A Perfect Spy

Infobox Book
name = A Perfect Spy


image_caption = First edition cover
author = John le Carré
country = United Kingdom
language = English
cover_artist =
genre = Spy novel
publisher = Hodder & Stoughton (UK) & Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (USA)
release_date = 1986
media_type = Print (Hardback and Paperback)
pages = 475 pages (Hardback edition) & 688 (Paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-394-55141-9 (Hardback edition) & 0671042750 (Paperback edition)

"A Perfect Spy" (1986) by John le Carré, is a novel about the mental and moral dissolution of a secret agent.

Plot introduction

"A Perfect Spy" is the tale of Magnus Pym, a long-time spy for the United Kingdom. When agent Pym mysteriously disappears, his fellow secret agents (not unreasonably) suspect he might have betrayed them — throughout most of his career, Magnus worked for the Czechoslovak secret service. Although intrigue, wit, and suspense compose the novel, the story of Magnus Pym partly is an unadorned recollection of Rick Pym, father of Magnus. The non-linear, memoir format incorporates flashbacks to Pym's childhood with the enterprising, charismatic (rogue and con-man) Rick; to his early years at university; to indoctrination to espionage and state secrets; and to his job adventures. There are several narrators: Mary, Pym's wife, and Jack Brotherhood, Pym's mentor and family friend. The portraits reveal Pym as a man who for so long has manipulated his appearance to those closest to him, that, in the end, he was unable to hold together the conflicting personae in his self. Magnus Pym has been a perfect spy, but at the cost of his soul.

Literary significance and criticism

"A Perfect Spy" marks John le Carré's transition from writing spy novels, more about character than about gun action, to complex character studies of men and women who are spies. Many readers and literary critics consider this novel his best.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

* A 1987 TV adaptation of the same name was produced by the BBC starring Peter Egan.cite web | url =http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092425 | title = A Perfect Spy | accessdate = May 15 | accessdaymonth = | accessmonthday = | accessyear = 2008 | author = | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | date = | year = | month = | format = | work = | publisher = imdb.com | pages = | language = English | doi = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | quote =]
* Interestingly, in an audiobook recording of John le Carré reading aloud an abridged version of this book, he introduces the work as "THE Perfect Spy."

References