History Awesome / TheQuestForKarla

* Karla's [[ShroudedInMyth semi-legendary exploits]] from World War II are full of awesome moments, [[LivingLegend which may or may not have been made up to scare his enemies]]. Case in point: he once uncovered a Nazi DoubleAgent working as a radio operator in his unit, and successfully convinced him to [[DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent turn back to his side]] and leak fake intelligence to the enemy; another time, he managed to break into a German communication network and convince the German artillery to shell their own forward infantry lines.

* With the help of a few old allies and contacts, Smiley manages to unmask and capture a Soviet mole by the end of ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy''. Doesn't sound that impressive, until you remember that he's officially [[TenMinuteRetirement retired from the Circus]] for most of the novel, and thus technically a ''civilian''. Not only does he manage to get his old job back, he manages to get himself appointed Chief of the same intelligence agency that [[ReluctantRetiree kicked him out]], and he does it [[GuileHero without ever throwing a punch or firing a bullet]]. As a colleague later remarks, "Only George Smiley could get himself appointed captain of a sinking ship".

* George Smiley and Toby Esterhase's snatch-and-burn operation in Bern, where Toby gets to show [[TheLastDance one last time]] why he's regarded as the finest lamplighter and pavement artist in the business. They manage to snatch and blackmail Russian commercial attaché Grigoriev so neatly that it's said it would be used for years afterwards at the school as an example of a perfectly executed operation.

* And a final crown jewel for Smiley against Karla. After so long, he's there personally when Karla walks across a Berlin checkpoint to meet him. Smiley won, and all it cost him was [[NotSoDifferentRemark the idea that he and Karla were different]]].

* In the third act of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Jerry Westerby goes to Cambodia to track down a smuggler pilot who might know the truth about Karla's plans in Hong Kong. It ''would'' be a simple assignment, if not for the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Civil_War the Cambodian Civil War]] is going at full speed, and the countryside is crawling with murder-happy Khmer Rouge militants. Despite being stuck in a besieged war zone with no way out, Westerby manages to find his man, climaxing with a scene where he interrogates the guy as he's flying him over a raging battle in the jungle below in a rickety plane [[ItMakesSenseInContext while strung out on opium]]. Say what you will about Westerby's ego, but the man has balls of steel.

!!!''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy''

* Meta: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' won John Le Carré his only James Tait Black Memorial Prize--one of Britain's oldest literary accolades--for outstanding contribution to English literature. For perspective, previous recipients of the award include D.H. Lawrence, Creator/SiegfriedSassoon, Aldous Huxley, Creator/SalmanRushdie, Creator/JonathanFranzen, Ian [=McEwan=] and Creator/CormacMcCarthy. Let's be honest: not many authors of SpyFiction can boast an award that prestigious.

* And a final crown jewel for Smiley against Karla. After so long, he's there personally when Karla walks across a Berlin checkpoint to meet him. Smiley won, and all it cost him was [[NotSoDifferent the idea that he and Karla were different]]].

* And a final crown jewel for Smiley against Karla. And after so long, he's there personally when Karla walks across a Berlin checkpoint to meet him. Smiley won, and all it cost him was the idea that he and Karla were different.

* Meta: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' won John Le Carré his only ames Tait Black Memorial Prize--one of Britain's oldest literary accolades--for outstanding contribution to English literature. For perspective, previous recipients of the award include [[Creator/DHLawrence D.H. Lawrence]], Creator/SiegfriedSassoon, Aldous Huxley, Creator/SalmanRushdie, Creator/JonathanFranzen, Ian [=McEwan=] and Creator/CormacMcCarthy. Let's be honest: not many authors of SpyFiction can boast an award that prestigious.

* George Smiley and Toby Esterhase' snatch-and-burn operation in Bern, where Toby gets to show [[TheLastDance one last time]] why he's regarded as the finest lamplighter and pavement artist in the business. They manage to snatch and blackmail Russian commercial attaché Grigoriev so neatly that it's said it would be used for years afterwards at the school as an example of a perfectly executed operation.
* Smiley gets Karla. And after so long, he's there personally when Karla walks across a Berlin checkpoint to meet him. Smiley won, and all it cost him was the idea that he and Karla were different.

* Meta: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' won John Le Carré his first (and so far ''only'') James Tait Black Memorial Prize--one of Britain's oldest literary accolades--for outstanding contribution to English literature. For perspective, previous recipients of the award include [[Creator/DHLawrence D.H. Lawrence]], Creator/SiegfriedSassoon, Aldous Huxley, Creator/SalmanRushdie, Creator/JonathanFranzen, Ian [=McEwan=] and Creator/CormacMcCarthy. Let's be honest: not many authors of SpyFiction can boast an award that prestigious.

* Smiley gets Karla. And after so long, he's there personally when Karla walks across a Berlin checkpoint to meet him. Smiley won, and all it cost him was [[spoiler: the idea that he and Karla were different]].

* Smiley gets Karla. And after so long, he's there personally when Karla walks across a Berlin checkpoint to meet him. Smiley won, and all it cost him was [[spoiler: [[NotSoDifferent the idea that he and Karla were different]]]].

* George Smiley and Toby Esterhase' snatch-and-burn operation in Bern, where Toby gets to show [[TheLastDance one last time]] why he's regarded as the finest lamplighter and pavement artist in the business. They manage to snatch Russian commercial attaché Grigoriev so neatly, and blackmail him so perfectly, that it's said that for years afterward, it was used at the school as an example of the perfectly executed operation.

* Meta: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' won John Le Carré his first (and so far ''only'') James Tait Black Memorial Prize--one of Britain's oldest literary accolades--for outstanding contribution to English literature. For perspective, previous recipients of the award include D.H. Lawrence, Creator/SiegfriedSassoon, Aldous Huxley, Creator/SalmanRushdie, Creator/JonathanFranzen, Ian [=McEwan=] and Creator/CormacMcCarthy. Let's be honest: not many authors of SpyFiction can boast an award that prestigious.

* Smiley gets Karla. After so long, he's there personally when Karla walks across a Berlin checkpoint to meet him.

!!''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy''

!!''The Honourable Schoolboy''

!!''Smiley's People

* Meta: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' won John Le Carré his first (and so far ''only'') James Tait Black Memorial Prize--one of Britain's oldest literary accolades--for outstanding contribution to English literature. For perspective, previous recipients of the award include D.H. Lawrence, Creator/SiegfriedSassoon, Aldous Huxley, Creator/SalmanRushdie, Creator/JonathanFranzen, Ian [=McEwan=] and Creator/CormacMcCarthy. Let's be honest: not many authors of SpyFiction can boast an award that prestigious.

* In the third act of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Jerry Westerby goes to Cambodia to track down a smuggler pilot who might know the truth about Karla's plans in Hong Kong. It ''would'' be a simple assignment, if not for the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Civil_War the Cambodian Civil War]] is going at full speed, and the countryside is crawling with murder-happy Khmer Rouge militants. Despite being stuck in a besieged war zone with no way out, Westerby manages to find his man, climaxing with a scene where he interrogates the guy as he's flying him over a raging battle in the jungle below [[ItMakesSenseInContext while strung out on opium]]. Say what you will about Westerby's ego, but the man has balls of steel.