Smiley's Tears

 

The wonderful writer David Cornwell, known to the world as John Le Carré, has passed away at the age of 89.

Cornwell died of pneumonia. The writer of The spy who came in from the cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was a brilliant wordsmith with a keen understanding of both human nature and human duplicity.

Cornwell started his career as a Foreign Service Officer and recruiter in the British Intelligence Service, M15, in the late 1940's going into the darkest time of the cold war.

I always looked forward to reading his books. He created one of the deepest and greatest protagonists the genre has ever seen, the sad and wise George Smiley. He wrote admirably and consistently until the end of his days. Will try to give him a total reread one of these days.