Book Review: Call for the Dead, by John Le Carré
George Smiley: the Cold Warrior Anti-Bond
Scribner, 1961, 128 pages
After an unremarkable interview, Circus agent George Smiley determines the subject of a standard security check-a civil servant in the Foreign Office named Samuel Fennan-poses no threat, nor presents any reason for suspicion of espionage.
Hours later, Samuel Fennan is found dead by suicide. Suddenly finding himself under intense scrutiny, Smiley realizes the Circus intends to blame him for Fennan's death. Rather than remain idle, Smiley begins his own investigation into the nature of the man's demise. What he finds is a tangled web of secrets that connects not only to East German activity in Britain, but also his own past.
The beginning of a body of work that The New York Times calls extraordinary in its breadth, consistency, generosity and wit, John le Carré's 1961 debut introduces one of the most esteemed and iconic spies in the literary canon: George Smiley.
This short and cynical little literary gem was John Le Carré's debut novel. I've read many of his novels, and while some of the later ones seemed to be retreading his themes a bit, they were always worth reading.
Call for the Dead is where it all starts. Secret agent George Smiley interviews a Foreign Office bureaucrat named Samuel Fennan over some trifling reports of pre-war commie affiliations. He concludes there's nothing to it, even tells Fennan the same thing, and the next day, Fennan has committed suicide, leaving behind a letter claiming that he believed his career was over and his reputation was about to be destroyed... by Smiley. Smiley soon realizes that Fennan almost certainly did not kill himself and there's more going on here, but none of his superiors want to hear it. Smiley's being set up to take the blame, so he has to uncover the truth and save his own career.
George Smiley was Le Carré's most famous creation. A British intelligence agent working in the post-WWII era and witnessing the birth of the Cold War, Smiley was always in trouble with his superiors, always trying to do the right thing with a dogged, dejected belief in an undeserving country. He may not exactly be a model patriot, but he knows that the other side, even if there are honorable agents working among them, is not the same. So he fought the commies, usually in Cold War London or Berlin, while trying to avoid bureaucratic backstabs from his own side. He's not an action hero and on the occasions where he faces violence, it's usually by getting cold-cocked in a back alley. His love life is, at best, uneven and erratic, and he will never reach the rank or pay grade he deserves.
Call for the Dead is short and tightly plotted, and if you didn't quite follow all the ins and outs and who's whos, don't worry: Smiley basically summarizes it all in the end. A masterpiece of old school spy fiction, Le Carré only gets better from here.
Also by John Le Carré: My reviews of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Mission Song, A Most Wanted Man, Single & Single, and Agent Running in the Field.
My complete list of book reviews.
Scribner, 1961, 128 pages
After an unremarkable interview, Circus agent George Smiley determines the subject of a standard security check-a civil servant in the Foreign Office named Samuel Fennan-poses no threat, nor presents any reason for suspicion of espionage.
Hours later, Samuel Fennan is found dead by suicide. Suddenly finding himself under intense scrutiny, Smiley realizes the Circus intends to blame him for Fennan's death. Rather than remain idle, Smiley begins his own investigation into the nature of the man's demise. What he finds is a tangled web of secrets that connects not only to East German activity in Britain, but also his own past.
The beginning of a body of work that The New York Times calls extraordinary in its breadth, consistency, generosity and wit, John le Carré's 1961 debut introduces one of the most esteemed and iconic spies in the literary canon: George Smiley.
This short and cynical little literary gem was John Le Carré's debut novel. I've read many of his novels, and while some of the later ones seemed to be retreading his themes a bit, they were always worth reading.
Call for the Dead is where it all starts. Secret agent George Smiley interviews a Foreign Office bureaucrat named Samuel Fennan over some trifling reports of pre-war commie affiliations. He concludes there's nothing to it, even tells Fennan the same thing, and the next day, Fennan has committed suicide, leaving behind a letter claiming that he believed his career was over and his reputation was about to be destroyed... by Smiley. Smiley soon realizes that Fennan almost certainly did not kill himself and there's more going on here, but none of his superiors want to hear it. Smiley's being set up to take the blame, so he has to uncover the truth and save his own career.
George Smiley was Le Carré's most famous creation. A British intelligence agent working in the post-WWII era and witnessing the birth of the Cold War, Smiley was always in trouble with his superiors, always trying to do the right thing with a dogged, dejected belief in an undeserving country. He may not exactly be a model patriot, but he knows that the other side, even if there are honorable agents working among them, is not the same. So he fought the commies, usually in Cold War London or Berlin, while trying to avoid bureaucratic backstabs from his own side. He's not an action hero and on the occasions where he faces violence, it's usually by getting cold-cocked in a back alley. His love life is, at best, uneven and erratic, and he will never reach the rank or pay grade he deserves.
Call for the Dead is short and tightly plotted, and if you didn't quite follow all the ins and outs and who's whos, don't worry: Smiley basically summarizes it all in the end. A masterpiece of old school spy fiction, Le Carré only gets better from here.
Also by John Le Carré: My reviews of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Mission Song, A Most Wanted Man, Single & Single, and Agent Running in the Field.
My complete list of book reviews.