John Le Carré Quiz: 6 Questions in Honor of the Great Writer

R.I.P. John le Carré, author of spy classics such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and The Night Manager (but not The Man in the High Castle). He died of pneumonia on the evening of Dec. 12, 2020, at the age of 89.

David Cornwell, known to the world as John le Carré, died after a short illness in Cornwall, southwestern England, on Saturday evening, Dec. 12, 2020, at 89.

 “A Looking Glass War” (the name of John le Carré’s 1965 novel) refers to the Cold War, the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States that dominated the second half of the 20th century. 

As a British intelligence officer, John le Carré wrote his first three books while working for Britain’s MI5 and MI6. 

John le Carré’s character George Smiley has a counterpart in the Russian master spy Karla, an opponent he studies intimately as a lover examines his beloved. The end of “Smiley’s People,” the last in a series known as the Karla Trilogy, brings them together.

“Silverview” is John le Carré’s 26th and last completed novel. The novel revolves around Julian Lawndsley, who, at 33, has dropped out of the financial rat race in London to open a bookstore in a small seaside town in East Anglia.