John le Carré didn't invent the spy novel – he joined a tradition and made it new again | John le Carré | The Guardian

I can still remember the strange thrill I experienced on first reading The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, John le Carré's third novel, published in 1963, and the one that made his name and brought him lasting international success. I must have been in my early 20s, I suppose, but I can vividly recall that feeling of privileged access that the book gave to you - as if you were being let into a private club, a clandestine world for initiates only. It was a bafflingly difficult novel, also, and that added to the engagement. When I came to read more le Carré I discovered that you, the reader, were expected to pay attention. Only that way could you participate in the slow and tortuous decryption of what was going to be revealed as the narrative unspooled.