Title: great but not a masterpiece
Review: I can't agree with the negative reviews here -- this is a very powerful book, and relates to current political issues in a way few spy novels really do. One reviewer complains that much of the book is in flashback and that two main characters aren't really present except in that form: that "complaint" gets to the heart what this book is often dealing with -- memory, reevaluation, what the world meant during the cold war and what it means now, etc. Le Carre has better books (Smiley's People and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold may be the masterworks) but this is a very strong work too.
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