Distant Moments.

BOOKS & the ARTS THERE IS A GENTLY COMIC MOMENT IN JOHN LE CARRÉ'S The Spy Who Came in From the Cold in which the novel's jaded, cynical protagonist, a British intelligence agent named Alec Leamas, quizzes Liz Gold, the young librarian who is about to become his lover, about her beliefs. Scott's examination of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission also emphasizes the dangerous precedents that were set more than the political work that was accomplished. Nor does Scott consider the positive effects that the tribunal had by coming as close as any such body has ever done to expressing the authoritative judgment of the international community in regard to monstrous crimes. [Extracted from the article]