[halicarnassus]

It's a boring stereotype of good and evil, which threw almost half the world's population from the wrong side of the iron curtain under the bus.

It chastises the behavior of those people while praising their own behavior, even though it's essentially the same.

It sees heroes in spies, even though they are villains.

Each side thinks, that they are on the right side.

Edit: Even though the novel tries to point this out a little, it still uses all of the above to great effect.

[elteto]

Even with all your misguided moral ambiguity, you can’t ignore that the Berlin wall was only built by one side.

All governance systems are imperfect, but some are more imperfect than others.

[tptacek]

These books are famous for doing basically the opposite thing. I won't spoil the ending of this book, but, I mean, it couldn't really be clearer.

[hollerith]

Have you read even one chapter of the novel?

Although he is fascinated by the craft of spying (and I can see why some people might find that objectionable or regrettable) Le Carre does not engage in the moral stereotyping or moral certainty you describe.

Also, spies probably save lives: if for example the Kremlin had been more skilled at collecting and analyzing information about Ukraine's military capabilities, they probably wouldn't have invaded.

[inglor_cz]

"which threw almost half the world's population from the wrong side of the iron curtain under the bus."

I am one of those people. We didn't get to choose, but most of us hated the regimes that ruled us. I am fine with their portrayal as prisons of nations, because that is what they were. No need to whitewash Communism.

The Soviet empire was brutal and evil, and I am not at all surprised that a former KGB thug now started the biggest land war in Europe since 1945. It perfectly fits the imperial mentality of the Siloviki [0], who all made their early careers in Soviet armed forces and secret police.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silovik