John Le Carre

John Le Carre Biography

John Le Carre (David John Moore Cornwell) was born on October 19th, 1931. John passed away December 12th, 2020 at 89 years old. John Le Carre was born in Poole, England. Le Carre attended University of Bern, Switzerland where he studied Foreign Languages.

John Le Carre (David John Moore Cornwell) is probably best known for his Standalone Novels. There are currently 17 novels available. The first standalone was released in 1968 with the novel A Small Town in Germany. The most recently released novel was Silverview which was released in 2021.

John Le Carre also wrote the George Smiley series which has 9 books including Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality.

John le Carré has been on the Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! international list in Japan on a couple of occasions. In 1997, his novel Our Game was ranked #9 in the annual guide book. The Tailor of Panama made the list at #8 in 2000.

Le Carré's third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold became an international best-seller and was adapted as an award-winning film of the same name. This success allowed him to leave MI6 to become a full-time author.

In 2017 A Legacy of Spies was listed as one of the Best Spy Thrillers of the year. In 2019 it was Agent Running in the Field that took that same honor.

John Le Carre Awards & Accolades

John Le Carre has won multiple awards including: The Edgar Award, Grand Master, in 1984, and the Helmerich Award, Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, in 1990. John Le Carre was also nominated for the International Booker Prize, Outstanding Achievement in Fiction, in 2011.

Le Carre's books have also won multiple awards, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold won the Crime Writer's Association Award, Gold Dagger Award, in 1963 as well as the Edgar Award - Best Mystery Novel in 1965. The Honourable Schoolboy won the Crime Writer's Association Award, Gold Dagger Award, in 1977. A Perfect Spy won the Swedish Crime Writer’s Academy Awards, The Martin Beck Award, in 1986.

The following novels by John Le Carre were also nominated for these awards:

• Call for the Dead: Crime Writer's Association Award, Gold Dagger Award (1961).
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Crime Writer's Association Award, Gold Dagger Award (1974).
• Smiley's People: Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Best Fiction (1980).
• The Little Drummer Girl: Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Best Fiction (1983). Edgar Award, Best Mystery Novel (1984).
• A Perfect Spy: Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Best Fiction (1986). Macavity Award, Best Mystery Novel (1987).
• The Night Manager: The Dead Good Reader Award, The Page to Screen Award for Best Adapted Book (2017).

John Le Carre F.A.Q

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Andrew M.

1 year ago

John le Carré is one of the great fiction authors in the writing field. In the Naïve and Sentimental Lover novel, the prose is good, and the story is told in a series of subjective implications, half facts, and hints showing Le Carré’s descriptive skills at their best.
Most of Carré’s classic novels navigate readers through entangled shadow words of espionage with an unmatched knowledge. In his books, words flow, plots are solid, and characters are real. George Smiley was my overall favorite and the most compelling character.
Call for the Dead is a nicely written spy novel with convincing characters. It’s a phenomenal, poetic, and darkly atmospheric book. I had a chance to watch the Tailor of Panama and the Deadly Affair movies based on the books, and I found them fascinating.

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Michael K.

1 year ago

John le Carre’s actual name was David John Moore Cornwell, and he was a real spy. How did I not know that? It feels like everything I thought I knew about him was a lie.

To be fair, I knew next to nothing about le Carre except for his name. I am more shocked by the fact that Le Carre is a pen name than I am by his association with the espionage industry.

My librarian dropped this bombshell in my lap a few days ago, and now, I can’t stop re-reading le Carre’s work. I want to see if I can glean the real-life spy secrets he revealed in the fictional stories he wrote.

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