1) John le Carré recently won this year’s winner of the Goethe Medal. The Medal is for writers ‘who have performed outstanding service for the German language and international cultural relations’. The spymaster honed his German skills while studying at the University of Berne and Lincoln College, Oxford. Traditionally, le Carré has been a reluctant recipient of prizes. Earlier this year he claimed he did ‘not compete for literary prizes‘, asking to be taken off the Man International Booker Prize shortlist.
2) Le Carré’s real name is David Cornwell. The seedbed for his early work came from his time in British Intelligence in Hamburg and Bonn. He wrote two slim murder mysteries as well as his most famous novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, while still a spy. More should be revealed in a biography from the pen of Adam Sisman that is expected within the next few years. Recently, he has also donated his literary archive to the Bodleian library in Oxford, claiming ‘Oxford was Smiley’s spiritual home, as it is mine.’
3) Le Carré’s works have been ripe for adaptation over the years. 2005 saw the acclaimed film of The Constant Gardener, starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. The film of his classic cold-war novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is due out in November. Gary Oldman takes on the role George Smiley, joined by a supporting cast that includes Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Graham and Mark Strong. Similarly, one of Le Carré’s most recent books, A Most Wanted Man, is also reported to be in the offing with Anton Corbijn in the director’s chair.
4) Never a prolific interviewee, le Carré has now officially called time on all interviews. He gave his last ever interview to CBS, claiming that ‘I’m going into my 80s. I want to write. I don’t want to be doing the personal publicity any more.’ A collection of some of his best interviews, meanwhile, can be found in the book Conversations with John le Carré.
5) Le Carré’s position in the contemporary canon has always sparked debate. In the Times (£), David Sanerson has claimed that ‘Smiley alone marks le Carré as a genius’. His colleague Oliver Kamm disagrees, claiming le Carré ‘doesn’t approach Joseph Conrad’ and doesn’t ‘outclass John Buchan’. Support for the former view has been heard on these pages here. The publishing world seems to agree, with the rejacketing of many his novels (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Russia House, The Secret Pilgrim and A Murder of Quality) in the silver uniform of the Penguin Modern Classics series with two more (A Small Town in Germany and The Looking Glass War) due out in November.
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