His comments come in contrast to current C Richard Moore - who led tributes
The celebrated spy author Le Carré died in Cornwall on Saturday at the age of 89
Spy author John le Carré tarnished MI6 and his novels were a stain on the secret service, its former head has claimed.
Sir Richard Dearlove blasted the writer - real name David Cornwell - for successfully tarring the moral reputation of his former colleagues .
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His comments come in stark contrast to current C Richard Moore, who called him a giant of literature as he led tributes to le Carré after he died from pneumonia on Saturday aged 89.
Aside from being great yarns, Europe and the project of European integration lie at the heart of the best work of the great spy novelist, John Le Carré, who died on Saturday.
“Britain’s departure from the European Union in the time of Donald Trump, and Britain’s consequent unqualified dependence on the United States in an era when the US is heading straight down the road to institutional racism and neo-fascism, is an unmitigated clusterfuck bar none,” says one of the characters in ‘Agent Running in the Field’, Le Carré’s last novel.
He offered a different, grimier version of England than Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels which achieved mass popularity several years before Le Carré hit the mass market with ‘The Spy who came in from the Cold’.
MI6 chiefs split over John Le Carré s spy thrillers: brilliant works or a stain on the service ?
MI6 boss Richard Moore was full of praise for the author, but predecessor Sir Richard Dearlove said Le Carré wrote with vitriol
14 December 2020 • 9:00pm
John Le Carré was praised by the current MI6 chief as a giant of literature
Credit: John MacDougall/AFP
When the head of MI6 praised John Le Carré as “a giant of literature”, it appeared that the British intelligence service had finally brought the author in from the cold.
But his generous tribute was not shared by one of Richard Moore’s predecessors as ‘C’, Sir Richard Dearlove. Writing in Tuesday s Daily Telegraph, Sir Richard said Le Carré’s spy thrillers were a “stain” on the service and had “successfully tarred the moral reputation of his former colleagues”.
Yves here. At the risk of having readers deem me to be a philistine, I have to confess to assuming John le Carré was a guy-spy-action author. Not that I don’t regularly read male-oriented fiction (I love sci fi) but aside from Graham Greene, I’ve never been a fan of spooky novels. Now that I have learned that le Carré was subtle and subversive, I can now look forward to sampling and hopefully enjoying his work.
By Anthony Barnett (@AnthonyBarnett), the founding Editor-in-Chief of openDemocracy (2001-7), the Co-Director of The Convention on Modern Liberty (2009), the first Director of Charter 88 (1988-95). He was a member of the editorial advisory group of the Bureau of Investigative Reporting (2014-18). Anthony has authored four books and edited one collection, and co-authored two books and co-edited two collections of essays, listed here. He also sits on the Board of The Open Trust. Originally published at openDemocracy
John Le Carré speaking at the German embassy in 2017.
- Credit: German Embassy London/Wikimedia Commons
“When I am in Hampstead there is a bench I favour on the Heath, tucked under a spreading tree and set apart from its companions, and that’s where I like to scribble. I have only ever written by hand.”
So wrote John Le Carré in The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life, conjuring an image familiar to readers of spy fiction. The lone man, sat on the bench, engrossed in whatever he is holding. Perhaps it is the Times crossword or a Christmas card to a distant relative - or a disguise to mask his true purpose. Or perhaps it is the beginnings of an international bestseller.