| Plot Summary of The Looking Glass War |
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"It is the early 1960s. British military intelligence sent Taylor over to Finland to pick up a roll of film that was shot over a suspicious area of East Germany, but he is hit by a car and killed. Another office man from the department, Avery, follows to pose as Taylor's half-brother and retrieve the body (as well as the film, if he can locate it). His trip arouses suspicion not only among the Finnish and East German authorities, but in "the Circus," as the primary British spy organization is known. Avery and his superiors are sure something big is happening in East Germany -- perhaps the placement of Soviet missiles -- and they train a man (Leiser, a Pole who did some espionage for Britain during the Second World War) to go in and investigate. The goal is to do this not only without the communists catching on, but also Smiley and the Circus, into whose territory they are probably intruding. Le Carre's fourth novel expertly depicts spy and espionage training, inter-agency rivalry, and how many things can very quickly go wrong."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Looking Glass War |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
- main char. spying/sabotage
Who's the terrorist enemy here?
- commies!
Search for technology?
- special war tech.
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- spy
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
The antagonists are:
- communists
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 2
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
A lot of techno jargon?
Yes
Kind of jargon?
- military technology
Unusual forms of death
- run over
- perforation--swords/knives
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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