Silverview: A Novel by John le Carr? (English) Paperback Book

Description: Silverview by John le Carré An instant New York Times bestseller!In his last completed novel, John le Carré turns his focus to the world that occupied his writing for the past sixty years—the secret world itself."[Le Carré] was often considered one of the finest novelists, period, since World War II. Its not that he transcended the genre, as the tired saying goes; its that he elevated the level of play… [Silverviews] sense of moral ambivalence remains exquisitely calibrated." —The New York Times Book ReviewJulian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the city for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julians evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julians family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise. When a letter turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning him of a dangerous leak, the investigations lead him to this quiet town by the sea . . . Silverview is the mesmerizing story of an encounter between innocence and experience and between public duty and private morals. In his inimitable voice John le Carré, the greatest chronicler of our age, seeks to answer the question of what we truly owe to the people we love. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Author Biography JOHN LE CARRÉ was born in 1931. For six decades he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a con man, he spent his childhood between boarding school and the London underworld. At sixteen he found refuge at the university of Bern, then later at Oxford. A spell of teaching at Eton led him to a short career in British Intelligence, in MI5 and MI6. He published his debut novel, Call for the Dead, in 1961 while still a secret servant. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, secured him a worldwide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, and Smileys People. At the end of the Cold War, le Carré widened his scope to explore an international landscape including the arms trade and the War on Terror. His memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, was published in 2016 and the last George Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, appeared in 2017. Silverview is his twenty-sixth novel. John le Carré died on December 12, 2020. Review Praise for Silverview:"[Le Carré] was often considered one of the finest novelists, period, since World War II. Its not that he transcended the genre, as the tired saying goes; its that he elevated the level of play… [Silverviews] sense of moral ambivalence remains exquisitely calibrated." —The New York Times Book Review "The plot unfolds with as much cryptic cunning as a reader could want...Enjoyable throughout, written with grace, and a welcome gift from the past."" —The Wall Street Journal"A thoroughly enjoyable book...a clarion call that slices straight to the bone, and hurts. John le Carré did not just leave the world an engaging novel, he also left us with a warning." —The Washington Post"This is an intelligent, mournful, wry delight… a suitable end to a storied career, a low-key thriller with a brain and a conscience." —Minneapolis Star Tribune"What a gift to have a posthumous novel by John le Carré, a writer who gave us a world of intricate spycraft, government mendacity and corrupt capitalist overlords that was as unromantic as it was immersive and transporting. Silverview is… an enjoyable coda to a unforgettable career." —Vogue"John le Carré fans can exhale. Silverview, the master storytellers twenty-sixth and final novel, has arrived and its cause for celebration… Silverview is a propulsive and elegantly written tale… a fully formed thriller that provides a stinging look at the British Secret Service operating under crisis. Less labyrinthine than some of le Carrés early work, it has all the grand themes of his best novels — love and betrayal, loyalty and morality — fully on display." —AARP"A well-aimed parting shot." —The New Republic"A worthy coda...from a much-missed master." —The Economist"One of [le Carrés] most touching and satisfying [novels] – for putting into high relief this beloved authors vision for his country and his disappointments, and perhaps most of all, the elegance and coloristic palette of his unique and incomparable prose." —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"Silverview is a fine book centered on the lonely lives of spies and difficult choices they make when experience redefines the parameters of their mission for Queen and country… John Le Carré at the top of his game – smart, candid, stylish, relevant." —Valdosta Daily Times"First-rate prose and a fascinating plot distinguish the final novel from MWA Grand Master le Carré ... This is a fitting coda to a remarkable career." —Publishers WeeklyPraise for John le Carré:"The premier spy novelist of his time. Perhaps of all time."—Time "[Le Carrés] novels are so brilliant because theyre emotionally and psychologically absolutely true."—The New York Times Book Review "Le Carré is one of the best novelists—of any kind—we have."—Vanity Fair "No other writer has charted—pitilessly for politicians but thrillingly for readers—the public and secret histories of his times."—The Guardian (London) Review Quote Praise for Silverview : "[Le Carr Excerpt from Book 1 At ten oclock of a rainswept morning in Londons West End, a young woman in a baggy anorak, a woollen scarf pulled up around her head, strode resolutely into the storm that was roaring down South Audley Street. Her name was Lily and she was in a state of emotional anxiety which at moments turned to outrage. With one mittened hand she shielded her eyes from the rain while she glowered at door numbers, and with the other steered a plastic-covered pushchair that contained Sam, her two-year-old son. Some houses were so grand they had no numbers at all. Others had numbers but belonged to the wrong street. Arriving at a pretentious doorway with its number painted with unusual clarity on one pillar, she climbed the steps backwards, hauling the pushchair after her, scowled at a list of names beside the owners bell buttons, and jabbed the lowest. Just give the door a push, dear, a kindly womans voice advised her over the speaker. I need Proctor. She said Proctor or no one, Lily said, straight back. Stewarts on his way now, dear, the same soothing voice announced, and seconds later the front door opened to reveal a stalky, bespectacled man in his mid-fifties, with a leftward lean to his body, and a long beakish head tilted in semi-humorous enquiry. A matronly woman with white hair and a cardigan stood at his shoulder. Im Proctor. Dyou want a hand with that? he asked, peering into the pushchair. How do I know its you? Lily demanded in reply. Because your revered mother phoned me last night on my private number and urged me to be here. She said alone, Lily objected, scowling at the matronly woman. Marie looks after the house. Shes also happy to lend any kind of spare hand if needed, said Proctor. The matronly woman stepped forward but Lily shrugged her away, and Proctor closed the door after her. In the quiet of the entrance hall she rolled back the plastic cover until the top of the sleeping boys head was revealed. His hair was black and curly, his expression enviably content. He was awake all night, Lily said, laying a hand on the childs brow. Beautiful, the woman Marie said. Steering the pushchair under the staircase where it was darkest, Lily delved in its underside and extracted a large unmarked white envelope and stood herself before Proctor. His half-smile reminded her of an elderly priest shed been supposed to confess her sins to at boarding school. She hadnt liked the school and she hadnt like the priest and she didnt intend to like Proctor now. Im supposed to sit here and wait while you read it, she informed him. Of course you are, Proctor agreed pleasantly, peering crookedly down at her through his spectacles. And can I also say, Im very, very sorry? If youve got a message back, Im to give it to her by mouth, she said. She doesnt want phone calls, texts or emails. Not from the Service or anyone. Including you. Thats all very sad too, Proctor commented after a moment of sombre reflection, and, as if only now waking to the envelope he was holding in his hand, he poked at it speculatively with his bony fingers: Quite an opus, I must say. How many pages, would you think? I dont know. Home stationery? - still poking - Cant be. Nobody has home stationery this size. Just normal typing paper, I suppose. I havent seen inside. I told you. Of course you did. Well - with a comic little smile that momentarily disarmed her - to work, then. Looks as if Im in for a long read. Will you excuse me if I withdraw? In a barren sitting room on the other side of the entrance hall Lily and Marie sat facing each other in lumpy tartan chairs with wooden arms. On a scratched glass table between them lay a tin tray with a Thermos of coffee and chocolate digestive biscuits. Lily had rejected both. So how is she? Marie asked. As well as can be expected, thanks. When youre dying. Yes, its all awful, of course. It always is. But in her spirit, how is she? Shes got her marbles, if thats what you mean. Doesnt do morphine, doesnt hold with it. Comes down for supper when she can manage. And still enjoys her food, I hope? Unable to take more of this, Lily marched to the hall and busied herself with Sam until Proctor appeared. His room was smaller than the first and darker, with grubby net curtains, very thick. Concerned to preserve a respectful distance between them, Proctor positioned himself next to a radiator on the far wall. Lily didnt like the set of his face. Youre the oncologist at Ipswich Hospital, and what youre about to say is for close family only. Youre going to tell me shes dying, but I know that, so whats left? Im taking it for granted that you know what your mothers letter says, Proctor began flatly, no longer sounding like the priest she wouldnt confess to, but somebody a lot more real. And seeing her brace herself for denial: Its general thrust anyway, if not its actual contents. I told you already, Lily retorted roughly. Not its general thrust or anything else. Mum didnt tell me and I didnt ask. Its the game we used to play in the dormitory: how long can you stare out the other girl without blinking or smiling? All right, Lily, lets look at it another way, Proctor suggested with infuriating forbearance. You dont know whats in the letter. You dont know what its about. But youve told this or that friend that you were popping up to London to deliver it. So whove you told? Because we really need to know. I have not told one single fucking word to anybody, Lily said, straight into the expressionless face across the room. Mum said dont, so I didnt. Lily. What? I know very little of your personal circumstances. But the little I do know tells me you must have a partner of some sort. What did you say to him? Or if its a her, to her? You cant simply vanish from your stricken household for a day without offering an excuse of some kind. What more human than to say, quite by the way, to a boyfriend, girlfriend, pal - even to some casual acquaintance - "Guess what? Im popping up to London to hand-deliver a super-secret letter for my mother"? Youre telling me thats human? For us? To talk like that to each other? To a casual acquaintance? Whats human is, Mum said she didnt want me to tell a living soul, so I didnt. Plus Im indoctrinated. By your lot. Im signed up. Three years ago they held a pistol to my head and told me I was grown up enough to keep a secret. Plus I havent got a partner, and I havent got a bunch of girlie friends I bubble to. The staring game again. And I didnt tell my father either, if thats what youre asking, she added, in a tone that sounded more like a confession. Did your mother stipulate that you shouldnt tell him? Proctor enquired, rather more sharply. She didnt say I should, so I didnt. Thats us. Thats our household. We tiptoe round each other. Maybe your household does the same. So tell me, then, if you will, Proctor went on, leaving aside what his family did or didnt do. Just for interest. What ostensible reason did you give for popping up to London today? You mean whats my cover story? The gaunt face across the room brightened. Yes, I suppose I do, Proctor conceded, as if cover story were a new concept to him, and a rather jolly one at that. Were looking at a nursery school in our area. Near my pad in Bloomsbury. To get Sam on the list for when hes three. Admirable. And will you actually be doing that? Looking at a real school? You and Sam? Meet the staff and so on? Get his name down? - Proctor the concerned uncle now, and a pretty convincing one. Depends how Sam is when I can get him out of here. Do please manage it if you can, Proctor urged. It makes it so much easier when you get back. Easier? Whats easier? - bridling again - You mean easier to lie? I mean easier not to lie, Proctor corrected her earnestly. If you say you and Sam are going to visit a school and you visit it, and you then go home and say youve visited it, wheres the lie? Youre under quite enough strain as it is. I can barely imagine how you put up with it all. For a discomfiting moment, she knew he meant it. So the question remains, Proctor continued, returning to business, what reply should I ask you to take back to your extremely brave mama? Because shes owed one. And must have it. He paused as if hoping for a little help from her. Receiving none, he went on. And, as you said, it can only be by mouth. And you will have to administer it alone. Lily, Im really sorry. May I begin? He began anyway. Details ISBN0593490630 Short Title Silverview Pages 224 Language English Year 2022 ISBN-10 0593490630 ISBN-13 9780593490631 Format Paperback Publication Date 2022-07-05 Subtitle A Novel Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc Imprint Penguin USA Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2022-07-05 NZ Release Date 2022-07-05 US Release Date 2022-07-05 UK Release Date 2022-07-05 Author John le Carré DEWEY 823.914 Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:135528762;

Price: 32.4 AUD

Location: Melbourne

End Time: 2025-01-15T00:40:07.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 AUD