Journal Entry 1 by noni22 from Hazelbrook, New South Wales Australia on Monday, July 30, 2007

"Acclaimed throughout the world as the greatest spy story ever" - blurb from the back of the book.
Who could resist a blurb like that - even though the book is going straight into a book bag. 

Journal Entry 2 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Thursday, August 02, 2007

Well, it's on the 1001 books to read before you die, so I'll grab it on the basis of that! Thanks, Noni22.

Offered as a bookray 3 August: morphed into a boomerang 22 October.

tqd
 

Journal Entry 3 by livrecache at By post in Melbourne, a controlled release -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, August 16, 2007

Released 4 yrs ago (8/16/2007 UTC) at By post in Melbourne, a controlled release -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Journal Entry 4 by tqd from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, August 19, 2007

Thank livrecache, it turned up with a bundle of other books this morning. And it''s far thinner than I thought it was going to be, I was expecting a 1000-page monster! (Hurrah, though.)

When I''m finished it, I''ll pop it back in the post to you. Thanks! 

Journal Entry 5 by tqd at Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A chilling tale of spycraft and espionage in Germany during the Cold War.

At the beginning, Leamas sees his painstakingly constructed network of spies in East Germany fall apart, thanks to the machinations of his counterpart on the other side of the Iron Curtain, Mundt. (Can I just say that the lack of first names and honorifics makes this all seem so much more macho than if they'd been used?) He returns to The Circus in London in semi-disgrace following his failures, and is put behind a desk. But he's given one chance by Control to come in from the cold, and to bring down Mundt.

We're not told in advance any of Control's plan, it just unfolds slowly and surely in front of us. It's an understated masterpiece, devoid of hysteria and almost devoid of emotion. But it is quite unforgettable.

"I mean you've got to compare method with method, and ideal with ideal. I would say that since the war, our methods - ours and those of the opposition - have become much the same. I mean you can't be less ruthless than the opposition simply because your government's policy is benevolent, can you now?" He laughed quietly to himself: "That would never do," he said.

Not the sort of book I could put down while I was reading it, it was compelling from start to finish. Highly recommended.

And I've had this one HOW long?? livrecache, let me know if you want it back, otherwise I might bundle it up with the next two Smiley books (The Looking Glass War, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) and pass them along together. 

Journal Entry 6 by livrecache at Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Saturday, January 28, 2012

Bundle them up and pass them on. Sounds like a Plan to me. Thanks.