The Secret Pilgrim (George Smiley Series)

by John le Carré Narrated by Anna Chancellor, Full Cast, Patrick Malahide, Simon Russell Beale

Overview

George Smiley is one of the most brilliantly realised characters in British fiction. Bespectacled, tubby, eternally middle-aged and deceptively ordinary, he has a mind like a steel trap and is said to possess 'the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin'. The Berlin Wall is down, the Cold War is over, but the world's second oldest profession is very much alive. Smiley accepts an invitation to dine with the eager young men and women of the Circus' latest intake; and over coffee and brandy, by flickering firelight, he beguilingly offers them his personal thoughts on espionage past, present and future. In doing so, he prompts one of his former Circus colleagues into a searching examination of his own eventful secret life. Starring the award-winning Simon Russell Beale as Smiley, and with a distinguished cast including Patrick Malahide as Ned, this engrossing dramatisation brings le Carré's masterful novel vividly to life.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Intriguing . . . magisterial . . . The many ingredients are skillfully marshaled. . . . Lucidly and elegantly controlled.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Scorching . . . fascinating . . . seductive . . . a dazzler.”—Entertainment Weekly
 
“Powerful . . . a highly absorbing tale.”—Newsday
 
“Extraordinary.”—USA Today

The New York Times

“Powerful . . . remarkable . . . a grand summation of all John le Carré’s themes.”

Los Angeles Times

“Le Carré . . . at the top of his form.”

AUGUST 2012 - AudioFile

Near the end of his own career as a cold-war spy, the narrator invites his mentor, George Smiley, to address his students as they complete their spy training. Seeing Smiley again evokes for him a series of memories, some involving Smiley, all marvelously written vintage le Carré. Loosely linked stories may not have the drive of a coherent long-form narrative, but the device offers different pleasures, allowing for reflection on how the service has changed since Smiley’s day, making room for narrative gems that don’t fit in a novel but are far too good to waste. Michael Jayston could not be better, giving a wry, elegant wide-ranging performance that brings Smiley, Toby Esterhazy, and many other old friends from the Smiley novels back to vivid life. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169129311
Publisher:	Random House UK
Publication date:	07/01/2010
Series:	George Smiley Series , #8
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Let me confess to you at once that if I had not, on the spur of the moment, picked up my pen and scribbled a note to George Smiley inviting him to address my passing-out class on the closing evening of their entry course—and had Smiley not, against all my expectations, consented—I would not be making so free to you with my heart.
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Secret Pilgrim"
by .
Copyright © 2008 John le Carré.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Canada.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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