Is 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' your favorite John le Carré novel?

If you’ve never watched the spy movie “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” I highly recommend it. I watched it for the first time a few days ago and thought it was one of the coolest movies that I’ve seen in a long time.

Released in September 2011, the movie starred Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Toby Jones and John Hurt.

The movie is set in 1970s London, and the plot revolves around the hunt for a Soviet double agent at the top of the British intelligence service. I knew little about this movie before watching it, except that it was a spy movie, and I was presently surprised by the high quality of this movie. In essence, it’s a mystery movie with a strong “who done it” theme.

Not surprisingly, this movie was a huge box office success, especially in England. Shot on a budget of $21 million, it reaped worldwide box office revenues of over $80 million. Oldman also got an Oscar nod for his performance. in that he was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in the lead role of George Smiley.

I was especially interested in the fact that this movie is based on John le Carré’s 1974 novel, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” “John le Carré” is the penname used by David John Moore Cornwell, who once worked for the British intelligence service. In all, he has written 22 novels, and “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” was actually the first novel in what is known as his “Karla Trilogy.”

What follows is a complete list of his novels:

1. Call for the Dead (1961)
2. A Murder of Quality (1962)
3. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)
4. The Looking Glass War (1965)
5. A Small Town in Germany (1968)

6. The Naïve and Sentimental Lover (1971)
7. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
8. The Honourable Schoolboy (1977)
9. Smiley's People (1979)
10. The Little Drummer Girl (1983)

11. A Perfect Spy (1986)
12. The Russia House (1989)
13. The Secret Pilgrim (1990)
14. The Night Manager (1993)
15. Our Game (1995)

16. The Tailor of Panama (1996)
17. Single & Single (1999)
18. The Constant Gardener (2001)
19. Absolute Friends (2003)
20. The Mission Song (2006)

21. A Most Wanted Man (2008)
22. Our Kind of Traitor (2010)

The other two books in the “Karla Trilogy” are “The Honourable Schoolboy” and “Smiley’s People.” Other books on the list that may sound familiar to you are “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” and “The Constant Gardener.” “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” is arguably John le Carré’s most famous novel. A successful movie version of “The Constant Gardner” was released in 2005.

In the end, how many of you have seen the 2011 movie, “Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy”? What did you think about it? How many of John le Carré’s books have you read? Which did you like or dislike? Which is your favorite and why? Let us know in the comments section below.