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The Circus needs a victory to restore the government's faith. Smiley, determined to bring down Karla, wonders if the mole's activities might inadvertently hint at Karla's schemes elsewhere. And so a plan slowly takes shape, sending agents to Hong Kong, where the USSR, the west and communist China all have their own schemes in play...
to:
The Circus needs a victory to restore the government's faith. Smiley, determined to bring down Karla, wonders if the mole's activities might inadvertently hint at Karla's schemes elsewhere. And so a plan slowly takes shape, sending agents British agent Jerry Westerby to Hong Kong, where the USSR, the west and communist China all have their own schemes in play...
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''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's the second book of the ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, itself part of Le Carré's [[TheVerse wider series]] of SpyFiction novels centred featuring the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
After the events of ''Literature/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'', the Circus is falling apart. George Smiley, pulled out of retirement, is now in charge and trying to rebuild the organisation. But although TheMole has been removed, Russian spymaster Karla is still active, and his operation has done a lot of damage that can't easily be repaired.
After the events of ''Literature/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'', the Circus is falling apart. George Smiley, pulled out of retirement, is now in charge and trying to rebuild the organisation. But although TheMole has been removed, Russian spymaster Karla is still active, and his operation has done a lot of damage that can't easily be repaired.
to:
''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's the second book of the ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, itself part of Le Carré's [[TheVerse wider series]] of SpyFiction novels centred featuring around the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
After the events of ''Literature/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'', the Circus is falling apart. Soviet spymaster Karla managed to insert a [[TheMole mole]] deep into the organisation, and Karla's agent wasn't detected for many years. Veteran spy George Smiley, pulled out of retirement, led the investigation and, finally, removed the mole - Smiley's reward, such as it is, is that he's now in charge and trying to rebuild theorganisation. But although TheMole has been removed, Russian spymaster Karla is still active, organisation.
The Circus needs a victory to restore the government's faith. Smiley, determined to bring down Karla, wonders if the mole's activities might inadvertently hint at Karla's schemes elsewhere. And so a plan slowly takes shape, sending agents to Hong Kong, where the USSR, the west andhis operation has done a lot of damage that can't easily be repaired. communist China all have their own schemes in play...
After the events of ''Literature/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'', the Circus is falling apart. Soviet spymaster Karla managed to insert a [[TheMole mole]] deep into the organisation, and Karla's agent wasn't detected for many years. Veteran spy George Smiley, pulled out of retirement, led the investigation and, finally, removed the mole - Smiley's reward, such as it is, is that he's now in charge and trying to rebuild the
The Circus needs a victory to restore the government's faith. Smiley, determined to bring down Karla, wonders if the mole's activities might inadvertently hint at Karla's schemes elsewhere. And so a plan slowly takes shape, sending agents to Hong Kong, where the USSR, the west and
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* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Drake Ko in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. Though it's debatable whether he's truly "evil", he's in league with Russian intelligence, and he has at least been party to a few violent crimes over the years. But his unconditional love for [[spoiler: his younger brother Nelson]] is a ''major'' redeeming quality, and it turns out that [[spoiler: most of his supposed hostile actions against the West were done to protect his brother]].
* FaceHeelTurn: Deconstructed, thanks to the GreyAndGrayMorality, in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.'' [[spoiler: Jerry Westerby ultimately goes rogue and tries to help Drake Ko smuggle his brother Nelson--a Soviet mole--out of China.]] However, [[spoiler: Westerby only does it because he wants to save Ko's lover from getting caught in the crossfire, and Ko's only real crime is looking out for his beloved brother.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: Deconstructed, thanks to the GreyAndGrayMorality, in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.'' [[spoiler: Jerry Westerby ultimately goes rogue and tries to help Drake Ko smuggle his brother Nelson--a Soviet mole--out of China.]] However, [[spoiler: Westerby only does it because he wants to save Ko's lover from getting caught in the crossfire, and Ko's only real crime is looking out for his beloved brother.]]
to:
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Drake Ko in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''.Ko. Though it's debatable whether he's truly "evil", he's in league with Russian intelligence, and he has at least been party to a few violent crimes over the years. But his unconditional love for [[spoiler: his younger brother Nelson]] is a ''major'' redeeming quality, and it turns out that [[spoiler: most of his supposed hostile actions against the West were done to protect his brother]].
* FaceHeelTurn: Deconstructed, thanks to theGreyAndGrayMorality, in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.'' GreyAndGrayMorality. [[spoiler: Jerry Westerby ultimately goes rogue and tries to help Drake Ko smuggle his brother Nelson--a Nelson - a Soviet mole--out mole - out of China.]] However, [[spoiler: Westerby only does it because he wants to save Ko's lover from getting caught in the crossfire, and Ko's only real crime is looking out for his beloved brother.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: Deconstructed, thanks to the
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* IdTellYouButThenIdHaveToKillYou: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Ricardo explains his monologuing problem to Jerry: "You confuse me, Voltaire. If I tell you too much, I have to shoot you. I'm a very talkative person, you follow me? I get lonely up here, it is my disposition always to be lonely. I like a guy, I talk to him, then I regret myself. I remember my business commitments, follow me?"
to:
* IdTellYouButThenIdHaveToKillYou: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Ricardo explains his monologuing problem to Jerry: "You confuse me, Voltaire. If I tell you too much, I have to shoot you. I'm a very talkative person, you follow me? I get lonely up here, it is my disposition always to be lonely. I like a guy, I talk to him, then I regret myself. I remember my business commitments, follow me?"
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* ManlyTears: Smiley in ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', after two informants are killed during a rescue attempt.
to:
* ManlyTears: Smiley in ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Smiley, after two informants are killed during a rescue attempt.
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* MurderByMistake: [[spoiler: Luke]] for Jerry Westerby in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* NotNowKiddo: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy,'' Peter Guillam keeps having this problem when he tries to explain to George Smiley that [[spoiler: Sam Collins and Martello]] are probably conspiring against him. At the end of the novel, Guillam begins to wonder if [[spoiler: Smiley knew all along, and allowed himself to be done in]].
* OldMaster: Control, for the members of the Circus. The Old Craw, for the Foreign Correspondents. Smiley himself gradually becomes this after stepping into Control's shoes as Chief of the Circus.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Several members of the Foreign Correspondents' Club in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''--the Dwarf, Deathwish the Hun, and the Canadian Cowboy--are only ever referred to by their nicknames.
* OutOfFocus: Smiley fades into the background for much of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' as Jerry Westerby steps into the spotlight.
* PutOnABus: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Bland, along with the Circus' resident Soviet defectors Kaspar and [=DeKursky=], are sent on a mission that ends badly. This leads to all three getting fired.
* RedHerring: Because of the setting of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', several characters naturally assume that Karla wants to infiltrate the British colony of Hong Kong with Chinese aid--or even to outright wrest it from British control. In truth, his plan is a bit less ambitious. [[spoiler: He wants Drake Ko's help in smuggling Ko's brother Nelson--a loyal Soviet mole--out of Communist China.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Nelson Ko in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He only appears--very briefly--in one of the very last scenes of the novel, but he's [[TheGhost mentioned constantly]] before that, and nearly all of the novel's plot indirectly revolves around him. [[spoiler: It turns out that Drake Ko only gets involved with Karla in order to smuggle him out of Communist China.]]
* NotNowKiddo: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy,'' Peter Guillam keeps having this problem when he tries to explain to George Smiley that [[spoiler: Sam Collins and Martello]] are probably conspiring against him. At the end of the novel, Guillam begins to wonder if [[spoiler: Smiley knew all along, and allowed himself to be done in]].
* OldMaster: Control, for the members of the Circus. The Old Craw, for the Foreign Correspondents. Smiley himself gradually becomes this after stepping into Control's shoes as Chief of the Circus.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Several members of the Foreign Correspondents' Club in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''--the Dwarf, Deathwish the Hun, and the Canadian Cowboy--are only ever referred to by their nicknames.
* OutOfFocus: Smiley fades into the background for much of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' as Jerry Westerby steps into the spotlight.
* PutOnABus: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Bland, along with the Circus' resident Soviet defectors Kaspar and [=DeKursky=], are sent on a mission that ends badly. This leads to all three getting fired.
* RedHerring: Because of the setting of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', several characters naturally assume that Karla wants to infiltrate the British colony of Hong Kong with Chinese aid--or even to outright wrest it from British control. In truth, his plan is a bit less ambitious. [[spoiler: He wants Drake Ko's help in smuggling Ko's brother Nelson--a loyal Soviet mole--out of Communist China.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Nelson Ko in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He only appears--very briefly--in one of the very last scenes of the novel, but he's [[TheGhost mentioned constantly]] before that, and nearly all of the novel's plot indirectly revolves around him. [[spoiler: It turns out that Drake Ko only gets involved with Karla in order to smuggle him out of Communist China.]]
to:
* MurderByMistake: [[spoiler: Luke]] for Jerry Westerby in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
Westerby.
* NotNowKiddo:In ''The Honourable Schoolboy,'' Peter Guillam keeps having this problem when he tries to explain to George Smiley that [[spoiler: Sam Collins and Martello]] are probably conspiring against him. At the end of the novel, Guillam begins to wonder if [[spoiler: Smiley knew all along, and allowed himself to be done in]].
* OldMaster:Control, for the members of the Circus. The Old Craw, for the Foreign Correspondents. Smiley himself gradually becomes this after stepping into Control's shoes as Chief of the Circus.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Several members of the Foreign Correspondents' Clubin ''The Honourable Schoolboy''--the - the Dwarf, Deathwish the Hun, and the Canadian Cowboy--are Cowboy - are only ever referred to by their nicknames.
* OutOfFocus: Smiley fades into the background for much of''The Honourable Schoolboy'' the book as Jerry Westerby steps into the spotlight.
* PutOnABus:In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Bland, along with the Circus' resident Soviet defectors Kaspar and [=DeKursky=], are sent on a mission that ends badly. This leads to all three getting fired.
* RedHerring:Because of the setting of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', several Several characters naturally assume that Karla wants to infiltrate the British colony of Hong Kong with Chinese aid--or even to outright wrest it from British control. In truth, his plan is a bit less ambitious. [[spoiler: He wants Drake Ko's help in smuggling Ko's brother Nelson--a loyal Soviet mole--out of Communist China.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Nelson Koin ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He only appears--very briefly--in appears - very briefly - in one of the very last scenes of the novel, but he's [[TheGhost mentioned constantly]] before that, and nearly all of the novel's plot indirectly revolves around him. [[spoiler: It turns out that Drake Ko only gets involved with Karla in order to smuggle him out of Communist China.]]
* NotNowKiddo:
* OldMaster:
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Several members of the Foreign Correspondents' Club
* OutOfFocus: Smiley fades into the background for much of
* PutOnABus:
* RedHerring:
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Nelson Ko
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* VerbalTic: Jerry Westerby's "Super" (with optional "Gosh") and Martello's "ah" in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
to:
* VerbalTic: Jerry Westerby's "Super" (with optional "Gosh") and Martello's "ah" in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''"ah".
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''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's part of the ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, itself part of Le Carré's [[TheVerse wider series]] of SpyFiction books centred around the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
to:
''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's part the second book of the ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, itself part of Le Carré's [[TheVerse wider series]] of SpyFiction books novels centred around featuring the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
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* AccidentalPun: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Jerry Westerby first meets Drake Ko's bodyguard Tiu while posing as a journalist at a racetrack where one of Ko's horses is competing. In every subsequent encounter, he calls him "horse-writer". As he only speaks broken English, he doesn't realize that it sounds like a pun on "horse rider".
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Drake Ko]]. Sure, the guy was involved in a long line of violent crimes and dodgy businesses over the years, and his mission was quite hostile to Smiley's interests. But at the end of the day, all he really wanted to do was [[spoiler: bring his little brother home safely]]. It's hard not to shed a tear when [[spoiler: the CIA grab Nelson away from him, just moments after finally getting to see him again]].
* TheAllegedCar: Jerry Westerby has to take a nail-biting flight in a tattered, rusty, and practically collapsing plane in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* AnimalMotifs: Horses come up quite frequently in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. One of Jerry Westerby's neighbors in Italy is a horse-breeder, Jerry is said to be skilled at handling horses, Drake Ko owns a racehorse [[spoiler: named after his younger brother]], Tiu repeatedly calls Jerry "horse-writer" after he gets into a racetrack by pretending to write an article about the race, Smiley's management of the Circus is compared to "carrying [a] horse up the hill", at least one crumbling Circus building is figuratively called "an old horse put out to grass", and the Dwarf jokingly guesses that "Big Moo's wife's horse has the hiccups" when Luke announces that he has news in the opening scene. Two of the chapters are also titled "Mr. George Smiley's Horse" and "More About Horses". Possibly coincidentally, the opium trade figures heavily into the plot; "horse" is a common slang term for "heroin".
* AsYouKnow: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' has ample doses of this, as there's usually a lot of complicated backstory without which the plot makes no sense.
* AscendedExtra: Jerry Westerby in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He has a brief role in ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' as one of the old Circus operatives who Smiley interviews for clues about the Mole's identity, but he reappears as the central protagonist of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' when Smiley assigns him to investigate Karla's funds in Hong Kong. It turns out that the Mole overlooked him because he was only an occasional Circus agent, making him one of the few field agents whose identity wasn't leaked to the Soviets.
* BilingualBonus: There's a fair amount of untranslated French in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Hooray, Operation Dolphin has succeeded. But the Americans have made off with Nelson Ko instead of sharing him with the Circus. Drake Ko's schemes to reunite himself with his brother have come to naught. Fawn assassinates Jerry Westerby (possibly just because Jerry attacked him earlier). And George Smiley has been forced out...again.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Drake Ko]]. Sure, the guy was involved in a long line of violent crimes and dodgy businesses over the years, and his mission was quite hostile to Smiley's interests. But at the end of the day, all he really wanted to do was [[spoiler: bring his little brother home safely]]. It's hard not to shed a tear when [[spoiler: the CIA grab Nelson away from him, just moments after finally getting to see him again]].
* TheAllegedCar: Jerry Westerby has to take a nail-biting flight in a tattered, rusty, and practically collapsing plane in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* AnimalMotifs: Horses come up quite frequently in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. One of Jerry Westerby's neighbors in Italy is a horse-breeder, Jerry is said to be skilled at handling horses, Drake Ko owns a racehorse [[spoiler: named after his younger brother]], Tiu repeatedly calls Jerry "horse-writer" after he gets into a racetrack by pretending to write an article about the race, Smiley's management of the Circus is compared to "carrying [a] horse up the hill", at least one crumbling Circus building is figuratively called "an old horse put out to grass", and the Dwarf jokingly guesses that "Big Moo's wife's horse has the hiccups" when Luke announces that he has news in the opening scene. Two of the chapters are also titled "Mr. George Smiley's Horse" and "More About Horses". Possibly coincidentally, the opium trade figures heavily into the plot; "horse" is a common slang term for "heroin".
* AsYouKnow: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' has ample doses of this, as there's usually a lot of complicated backstory without which the plot makes no sense.
* AscendedExtra: Jerry Westerby in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He has a brief role in ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' as one of the old Circus operatives who Smiley interviews for clues about the Mole's identity, but he reappears as the central protagonist of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' when Smiley assigns him to investigate Karla's funds in Hong Kong. It turns out that the Mole overlooked him because he was only an occasional Circus agent, making him one of the few field agents whose identity wasn't leaked to the Soviets.
* BilingualBonus: There's a fair amount of untranslated French in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Hooray, Operation Dolphin has succeeded. But the Americans have made off with Nelson Ko instead of sharing him with the Circus. Drake Ko's schemes to reunite himself with his brother have come to naught. Fawn assassinates Jerry Westerby (possibly just because Jerry attacked him earlier). And George Smiley has been forced out...again.]]
to:
* AccidentalPun: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Jerry Westerby first meets Tiu, Drake Ko's bodyguard Tiu bodyguard, while Jerry's posing as a journalist at a racetrack where one of Ko's horses is competing. racetrack. In every subsequent encounter, he Tiu calls him "horse-writer". As he only speaks broken English, he doesn't realize that it sounds like a pun on "horse rider".
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: DrakeKo]]. Sure, the guy Ko]] was involved in a long line of violent crimes and dodgy businesses over the years, and his mission was quite hostile to Smiley's interests. But at the end of the day, all he really wanted to do was [[spoiler: bring his little brother home safely]]. It's hard not to shed a tear when [[spoiler: the CIA grab his brother Nelson away from him, just moments after finally getting to see him again]].
* TheAllegedCar: Jerry Westerby has to take a nail-biting flight in a tattered, rusty, and practically collapsingplane in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
plane.
* AnimalMotifs: Horses come up quitefrequently in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. frequently. One of Jerry Westerby's neighbors neighbours in Italy is a horse-breeder, Jerry is said to be skilled at handling horses, Drake Ko owns a racehorse [[spoiler: named after his younger brother]], Tiu repeatedly calls Jerry "horse-writer" after he gets into a racetrack by pretending to write an article about the race, Smiley's management of the Circus is compared to "carrying [a] horse up the hill", at least one crumbling Circus building is figuratively called "an old horse put out to grass", and the Dwarf jokingly guesses that "Big Moo's wife's horse has the hiccups" when Luke announces that he has news in the opening scene. Two of the chapters are also titled "Mr. George Smiley's Horse" and "More About Horses". Possibly coincidentally, the opium trade figures heavily into the plot; "horse" is a common slang term for "heroin".
* AsYouKnow:''The Honourable Schoolboy'' has ample Ample doses of this, as there's usually a lot of complicated backstory without which the plot makes no sense.
* AscendedExtra: Jerry Westerbyin ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He has a brief role in ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' as one of the old Circus operatives who Smiley interviews for clues about the Mole's identity, but he reappears as the central protagonist of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' when Smiley assigns him to investigate Karla's funds in Hong Kong. It turns out that the Mole overlooked him because he was only an occasional Circus agent, making him one of the few field agents whose identity wasn't leaked to the Soviets.
* BilingualBonus: There's a fair amount of untranslatedFrench in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
French.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Hooray, Operation Dolphin has succeeded. But the Americans have made off with Nelson Ko instead of sharing him with the Circus. Drake Ko's schemes to reunite himself with his brother have come to naught. Fawn assassinates Jerry Westerby (possibly just because Jerry attacked him earlier). And George Smiley has been forced out...again.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Drake
* TheAllegedCar: Jerry Westerby has to take a nail-biting flight in a tattered, rusty, and practically collapsing
* AnimalMotifs: Horses come up quite
* AsYouKnow:
* AscendedExtra: Jerry Westerby
* BilingualBonus: There's a fair amount of untranslated
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:
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* DisproportionateRetribution: Fawn drags a would-be wristwatch thief from his car, then climbs out to break both of the boy's arms in ''The Honorable Schoolboy'', to Guillam's horror.
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* DisproportionateRetribution: Fawn drags a would-be wristwatch thief from his car, then climbs out to break both of the boy's arms in ''The Honorable Schoolboy'', arms, to Guillam's horror.
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[[quoteright:326:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e8eac5a6_6cbb_4104_9739_0d94fa008c50.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d967bac1_6014_4d59_9b0b_8cd7ce55ab67.jpeg]]
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''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's part of the ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, itself part of Le Carré's wider SharedUniverse of SpyFiction books centred around the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
to:
''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's part of the ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, itself part of Le Carré's [[TheVerse wider SharedUniverse series]] of SpyFiction books centred around the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
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''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's part of a longer series of his ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, which is itself part of a wider SharedUniverse series of SpyFiction books centred around the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
to:
''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's part of a longer series of his the ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, which is itself part of a Le Carré's wider SharedUniverse series of SpyFiction books centred around the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
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[[quoteright:326:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e8eac5a6_6cbb_4104_9739_0d94fa008c50.jpeg]]
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''The Honourable Schoolboy'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/JohnLeCarre. It's part of a longer series of his ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy, which is itself part of a wider SharedUniverse series of SpyFiction books centred around the British secret service known as 'The Circus'.
After the events of ''Literature/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'', the Circus is falling apart. George Smiley, pulled out of retirement, is now in charge and trying to rebuild the organisation. But although TheMole has been removed, Russian spymaster Karla is still active, and his operation has done a lot of damage that can't easily be repaired.
----
* AccidentalPun: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Jerry Westerby first meets Drake Ko's bodyguard Tiu while posing as a journalist at a racetrack where one of Ko's horses is competing. In every subsequent encounter, he calls him "horse-writer". As he only speaks broken English, he doesn't realize that it sounds like a pun on "horse rider".
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Drake Ko]]. Sure, the guy was involved in a long line of violent crimes and dodgy businesses over the years, and his mission was quite hostile to Smiley's interests. But at the end of the day, all he really wanted to do was [[spoiler: bring his little brother home safely]]. It's hard not to shed a tear when [[spoiler: the CIA grab Nelson away from him, just moments after finally getting to see him again]].
* TheAllegedCar: Jerry Westerby has to take a nail-biting flight in a tattered, rusty, and practically collapsing plane in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* AnimalMotifs: Horses come up quite frequently in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. One of Jerry Westerby's neighbors in Italy is a horse-breeder, Jerry is said to be skilled at handling horses, Drake Ko owns a racehorse [[spoiler: named after his younger brother]], Tiu repeatedly calls Jerry "horse-writer" after he gets into a racetrack by pretending to write an article about the race, Smiley's management of the Circus is compared to "carrying [a] horse up the hill", at least one crumbling Circus building is figuratively called "an old horse put out to grass", and the Dwarf jokingly guesses that "Big Moo's wife's horse has the hiccups" when Luke announces that he has news in the opening scene. Two of the chapters are also titled "Mr. George Smiley's Horse" and "More About Horses". Possibly coincidentally, the opium trade figures heavily into the plot; "horse" is a common slang term for "heroin".
* AsYouKnow: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' has ample doses of this, as there's usually a lot of complicated backstory without which the plot makes no sense.
* AscendedExtra: Jerry Westerby in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He has a brief role in ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' as one of the old Circus operatives who Smiley interviews for clues about the Mole's identity, but he reappears as the central protagonist of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' when Smiley assigns him to investigate Karla's funds in Hong Kong. It turns out that the Mole overlooked him because he was only an occasional Circus agent, making him one of the few field agents whose identity wasn't leaked to the Soviets.
* BilingualBonus: There's a fair amount of untranslated French in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Hooray, Operation Dolphin has succeeded. But the Americans have made off with Nelson Ko instead of sharing him with the Circus. Drake Ko's schemes to reunite himself with his brother have come to naught. Fawn assassinates Jerry Westerby (possibly just because Jerry attacked him earlier). And George Smiley has been forced out...again.]]
* BrokenBird: Elizabeth Worthington
* DisproportionateRetribution: Fawn drags a would-be wristwatch thief from his car, then climbs out to break both of the boy's arms in ''The Honorable Schoolboy'', to Guillam's horror.
* DoubleMeaningTitle: ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. Most obviously, the title refers to Jerry "The Schoolboy" Westerby and his stringent sense of duty in a time of great cynicism. Jerry is also the son of a minor English nobleman, and can justifiably call himself "The Honourable Gerald Westerby".
* EnemyCivilWar: The antagonism between the Soviet Union and Communist China is a major plot point in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. [[spoiler: Karla, being Karla, has a valuable agent planted in China]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Drake Ko in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. Though it's debatable whether he's truly "evil", he's in league with Russian intelligence, and he has at least been party to a few violent crimes over the years. But his unconditional love for [[spoiler: his younger brother Nelson]] is a ''major'' redeeming quality, and it turns out that [[spoiler: most of his supposed hostile actions against the West were done to protect his brother]].
* FaceHeelTurn: Deconstructed, thanks to the GreyAndGrayMorality, in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.'' [[spoiler: Jerry Westerby ultimately goes rogue and tries to help Drake Ko smuggle his brother Nelson--a Soviet mole--out of China.]] However, [[spoiler: Westerby only does it because he wants to save Ko's lover from getting caught in the crossfire, and Ko's only real crime is looking out for his beloved brother.]]
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:At the end of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Jerry Westerby goes into a dangerous situation to try to rescue his love interest, who is tangled up with the bad guys, and is killed. It underscores his status as the "honourable schoolboy" of the title, too straightforwardly honest to survive in the murky world of espionage.]]
* HeroicBSOD: After [[spoiler: he finds his friend Luke murdered]], Jerry Westerby spends the rest of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' in this state.
* IdiotBall: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy,'' there's extensive in-universe discussion of whether or not Smiley is carrying one when it comes to Jerry Westerby's obsession with Elizabeth Worthington.
* IdTellYouButThenIdHaveToKillYou: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Ricardo explains his monologuing problem to Jerry: "You confuse me, Voltaire. If I tell you too much, I have to shoot you. I'm a very talkative person, you follow me? I get lonely up here, it is my disposition always to be lonely. I like a guy, I talk to him, then I regret myself. I remember my business commitments, follow me?"
* InSeriesNickname: Jerry Westerby is "The Schoolboy". His mentor Bill Craw is "The Old Craw".
* ManlyTears: Smiley in ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', after two informants are killed during a rescue attempt.
* MeaningfulName: Drake and Nelson Ko were both named after famed British sailors--which is fitting, since they're descended from the "boat people" of Shantou, who historically ran Chinese trade with the West. [[spoiler: Drake Ko ultimately enlists the aid of a fleet of Chinese junk ships to smuggle his brother out of China.]]
* MurderByMistake: [[spoiler: Luke]] for Jerry Westerby in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* NotNowKiddo: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy,'' Peter Guillam keeps having this problem when he tries to explain to George Smiley that [[spoiler: Sam Collins and Martello]] are probably conspiring against him. At the end of the novel, Guillam begins to wonder if [[spoiler: Smiley knew all along, and allowed himself to be done in]].
* OldMaster: Control, for the members of the Circus. The Old Craw, for the Foreign Correspondents. Smiley himself gradually becomes this after stepping into Control's shoes as Chief of the Circus.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Several members of the Foreign Correspondents' Club in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''--the Dwarf, Deathwish the Hun, and the Canadian Cowboy--are only ever referred to by their nicknames.
* OutOfFocus: Smiley fades into the background for much of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' as Jerry Westerby steps into the spotlight.
* PutOnABus: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Bland, along with the Circus' resident Soviet defectors Kaspar and [=DeKursky=], are sent on a mission that ends badly. This leads to all three getting fired.
* RedHerring: Because of the setting of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', several characters naturally assume that Karla wants to infiltrate the British colony of Hong Kong with Chinese aid--or even to outright wrest it from British control. In truth, his plan is a bit less ambitious. [[spoiler: He wants Drake Ko's help in smuggling Ko's brother Nelson--a loyal Soviet mole--out of Communist China.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Nelson Ko in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He only appears--very briefly--in one of the very last scenes of the novel, but he's [[TheGhost mentioned constantly]] before that, and nearly all of the novel's plot indirectly revolves around him. [[spoiler: It turns out that Drake Ko only gets involved with Karla in order to smuggle him out of Communist China.]]
* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' was published in 1977, two years after the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia, but it takes place in 1974 at the height of the Cambodian Civil War. ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' technically counts as well (it was published in 1974, but takes place in 1973), but recent historical events have little bearing on the plot.
* VerbalTic: Jerry Westerby's "Super" (with optional "Gosh") and Martello's "ah" in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Jerry Westerby and Elizabeth Worthington. Jerry is upfront with himself about the attraction: he has fallen for her ''because'' she's a "loser."
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After the events of ''Literature/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'', the Circus is falling apart. George Smiley, pulled out of retirement, is now in charge and trying to rebuild the organisation. But although TheMole has been removed, Russian spymaster Karla is still active, and his operation has done a lot of damage that can't easily be repaired.
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* AccidentalPun: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Jerry Westerby first meets Drake Ko's bodyguard Tiu while posing as a journalist at a racetrack where one of Ko's horses is competing. In every subsequent encounter, he calls him "horse-writer". As he only speaks broken English, he doesn't realize that it sounds like a pun on "horse rider".
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Drake Ko]]. Sure, the guy was involved in a long line of violent crimes and dodgy businesses over the years, and his mission was quite hostile to Smiley's interests. But at the end of the day, all he really wanted to do was [[spoiler: bring his little brother home safely]]. It's hard not to shed a tear when [[spoiler: the CIA grab Nelson away from him, just moments after finally getting to see him again]].
* TheAllegedCar: Jerry Westerby has to take a nail-biting flight in a tattered, rusty, and practically collapsing plane in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* AnimalMotifs: Horses come up quite frequently in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. One of Jerry Westerby's neighbors in Italy is a horse-breeder, Jerry is said to be skilled at handling horses, Drake Ko owns a racehorse [[spoiler: named after his younger brother]], Tiu repeatedly calls Jerry "horse-writer" after he gets into a racetrack by pretending to write an article about the race, Smiley's management of the Circus is compared to "carrying [a] horse up the hill", at least one crumbling Circus building is figuratively called "an old horse put out to grass", and the Dwarf jokingly guesses that "Big Moo's wife's horse has the hiccups" when Luke announces that he has news in the opening scene. Two of the chapters are also titled "Mr. George Smiley's Horse" and "More About Horses". Possibly coincidentally, the opium trade figures heavily into the plot; "horse" is a common slang term for "heroin".
* AsYouKnow: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' has ample doses of this, as there's usually a lot of complicated backstory without which the plot makes no sense.
* AscendedExtra: Jerry Westerby in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He has a brief role in ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' as one of the old Circus operatives who Smiley interviews for clues about the Mole's identity, but he reappears as the central protagonist of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' when Smiley assigns him to investigate Karla's funds in Hong Kong. It turns out that the Mole overlooked him because he was only an occasional Circus agent, making him one of the few field agents whose identity wasn't leaked to the Soviets.
* BilingualBonus: There's a fair amount of untranslated French in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Hooray, Operation Dolphin has succeeded. But the Americans have made off with Nelson Ko instead of sharing him with the Circus. Drake Ko's schemes to reunite himself with his brother have come to naught. Fawn assassinates Jerry Westerby (possibly just because Jerry attacked him earlier). And George Smiley has been forced out...again.]]
* BrokenBird: Elizabeth Worthington
* DisproportionateRetribution: Fawn drags a would-be wristwatch thief from his car, then climbs out to break both of the boy's arms in ''The Honorable Schoolboy'', to Guillam's horror.
* DoubleMeaningTitle: ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. Most obviously, the title refers to Jerry "The Schoolboy" Westerby and his stringent sense of duty in a time of great cynicism. Jerry is also the son of a minor English nobleman, and can justifiably call himself "The Honourable Gerald Westerby".
* EnemyCivilWar: The antagonism between the Soviet Union and Communist China is a major plot point in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. [[spoiler: Karla, being Karla, has a valuable agent planted in China]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Drake Ko in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. Though it's debatable whether he's truly "evil", he's in league with Russian intelligence, and he has at least been party to a few violent crimes over the years. But his unconditional love for [[spoiler: his younger brother Nelson]] is a ''major'' redeeming quality, and it turns out that [[spoiler: most of his supposed hostile actions against the West were done to protect his brother]].
* FaceHeelTurn: Deconstructed, thanks to the GreyAndGrayMorality, in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.'' [[spoiler: Jerry Westerby ultimately goes rogue and tries to help Drake Ko smuggle his brother Nelson--a Soviet mole--out of China.]] However, [[spoiler: Westerby only does it because he wants to save Ko's lover from getting caught in the crossfire, and Ko's only real crime is looking out for his beloved brother.]]
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:At the end of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Jerry Westerby goes into a dangerous situation to try to rescue his love interest, who is tangled up with the bad guys, and is killed. It underscores his status as the "honourable schoolboy" of the title, too straightforwardly honest to survive in the murky world of espionage.]]
* HeroicBSOD: After [[spoiler: he finds his friend Luke murdered]], Jerry Westerby spends the rest of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' in this state.
* IdiotBall: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy,'' there's extensive in-universe discussion of whether or not Smiley is carrying one when it comes to Jerry Westerby's obsession with Elizabeth Worthington.
* IdTellYouButThenIdHaveToKillYou: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Ricardo explains his monologuing problem to Jerry: "You confuse me, Voltaire. If I tell you too much, I have to shoot you. I'm a very talkative person, you follow me? I get lonely up here, it is my disposition always to be lonely. I like a guy, I talk to him, then I regret myself. I remember my business commitments, follow me?"
* InSeriesNickname: Jerry Westerby is "The Schoolboy". His mentor Bill Craw is "The Old Craw".
* ManlyTears: Smiley in ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', after two informants are killed during a rescue attempt.
* MeaningfulName: Drake and Nelson Ko were both named after famed British sailors--which is fitting, since they're descended from the "boat people" of Shantou, who historically ran Chinese trade with the West. [[spoiler: Drake Ko ultimately enlists the aid of a fleet of Chinese junk ships to smuggle his brother out of China.]]
* MurderByMistake: [[spoiler: Luke]] for Jerry Westerby in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* NotNowKiddo: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy,'' Peter Guillam keeps having this problem when he tries to explain to George Smiley that [[spoiler: Sam Collins and Martello]] are probably conspiring against him. At the end of the novel, Guillam begins to wonder if [[spoiler: Smiley knew all along, and allowed himself to be done in]].
* OldMaster: Control, for the members of the Circus. The Old Craw, for the Foreign Correspondents. Smiley himself gradually becomes this after stepping into Control's shoes as Chief of the Circus.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Several members of the Foreign Correspondents' Club in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''--the Dwarf, Deathwish the Hun, and the Canadian Cowboy--are only ever referred to by their nicknames.
* OutOfFocus: Smiley fades into the background for much of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' as Jerry Westerby steps into the spotlight.
* PutOnABus: In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', Bland, along with the Circus' resident Soviet defectors Kaspar and [=DeKursky=], are sent on a mission that ends badly. This leads to all three getting fired.
* RedHerring: Because of the setting of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', several characters naturally assume that Karla wants to infiltrate the British colony of Hong Kong with Chinese aid--or even to outright wrest it from British control. In truth, his plan is a bit less ambitious. [[spoiler: He wants Drake Ko's help in smuggling Ko's brother Nelson--a loyal Soviet mole--out of Communist China.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Nelson Ko in ''The Honourable Schoolboy''. He only appears--very briefly--in one of the very last scenes of the novel, but he's [[TheGhost mentioned constantly]] before that, and nearly all of the novel's plot indirectly revolves around him. [[spoiler: It turns out that Drake Ko only gets involved with Karla in order to smuggle him out of Communist China.]]
* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' was published in 1977, two years after the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia, but it takes place in 1974 at the height of the Cambodian Civil War. ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' technically counts as well (it was published in 1974, but takes place in 1973), but recent historical events have little bearing on the plot.
* VerbalTic: Jerry Westerby's "Super" (with optional "Gosh") and Martello's "ah" in ''The Honourable Schoolboy.''
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Jerry Westerby and Elizabeth Worthington. Jerry is upfront with himself about the attraction: he has fallen for her ''because'' she's a "loser."
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