And he KEPT REPEATING IT! About situations that did not sound mirthful at all! I mean, there's a difference between black humor and sounding lightly demented. It reminded me of someone in the series (Philby's wife I think) who says he's like a bad Bertie Wooster routine.

I love TTSS bc it's told all upside down and backwards, and he has Smiley take us back and back until the original betrayal is revealed. And it's about love, too, and the lies ppl tell themselves for love. Le Carre is the master of suspense -- one of the most hair-raising sequences is a guy fiddling around with papers and folders in the spy archives. But it makes my mouth dry up with fear every time.