... it’s glimpses of the master novelist most readers will be eager for, and they’ll find them in his letters to family and avid readers; in appreciative notes to Graham Greene and avuncular advice to younger writers like Ben Macintyre; in his thanks to those who helped him with his research, smoothing his path as he traveled in search of honorable schoolboys and little drummer girls; and, just occasionally, in the flashes of the difficult man he was reputed to be, though these — understandably enough, in a volume intended to burnish his legacy rather than expose any dark side — are thin on the ground ... nobody would expect the creator of George Smiley — the master spy in the body of a bank manager — to be straightforward. Indeed, those of us for whom his work has been a lifelong source of complicated pleasure wouldn’t have it any other way ... edited and with illuminating notes by le Carré’s son Tim Cornwell, who sadly died before its publication, addresses both intimate and public themes, and in its closing pages offers a hint of future treasures.
Le Carré corresponds with an eclectic array of recipients ... The correspondence that makes up A Private Spy is capacious in theme, but a steady through line is work. These are, for all intents and purposes, business letters. Even the personal ones are mostly to do with his career.
There are not that many factual revelations ... But one devours this book not for purposes of truffling out new information but to enjoy, as with so many chronological collections of letters, a pleasing sense of a life unfolding as it was lived with no knowledge of the future or the significance of events ... Le Carré’s letters are often very witty, especially when he’s making fun of his own buttoned-up-ness ... There are letters to accountants and the like included to show his prosaic side, but what is striking is how many of these ephemeral missives have been written with the whole heart, and are worth reading over and over again ... What emerges from the book, in other words, is a human being, liberally studded with warts and lousy with virtues – noble and petty, generous (with money as well as time and praise) and thoughtless, self-pitying and brave, absorbed in his private battles with his demons and preternaturally attuned to the way the world works ... A brilliant book, le Carré’s final masterpiece.
The contents of the archive are overwhelmingly banal, marked by incoherence and self-contradiction, suggestive but not transformative ... We learn from these notes and knickknacks, but a satisfying portrait recedes further from view. The captivating mystery of our upbringing remains—along with a nagging sense of futility and shame.
Rich ... He's huffy as well as warm ... A Private Spy is edited by one of le Carré’s sons, Tim Cornwell, who died this summer having prepared the book for publication. His introduction notes an 'obvious omission': the author’s numerous lovers during his life as a twice-married father of four.
Sensitively edited by his son Tim...with the emphasis thrown on his father’s best self and industrious literary career ... The lasting impression the letters leave is of his doubleness ... He’s acidic one moment, warm-hearted the next, sometimes about the same person ... The letters show how hard he worked to get the fiction right.
There is a nice mixture of the personal and professional in the collection ... One has the impression, which nothing in these letters disturbs, that in the last decades of his work the novels were made from research rather than experience and memory ... Nevertheless, even the driest of these later letters are of interest, fleshing out le Carré’s way of working. Indeed, they are evidence of his commitment to his work. At the same time, they give a revealing picture of his daily life, his interests, tastes, commitment to family and friends. So, despite some boring passages and a certain lack of the spontaneity that characterises the great letter writers, this book will appeal to his many admirers. It reveals much about the man.
Almost every [letter] was clearly intended for publication ... The later letters are performative, sometimes mannered, penned with one eye on posterity, winking ... These letters reflected one side of Cornwell, that of the generous friend and mentor to younger writers. There were many others, for like every good spy, he lived a highly compartmentalised existence, with multiple overlapping identities ... The collection is a fascinating if fragmentary autobiography, small snapshots of personality, written in the moment, that the author wanted his friends, relatives, acquaintances and the world to see ... The early letters are more raw and honest than the polished and self-conscious epistles of later years ... Only occasionally does an unguarded missive slip through in his later life.
Readers hoping for insights into his days as a spy or the creation of his 26 novels would be better directed to Adam Sisman’s comprehensive biography and le Carré’s own collection of autobiographical essays ... He seldom gives much away, so when he does show flashes of emotion, they have all the more impact. These tend to come in later life.
This selection of his letters – no replies – was compiled by one of his sons...and therein lies its strength and its weakness. Tim Cornwell’s editing is knowledgeable, but has he been too tactful? ... He is a traditional Alpha male, but with a touch of weirdness, something out of left-field, and it’s what brings these letters, and the books, to life ... It’s not a full biography, but you get to hear his voice very clearly.
It is no surprise to find his letters well-written and entertaining. In them he is by turns affectionate, touchy, encouraging, witty, self-deprecating, egotistical, kind and even (as a young man) camp. The letters provide a narrative of his life from schooldays onwards, so that it is possible to read this book as a form of autobiography – though readers should be cautious of believing everything he writes ... The later ones tend to be less fun to read, especially those sent by email and typed by others, which are inevitably less personal ... Tim Cornwell, who died as this book was going to press, has proved an excellent editor. He has chosen carefully and found some interesting letters that escaped me, particularly the ones to his stepmother Jane. He has arranged them thematically, with helpful introductions and explanatory footnotes. I should have liked a few more of these.
Le Carré's letters reveal a man who could at times be ingenuous, even dishonest, with those closest to him...and at other times brutally honest with himself and others ... A rich selection of literary and political correspondences.
... is — how to put this gently? — not a good book of letters. If le Carré had close friendships, they’re not on display here. His tone throughout is bluff but guarded and ambassadorial. Nearly everyone is kept at arm’s length. He has an epistolary gift for writing much but saying little ... Many are bread and butter notes, a hard form to shock to life ... The book is, to echo James, thicker than it should be, as if to justify its steep ($40) price point at Christmastime. The margins are wide, the typeface large. There are many chapter breaks, and many pages with only a sentence or two on them. Le Carré’s baronial address, repeated at the top of his letters, eats up a lot of space on nearly every page by itself ... The editor is cagey about whether le Carré wanted his letters published. He did curate them, choosing which ones to file. He also burned many. He wrote them by hand, in the afternoons, after writing fiction in the morning and taking a midday walk ... There are memorable details ... Le Carré and his wife, Jane, kept a guest cottage on their property, and the letters to prospective visitors are worthwhile ... The only time these letters got to me was at the end. Both le Carré and his wife had cancer during Covid lockdown.
Meticulously edited and expansively annotated ... The text proceeds chronologically, but often a quote from an older le Carré adds context and piquancy. Additionally, Cornwell regularly adds biographical context ... Le Carré’s wry modesty and cleareyed insight into human nature consistently shine through ... A collection of small insights about a complex literary titan—invaluable for fans.
Sparkling letters ... Le Carré’s letters are witty, affable, unctuous toward celebrities, tartly venomous toward unfair critics, and full of a subtle, penetrating literary sensibility ... Le Carré’s fans shouldn’t miss this stimulating compendium.
The early letters are often more personally revealing than the later ones, in which le Carré is conscious of autobiographical legacy ... a comprehensive supplement to Adam Sisman's 2015 excellent biography and le Carré's 2016 own collection of autobiographical essays, The Pigeon Tunnel ... In the letters, le Carré engages in entertaining fashion with fans, publishers, directors, actors and politicians ... Le Carré once called himself 'a mole too used to the dark to believe in light' but certainly Sisman's biography, Dawson's memoir and now Tim Cornwell's compilation of the letters, full of rage, compassion and insights, shed significant light on a complex literary and public figure ... An added bonus are le Carré's illustrations and caricatures, peppered throughout the book.
