Agent Running in the Field: the final novel of John Le Carré
Image from The New Indian Express
“The last thing the office will want to do when it has rumbled an agent is turn him over to the forces of justice.” So says our protagonist, even as he recruits and runs agents for that same “office” — secret, double and triple — enabling his government to watch scores of people, often with questionable motives.
When John Le Carre died earlier this month, I happened to be listening to his last novel, beautifully read by the author himself, who at age 88 produced this serious, funny, and very contemporary novel.
As a former spook, Le Carre knows “the office” from the inside out. This latest novel leaves the reader with juicy questions and tasty food for thought. To begin with, the title resonates with fascinating ambiguities. It suggests the job of running agents “in the field” as well as the notion that the agent himself is running. If this is so, is he running to stay abreast of his spying work? Might he also be running from himself, or perhaps in a futile attempt to escape the “field” altogether?
Nicknamed Nat (or is Nat a species of legend?), our man in London is a former spy with plenty of experience running field agents in Eastern Europe. Newly returned from “the field,” he is struggling to re-establish himself on a firmer footing with his wife Prue, (a woman of “bare-faced integrity” whose law firm is going after Big Pharma) and their only daughter. Against his better judgment, he allows his employers — ironically referred to as his “chers collèges” - to persuade him back for “one last job,” centred this time in London. Disillusioned by the new order, he regrets agreeing to this, until a series of bizarre developments catches his attention. Meanwhile, he accepts the irresistible challenge of defending his position as badminton club champion against a much younger man. This, of course, is part of the plot.
Loyalty versus betrayal is a major theme in Le Carre’s work. In this novel, we see Nat’s personal struggle with these conflicting ideas, in his work, his marriage and his parental relationship to the adolescent Steph, who is passing through a difficult phase. A good man and a conscientious father, Nat is painfully aware of how much of her childhood he has missed because of work, and he makes a careful and thoughtful effort to compensate.
In the disillusioning days of Brexit and Trump, (and both these are mentioned in the novel), the really vexing question for Nat is whether the demands of the office — ergo those of his country — are compatible with his vision of himself as a good and decent man. Full of surprises, this book is a page-turner. Along with the satisfying story, Le Carre’s trenchant commentary on contemporary conditions make it a true joy to read.
Having recently read historian Ben Macintyre’s life of Agent Sonya, I was more than usually willing to admit the incredible truth that lies at the heart of good spy fiction.