When George says to Peter: "You're very piano...", what does that mean?
K-S
My opinion is that he's using "piano" in its musical sense, i.e. soft, subdued, mild. After all, Smiley had a penchant for classical music, string quartets in particular. I'm referring to what was playing on his record player when he was drying the photo at home on Bywater Street in TTSS.
shareEnderby knows what's going on and the true value of what Smiley has on offer. As Smiley has been pursuing Karla for the whole of his career, he expected a little more animation now the trap is ready to be sprung.
"and bloody meek, too" He notices that George has become almost sympatheitic to his prey. He's the only one that does until Guillam picks up on it in the Turkish cafe.
Smart cookie, Enderby. A repulsive lizard, but very, very smart.
**** Potential spoilers ****
My perception is colored by my memory of reading the book (many years ago, now, however), but I did not interpret Smiley in the Enderby scene as beginning to have second doubts. As I saw it -- and as I remember from the book, so maybe that's why I saw it that way -- the clear implication was that Smiley got more and more quiet and centered and focused because he was fixated on the prey: he could smell it, taste it, feel it -- this time, Karla might not escape -- and if it was EVER going to happen for George, this is it, no more turns at bat, and he got all turned inward, all concentration, as he was always wont to do when he needed all his concentration.
The turning point where he begins to unexpectedly feel ambivalent happens when he meets the girl, but by then there's no turning back and Smiley ends up with the unsatisfying but complete victory over his nemesis.
The "bloody meek" comment is Saul noticing that Smiley -- usually combative in the face of Circus ambivalence/ineptness/complacency regarding Karla -- is all turned inward, trying to prevent an opportunity for his personality conflict with Saul from distracting him from the goal to get Karla. He needs the Circus now, it can't be private enterprise, and Smiley's not going to compromise that by expressing his peevishness toward the new regime. So he suffers through the interminable meeting and all Enderby's borishness. He refuses a Scotch, and then accepts one just because Endergy seems to desire it. He's quiet (the literal translation of "piano" in Italian is "soft"). The only flash of irritation -- and it is just a flash -- is the "hairy eyeball" Smiley briefly shows Enderby when Enderby prefaces the video with the comment that he wouldn't have believed any of Smiley's theory without the proof of the blackmail video. It's one of my favorite moments in the whole series, that brief but contempt-filled look that Smiley flashes ever so briefly in response to that particular Enderby remark . . . .
Bronagh Gallagher/The Commitments: runner up to Joe Pesci for times f* was said in a movie.
'bloody meek' I am sure, refers to the fact that Enderby has picked up on George's mixed feelings on a snatch of an utterly ruthless opponent that will virtually end the cold war. George's and Karla's whole lives have been devoted to the fight and it will now fizzle out with exposure and glasnost. George hates Enderby and his new games but has to concede that his job is over and he's no longer qualified to fight in the new battles.
British Intelligence's problems with highly-placed moles more or less ended in the 1960's and it did make a startling comeback, with the highest-placed defector ever, KGB #3 - Oleg Gordievsky, turned in 1968 and snatched back after his cover was blown, ironically, by a highly-placed Russian mole in the CIA in 1985.
My own interpretation of the scene during the Big Meeting at the Circus was that Enderby is the flashy, flamboyant one. Also, he is the one formally in charge. Without his cooperation, no resources will be committed. Absent his approval, nothing will be done. Smiley had assembled his evidence and presented it. George needed only to sit quietly and let Sir Saul go through his act.
George was rewarded for his patience and "meekness." Saul said something to Guillam that showed he was willing to buy in to Smiley's plan. George heard this, gave just a faint smile of satisfaction.....and the meeting continued, giving him everything he wanted.
Conflicted or not, George wanted to lure Karla into the trap. And he did.
I wondered about that too, and I found an on-line dictionary where "piano" is synonymous with "subdued," and that seems to fit that bit of conversation.
shareJust had the opportunity to re-visit the board -- thanks everyone!
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