Title: A continuing sad decline
Review: I have marveled for years at Le Carre's skills, but, as other reviewers have noted, his post-Cold War novels have necessarily changed from the George Smiley books that originally hooked me. The characters have become more predictable (Salvo especially) and, as le Carre has become more overtly political in his writing, he has lost the ability to surprise the reader. His worldview predestines the course of the story, and within a few pages the reader can pretty much predict the direction of the tale, if not the actual ending. That's a sad departure from the early novels, when, without ever resorting to cheap plot twists, le Carre would effortlessly turn the plot on its head in a single phrase, leading the reader on a relentlessly fascinating and utterly unpredictable wild ride. There are still glimmers of the master's brilliance in this work, but the fun is gone.
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