Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1322776
Now that le Carré will write no more, will his novels still be read in 50 years' time? I am certain they will. His work is remarkable for sustaining the popular and critical acclaim throughout his literary lifetime, almost into his tenth decade. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 DECEMBER 2020 4 BOOKS John le Carré's archivist: papers reveal a painstaking Written by Richard Ovenden, director of the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University IN 2006 I wrote a speculative letter to David Cornwell (bet- ter known by his nom de plume, John le Carré) containing a po- lite request that, if he hadn't made other plans, would he consider donating his papers to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. The Bodleian holds impor- tant collections of archives and manuscripts (among many other things) of politicians, sci- entists, philosophers, and of course writers. I felt that his papers should be in a British institution – and where better than the research library of the university where he had been an undergraduate (he read modern languages at Oxford in the 1950s). The reply came back very swiftly: he had not been asked by any other British institution, and had rebuffed offers from US libraries with deep pock- ets, adding, "I am delighted to be able to do this. Oxford was Smiley's spiritual home, as it is mine. And while I have the greatest respect for Ameri- can universities, the Bodleian is where I shall most happily rest." Now the great writer has died, I have been reflecting on the legacy of his archive and on the friendship that exchange initiated. David and his wife Jane came to visit a few weeks later and I followed this up the following spring with a visit to their Cornish home, near where my family and I often holi- dayed. David treated my family to a cliff-top game of croquet, while Jane and I went to survey the papers which were stored in a converted barn. They had been very carefully boxed, book-by-book, making our ar- chival task considerably easier. The first 85 boxes arrived in the Bodleian a little while lat- er and we were able to begin the task of cataloguing the first tranches of papers, which has made it possible for students and scholars to access these materials, and for us to include them in exhibitions and semi- nars. Evolution of an idea The papers are most revealing of David's approach to writing, and of his collaboration with Jane. Take his classic Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy for exam- ple. The papers show how the novel evolved in the process of composition from its early working title – The Reluctant Autumn of George Smiley – to the final published text. There are almost 30 drafts of the novel made during the process of composition, 1972- 4, from the first hand-written manuscripts through to the fi- nal proofs. Each of these show an incredible intensity of close attention to the text: impor- tant changes are made on each version, the author determined to improve the work right up to the moment when it finally goes off to the printer. The early drafts show a deep process of collaboration with his wife, Jane. He would hand