Spies & Authors

Seems to me, while reading through some John LeCarre, that there’s a correlation between the characteristics of a spy and common notions regarding the qualities of an author:

• LeCarre’s spies tend to be unaware of the big picture as they are involved in one operation or another; they operate on a “need to know” basis. Similarly, the author does not necessarily know where his story will end, but tries to keep up with it as he writes along.
• Both authors and field agents are sensitive to language and its various subtleties. Language is the means of interrogation and other intelligence gathering, just as it is that of creating stories.
• LeCarre’s spies tend to be lonely folk, often isolated by their secret lives. Authorship too is a solitary line of work.
• Foremost in the mind of the field agent is maintaining his cover, and all his actions ought to convey a sense of believability and verisimilitude, which of course enables him to appear to be someone he isn’t. Such is the responsibility of the author as well — to maintain fictions.

Finally, the British secret service is — like most authors — chronically underfunded.