2016 and the last George Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, appeared in 2017. He died on December 12, 2020.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.