![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So farewell, then
Sep. 3rd, 2023 07:22 pmBook Review: Silverview, by John le Carré
It seemed the right time to read le Carré's last work. We are somewhere in Essex, where Julian has abandoned his city career to run a bookshop. Edward, a mysterious visitor, seems to know a lot about Julian - in particular, having been at school with Julian's late father - and has plans. Meanwhile, something is going on in London, at the Service, about some irregularities and risks in... Essex.
Le Carré is as on-form here as ever; There are two opening strands to the story; the mystery is how they will meet, and what will develop from there. The relationship between Edward Avon - aka Florian - and his wife Deborah - is a Service success story. Or is it? Is there something else going on? Who might be deceiving whom, for what reason and to what effect? Le Carré's infinite shades of grey and ambiguity apply here, with multiple possibilities only being resolved right at the end. It is certainly classic le Carré to consider anyone with principles as suspicious.
The end is, in fact, quite sudden. This edition concludes with an endnote by le Carré's son, Nick Harkaway, which perhaps conceals how far through the story you are. Harkaway writes that the novel was essentially finished, that there was always a plan to deal with "unfinished business" in the event of le Carré's death. I suppose it's evidence of the novel's potential, that it could have taken other directions, but it feels like this wasn't the only possible ending, although it is quite a satisfactory one.
It seemed the right time to read le Carré's last work. We are somewhere in Essex, where Julian has abandoned his city career to run a bookshop. Edward, a mysterious visitor, seems to know a lot about Julian - in particular, having been at school with Julian's late father - and has plans. Meanwhile, something is going on in London, at the Service, about some irregularities and risks in... Essex.
Le Carré is as on-form here as ever; There are two opening strands to the story; the mystery is how they will meet, and what will develop from there. The relationship between Edward Avon - aka Florian - and his wife Deborah - is a Service success story. Or is it? Is there something else going on? Who might be deceiving whom, for what reason and to what effect? Le Carré's infinite shades of grey and ambiguity apply here, with multiple possibilities only being resolved right at the end. It is certainly classic le Carré to consider anyone with principles as suspicious.
The end is, in fact, quite sudden. This edition concludes with an endnote by le Carré's son, Nick Harkaway, which perhaps conceals how far through the story you are. Harkaway writes that the novel was essentially finished, that there was always a plan to deal with "unfinished business" in the event of le Carré's death. I suppose it's evidence of the novel's potential, that it could have taken other directions, but it feels like this wasn't the only possible ending, although it is quite a satisfactory one.