The Little Drummer Girl
Encyclopedia
The Little Drummer Girl is a spy novel by John le Carré
, published in 1983. The story follows the manipulations of Martin Kurtz, an Israel
i spymaster who is trying to kill a Palestinian
terrorist code-named
'Khalil', who is bombing Jewish
-related targets in Europe
, particularly Germany
, and the English actress Charlie, who becomes a double agent
working on the behalf of the Israelis. The novel does not feature le Carré's most famous character George Smiley
.
Despite the plot, some reviewers thought it transcends the spy novel genre. "The Little Drummer Girl is about spies", said William F. Buckley, writing in the New York Times, "as Madame Bovary
is about adultery or Crime and Punishment
about crime."
, who was then noted for her pro-Palestinian political sympathies), and uses her in an elaborate scheme to discover Khalil's whereabouts. Charlie's case officer
is Joseph. Charlie's motives for helping the Israelis when she is in fact an anti-Zionist are complex but revolve around her falling in love with Joseph.
Salim is abducted, interrogated, and killed by Kurtz's unit. Joseph impersonates Salim and travels through Europe with Charlie in order to make Khalil believe that Charlie and Salim are lovers, the goal being that, when Khalil discovers the affair and contacts Charlie, the Israelis will be able to track him down.
Khalil does contact Charlie through intermediaries, and she travels to a Palestine refugee camps in Lebanon
to be trained as a bomber. She becomes more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, and the schizophrenic lifestyle she is forced to live brings her close to collapse.
Finally, Charlie is sent on a mission to pretend to place a bomb at a lecture given by an Israeli moderate whose peace proposals are not to Khalil's liking. She carries out the mission under the Israelis's supervision. As a result, Khalil is killed, and Charlie's mission comes to an end. She subsequently has a mental breakdown caused by the strain of her mission and her own internal contradictions. Whereupon, Joseph comes to her aid: "locked together, they set off awkwardly along the pavement, though the town was strange to them."
in 1984. It starred Diane Keaton
as Charlie, Yorgo Voyagis as Joseph, and Klaus Kinski
as Kurtz. The film changes Charlie from an English twentysomething to a thirty-ish American. The film was released on DVD
in 2006.
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
, published in 1983. The story follows the manipulations of Martin Kurtz, an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i spymaster who is trying to kill a Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
terrorist code-named
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
'Khalil', who is bombing Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
-related targets in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, particularly Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and the English actress Charlie, who becomes a double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
working on the behalf of the Israelis. The novel does not feature le Carré's most famous character George Smiley
George Smiley
George Smiley is a fictional character created by John le Carré. Smiley is an intelligence officer working for MI6 , the British overseas intelligence agency...
.
Despite the plot, some reviewers thought it transcends the spy novel genre. "The Little Drummer Girl is about spies", said William F. Buckley, writing in the New York Times, "as Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...
is about adultery or Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
about crime."
Plot summary
Kurtz recruits a radical left-wing English actress, Charlie (allegedly based on Vanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
, who was then noted for her pro-Palestinian political sympathies), and uses her in an elaborate scheme to discover Khalil's whereabouts. Charlie's case officer
Agent handling
In intelligence organizations, agent handling is the management of agents, principal agents, and agent networks by intelligence officers typically known as case officers.-Human intelligence:...
is Joseph. Charlie's motives for helping the Israelis when she is in fact an anti-Zionist are complex but revolve around her falling in love with Joseph.
Salim is abducted, interrogated, and killed by Kurtz's unit. Joseph impersonates Salim and travels through Europe with Charlie in order to make Khalil believe that Charlie and Salim are lovers, the goal being that, when Khalil discovers the affair and contacts Charlie, the Israelis will be able to track him down.
Khalil does contact Charlie through intermediaries, and she travels to a Palestine refugee camps in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
to be trained as a bomber. She becomes more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, and the schizophrenic lifestyle she is forced to live brings her close to collapse.
Finally, Charlie is sent on a mission to pretend to place a bomb at a lecture given by an Israeli moderate whose peace proposals are not to Khalil's liking. She carries out the mission under the Israelis's supervision. As a result, Khalil is killed, and Charlie's mission comes to an end. She subsequently has a mental breakdown caused by the strain of her mission and her own internal contradictions. Whereupon, Joseph comes to her aid: "locked together, they set off awkwardly along the pavement, though the town was strange to them."
Film adaptation
The Little Drummer Girl, was made into a feature film by George Roy HillGeorge Roy Hill
George Roy Hill was an American film director. He is most noted for directing such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, which both starred the acting duo Paul Newman and Robert Redford...
in 1984. It starred Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
as Charlie, Yorgo Voyagis as Joseph, and Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early...
as Kurtz. The film changes Charlie from an English twentysomething to a thirty-ish American. The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in 2006.