It's part of a writer's profession, as it's part of a spy's profession, to prey on the community to which he's attached, to take away information - often in secret - and to translate that into intelligence for his masters, whether it's his readership or his spy masters. And I think that both professions are perhaps rather lonely.
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About John le Carre
John le Carre was a 20th-century British novelist and former spy. David John Moore Cornwell, better known by his pen name John le CarrĂ©, was an Irish-British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophisticated, morally ambiguous writer", he is considered one of the greatest novelists of the postwar era. Read more on Wikipedia →