The Secret Pilgrim: A George Smiley Novel

Written by John le Carré

Narrated by Michael Jayston

The rules of the game, and of the world, have changed. Old enemies now yield to glasnost and perestroika. The killing shadows of the Cold War are flooded with light. The future is unfathomable. 

To train new spies for this uncertain future, one must show them the past. Enter the man called Ned, the loyal and shrewd veteran of the Circus. With the inspiration of his inscrutable mentor George Smiley, Ned thrills all as he recounts forty exhilarating years of Cold War espionage across Europe and the Far East-an electrifying, clandestine tour of honorable old knights and notorious traitors, triumph and failure, passion and hate, suspicion, sudden death, and old secrets that haunt us still.

Praise for The Secret Pilgrim

"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

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio
• Release date: Jul 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781101575710

John le Carré

John le Carré was born in 1931. 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 Honorable Schoolboy; and Smiley’s People. His novels include The Constant Gardner, The Little Drummer Girl, A Perfect Spy, The Russia House, Our Game, The Tailor of Panama, and Single & Single. He lives in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

Reviews for The Secret Pilgrim

[ma_washigeri · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Plus some more of a star. There are quite a lot of characters in the book but they are all well drawn individuals so no trouble keeping track. And most of them are pretty interesting and pretty nice - which makes for some tension as John le Carre is not known for his happy-ever-after endings. I thought it was well written and enjoyed the intelligent exploration of such current issues as migration, refugees and security services.

[ours57 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent ! Captivant !

[henrimoreaux · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Secret Pilgrim is a novel told in the format of a collection of stories told by an ageing spy to students. I found the main character Ned a little hard to connect with and didn't really enjoy it that much.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written and thoughtful a always. And, as always with Le Carre, enough moral ambiguity to go around for everyone! This I think can only very loosely called a novel really, it's more like a collection of short stories held together by the narrator as central character. Not to say they weren't fantastic short stories, all! Smiley too, but his character plays more of a functional role here. Interesting idea, and you get a nice feel of Ned, the main character through the stories.

[phillipfrey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Le Carre is truly the spymaster.

[candacefb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you are in the last half of your life, and you have started looking back. if time 'is like a mosaic' filled with the present and past occurrences, read this. You will like it and be glad you are not alone.

[kale.dyer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Solid le Carré spy thriller focused on reminiscing about interrogations.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Solid le Carré spy thriller focused on reminiscing about interrogations.

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a book of short stories, wrapped up in graduation ceremony for new recruits to the Circus. George Smiley has retired, and his old friend, Ned, has asked him to speak at the event. Of course, George has stories. As George tells his stories, Ned reminisces about old times - from his is very early days, to the end, when he runs the training program.The stories are well written, some sad, some funny. Each of them gives a view into how the (Fictional) British Spy system works, from determining a terrorist from the man assigned to clandestinely pay for the items that a very important wife steals, to a young recruit on his first mission - he is so nervous, he jeopardizes the whole mission.Highly recommended.

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful ending to a series of books about (some only tangentially) George Smiley - this is how to finish a story in style. Really fitting that even here Smiley is not the centre of the story.

[thorold_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Le Carré's always worth reading, of course, but this book feels a bit too much like one of those episodes they have in American TV series where a lot of clips from old shows are strung together over a flimsy excuse for a plotline. We are presented with a series of unconnected incidents in the career of a spy called Ned, stretching over the last couple of decades of the Cold War and its aftermath. Le Carré used this sort of structure very successfully a few years earlier in A Perfect Spy: it's strange that he should have used it again in this potboiler. Presumably Le Carré was struggling to find a way to move forward after the end of the Cold War, as he has since done very capably. The stories here probably aren't really recycled, but there is a suspicion that these are fragments of unfinished novels from the scrap pile. Read individually, they are good stories, with old friends like George Smiley and Toby Esterhase popping up here and there, and plenty of classic Le Carré locations, but as an ensemble they don't seem to add up to much.

[bohemima · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like all of the books in this series, this is an excellent study of the bleak and lonely life of a spy. Told within the framework of an after-dinner speech and Q. and A. session, this reads a bit more like discrete short stories rather than a full-on novel. Smiley is at his best explaining the ins and outs of espionage to a group of young, er, spy-students. One caveat is that the plot resolution of the 3-book Karla series by Le Carre is given away and repeatedly discussed, so don't read this as a first book from this author.

[matke-261098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like all of the books in this series, this is an excellent study of the bleak and lonely life of a spy. Told within the framework of an after-dinner speech and Q. and A. session, this reads a bit more like discrete short stories rather than a full-on novel. Smiley is at his best explaining the ins and outs of espionage to a group of young, er, spy-students. One caveat is that the plot resolution of the 3-book Karla series by Le Carre is given away and repeatedly discussed, so don't read this as a first book from this author.

[netedt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent use of episodic technique provides a complete picture of Ned, the career spy. Le Carre is more concerned with the development of character than any suspense. Both Smiley and Ned are reflective in their retirement about the purpose of their profession. Is it worthwhile? Is it soul-destroying? Why is it so permanent in human society?This novel is a good basis for reflection on all spy fiction.It is an excellent novel. On a par with most of Graham Greene.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I hadn't read LeCarre for fifteen years or more. He is an engaging writer and has a way of making you feel you're an old hand at the spy game instead of an innocent bystander. Now I know why I haven't read him in so long. A bit too much of the nasty for my taste. This book will not stay on my shelves at home.