The Secret Pilgrim

The Secret Pilgrim
1st US edition cover
Author(s)	John le Carré
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	George Smiley
Genre(s)	Spy Novel
Publisher	Alfred A. Knopf (USA) & Hodder & Stoughton (UK)
Publication date	January 1990
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	335 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-394-58842-8 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC Number	231273662
Dewey Decimal	823/.914 20
LC Classification	PR6062.E33 S43 1991

The Secret Pilgrim is a 1990 novel, set within the frame narrative of a series of lectures by John le Carré's George Smiley, famous only within the 'Circus'. The memoirs, narrated by Ned, a former pupil of Smiley's, are, except for the last, triggered by tangential Smiley comments in lectures given at Sarratt, the spy-training college which Ned runs. However, they are primarily accounts of Ned's own experiences rather than of Smiley's. Ned, who does not give his surname, represents himself as the head of the Russia House in The Russia House, disgraced by the defection of Barley Blair and hence condemned to a semi-retirement in charge of Sarratt. In many senses The Secret Pilgrim is a collection of short stories, tied together as Ned's recollection. Many of them are recognisable anecdotes or urban legends within the British Intelligence community.

Within the first few pages the novel reveals the ending of The Russia House and the identity of the mole Gerald (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy).

Plot introduction

George Smiley unexpectedly accepts an invitation from Ned to speak at the agent training school at Sarratt. Ned revels silently in his memories as Smiley imparts his wisdom to a class of newly-recruited MI6 students, pausing only to polish his spectacles on the fat end of his tie to the secret delight of all present; a mannerism frequently mentioned in the Smiley canon.

Smiley's sections of the book are quite brief; the bulk of the book consists of Ned's reminiscences, prompted by his interpretation of tangential comments made by Smiley and illuminated from his own experiences. At the end of the penultimate chapter, Smiley instructs them not to invite him again.

The final chapter is unconnected with Smiley; Ned recollects Leonard Burr, who appears in the novel The Night Manager.

The themes of the book are Smiley's sense of the moral ambiguity of spying, and Ned's growing self-awareness.

Blurb

The Berlin Wall is toppled, the Iron Curtain swept aside. The Secret Pilgrim is Ned, a decent, loyal soldier of the Cold War, who has been in British Intelligence all his adult life. Now, approaching the end of his career, he is forced by the explosions of change to revisit his secret years. He illuminates the brave past and even braver present of George Smiley, his hero and mentor, who gives back to him the dangerous edge of memory that empowers him finally to frame the questions that have haunted him - and the world - for thirty years.