Our Kind of Traitor
by John le Carré
(Viking, R220)
Anyone who is a Le Carré fan has been intrigued to watch how the master works himself into the spy genre so ably without the comfort of his treacherous, traditional enemy, the Cold War.
We also know that while the world has dramatically changed, there’s more than enough scope for thriller writers to latch on to. There are new trends that dominate with the murky underworld that is so foreign to us, yet it also draws us in because it seems to play a role so beyond our scope of the real world. Think closer to home and the court cases dominating newspapers daily.
Le Carré, because of his mind and his skill at carving characters that both hold our attention and allow us to care, has a special place in this genre.
He seems to have found his way around the problem quite simply by attaching himself to certain issues like in the case of The Constant Gardener. Here he looked at pharmaceutical companies and had a field day scratching round in that particular quagmire.
As with previous books what makes this one such a thrill, is the theatrical quality of the story. Because of the events and the dramatic characters, the visual element becomes almost like an extra dimension as we run along with this fast-paced adventure. It’s accessible, we could easily see this happening to someone and almost breathe a sigh of relief as we watch others try and disentangle themselves from something that they didn’t wish to encounter.
Two young professionals escape from a harsh financial climate by taking an off-season holiday in the Caribbean where they bump into a Russian millionaire called Dima. Apart from the fact that the two men have tennis in common, there’s not much more that would encourage a friendship. But in holiday-type atmosphere the two families become entangled as we become engrossed with the almost gothic ensemble that Le Carré has created.
It’s the closest that this writer will come to creating a James Bond-type scenario.
With the many holidays in April, this is the perfect read as early mornings and late nights start to get that extra chill. – Diane de Beer