Call for the Dead (George Smiley, #1) in Espionage Aficionados

Oct 22, 2013 Mark rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: english-writer, 2013, john-le-carre, detective, spies

"take your hands off me! Do you think I'm yours because I don't belong to them? Go away! Go away and kill Freitag and Dieter, keep the game alive, Mr Smiley. But don't think I'm on your side, d'you hear? Because I'm the wandering Jewess, the no-man's land, the battlefield for your toy soldiers. You can kick me and trample on me, see, but never, never touch me, never tell me you're sorry, d'you hear? Now get out! Go away and kill"

The first novel by John le Carré is also the 1st novel with the ic

"take your hands off me! Do you think I'm yours because I don't belong to them? Go away! Go away and kill Freitag and Dieter, keep the game alive, Mr Smiley. But don't think I'm on your side, d'you hear? Because I'm the wandering Jewess, the no-man's land, the battlefield for your toy soldiers. You can kick me and trample on me, see, but never, never touch me, never tell me you're sorry, d'you hear? Now get out! Go away and kill"

The first novel by John le Carré is also the 1st novel with the iconic character George Smiley.
le Carré described George Smiley in “Call for the Dead” (1961) this way:

“Short, fat and of a quiet disposition, he appeared to spend a lot of money on really bad clothes, which hung about his squat frame like skin on a shrunken toad.”

So a few years before the Ian Fleming creation graced the big screen for the first time his totally opposite started his life in this not so thick novel in a murder mystery & spy mystery. The by then already old employee George Smiley is send out to check out a civil servant after receiving an anonymus letter in which Samuel Arthur Fennan's communist history is told. However Smiley sees nothing but a youthful mistake and even lets the man know he should not be concerned.
Of course Smiley is rather unpleasantly surprised when he is told that the man has killed himself and somewhat implicates Smiley in the reason why.
When Smiley is send by his service to check out their possible involvement things do not seem to add up. And things get worse quickly including resignation and more murders.

I have read Le Carré before, never this particular book, and found him interesting but far too intellectual for my taste. His books lacked the physical action that I found enjoyable in the Fleming novels. Now that I am older I find that I enjoy the human and intelligent style of writing by this particular writer a lot more. Le Carré gives a lot more real insight into the every day spy business than most writers will ever do probably because the man worked in the business himself. When he released this book he still worked for MI6 and they permitted him to release this novel as long as he did change his name to his well known pen-name, and the man responsible in MI6 for vetting the book loved it as well.
A great little story that is well constructed and leaves the reader guessing until the end.

The nice part about this particular edition of the book is the 10 pages in which John le Carré himself introduces the book himself, a nice bonus if I may add. ...more

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Aug 30, 2018 Jill rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: espionage, fiction, thriller

Le Carre's first novel. An interesting murder mystery. ...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Feliks rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-detective

It's a shorter work than what comes later; it's not quite as dramatic or powerful; it's a less-well known title than its neighbors in the series (the 'Karla' series).

Some people may even feel it to be a little dowdy. There's maybe only one female in the tale and she is an older married woman. (LeCarre wised up after this, and in most of his later books there's usually one young female somewhere; whether a secretary or a lover or whatever).

But no matter. The point I want to make here needs to be ...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Robert rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the first novel by John Le Carré and reads as a mix of mystery, thriller and spy novel. I found this introduction to the writing of John Le Carré compelling. It left me wanting much more of the character George Smiley, introduced here, who plays a major roles in later works.

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