[isaachawley]

I like both the Bond and Smiley books, but I've never understood why people are so quick to directly compare the two characters. Smiley is a man of politics and intrigue, while Bond is a boots-on-the-ground assassin.

Bond would be better compared with a character like Ricki Tarr. The 00 section seems to exist in the Smiley organization, they're called the 'scalphunters'. Here's Carre's description:

"The scalphunters' official name was Travel. They had been formed [...] in the pioneer days of the cold war, when murder and kidnapping and crash blackmail were common currency [...] They were a small outfit, about a dozen men, and they were there to handle the hit-and-run jobs that were too dirty or too risky for the residents abroad."

Sounds a lot like Bond. Tarr even shows up at the office unexpectedly, having problems with a woman, wanting money...