John le Carr - 9780367354831

Taylor & Francis

John le CarrAuthor(s): Eric Homberger\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9780367354831, 978-0367354831\nSynopsis\nSince the heyday of Ian Flemings fantasy superspy James Bond, the novels of John le Carr have held up to readers across the world a sombre, fascinating picture of decline, deception and ethical ambiguity. In this study, originally published in 1986, the first to include an interpretation of A Perfect Spy, Eric Homberger argues that within the tradition of the spy thriller of John Buchan and Sapper a space was created by Somerset Maugham, Eric Ambler and Graham Greene for serious writing. From The Spy Who Came in From the Cold [tel] to The Little Drummer Girl [tel] and A Perfect Spy [tel], le Carr has used that space to make a searching investigation of the nature of post-Imperial Britain. In the process he has become the peer of Conrad and Greene in the recognition that the spy novel is a literary form cap.