Book Log 2021 #27: The Pigeon Tunnel by John Le Carre

This memoir presents stories from the life of the author (born David Cornwell), providing detail and color to his personal journey from language teacher to intelligence officer to novelist. It is the only feature-length non-fiction book in his bibliography, which is unfortunate, as his skills writing fiction easily carry over.

He also goes into some detail into his difficult parental relationships. His mother left the family when Cornwell was five, and he did not see her again until he was an adult. His dad was a small-time criminal, assocaited with the Kray brothers and always on the make. To me, these are the most interesting stories in the book, less due to any insight they may give to Cornwell as a writer, but more to how he was able to survive a childhood of poverty and neglect to get to where he did (though it's worth noting that his sibilings all achieved a certain amount of success as well).

Very much worth reading, especially if you're a le Carre fan.