Review of SILVERVIEW
Our last apparently unfinished novel from John Le Carre
Dear Nick Cornwell,
I recently read your father’s unfinished, posthumously published novel, Silverview. I consider the Smiley trilogy to be one of the high points of post WWII fiction. I have read each book twice. His earlier works are good, but they are simply tune ups to the trilogy. What followed was always well-written with terrific plots that adapted well to film and television but the Cold War context and your father’s inside baseball feel for the Secret Service that propelled the Smiley trilogy was no longer there … not even in the reprise you so much love, A Delicate Truth. Genius is a guest not a homeowner and your father’s genius was fully revealed in that trilogy. The rest of oeuvre lie in its shadow. Which brings me to Silverview.
I agree with you that it feels like a reckoning. Britain is barely relevant in this world. There is no “spy coming in from the cold”. There is no “cracking the case.” It is a world on the verge of a “Metaverse” alternative. Nothing so assuredly concrete as that Cold War polarity. Thus, there is no ending to Silverview. All is adrift. It is a sobering and unnerving coda from a writer of many sobering and unnerving novels. You did well to treat it as respectfully as you did. It feels like a perfect bookend.
I will recommend it unreservedly to those familiar with your father’s work. For the others, I insist they begin with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy … lucky dogs.
Good luck with your writing,
Peter Vaughn
Silverview
John Le Carre (2021)
208 pages