By LARRY BALLWAHN | Wilton
“Call from the Dead” is the first of the George Smiley novels. It contains a foreword by P.D. James and an introduction by the author. Both are worthwhile reading.
George Smiley is described as short and fat, a frog or toad of a man. He had extensive experience with German, Germany, and the British Secret Service. His current assignment was to follow up a previous responsibility: to try to determine why Samuel Fennan had killed himself.
Smiley had just had a discussion with Fennan regarding an accusation that he had been a communist sympathizer in his youth. The informal conversation had gone well, and Smiley had even assured Fennan that he had nothing to worry about. And yet Fennan had left a letter saying that his career was ruined and committed suicide. Fennan’s wife, Elsa, stated that he had been depressed after the Smiley encounter.
The whole thing didn’t make sense; Fennan should have been reassured by the meeting. But there was more. Thinking it was for him, Smiley had answered a wakeup call that Samual Fennan had arranged on the day that he supposedly committed suicide. Elsa Fennan attempted to explain that away. Further, she said that she was forced to be a courier for her husband’s espionage work. There was a mystery there, too, as it was discovered that Samuel Fennan did not avail himself of the secret files that were available to him. Espionage?
Because it was East Germany that was seeking the information, Smiley knew some of the people involved. Hans-Dieter Mundt “Blondie” was the agent who was meeting Mrs. Fennan. Dieter Frey, now an East German agent, had been a wartime agent of Smiley’s. There was no doubt that espionage was happening, but exactly who was involved remained a mystery, and it was also unclear what actual damage was being done. It was the phone call that made Smiley wonder about Elsa Fennan. For a man who intended suicide to arrange a wakeup call seemed quite unlikely, even though Mrs. Fennan tried to explain it away. Perhaps she was not as unwilling a participant as she suggested.
Smiley’s nosing around does not go unnoticed. He is attacked and hospitalized. When he is released, he confronts Elsa Fennon. Elsa elaborates on her husband’s supposed role and names East German accomplices. It is a trap that finally clarifies what really happened and who was involved.
“The novel is a finely wrought and compelling admixture of three types of crime writing: the novel of action and excitement that we commonly call a thriller, the spy story, which explores the seedy labyrinths of international espionage, and the detective story, which has at its heart a mystery, usually a violent death, and by the end of the novel provides a rational solution, which the reader should be able to arrive at by logical deduction from the clues that, although cunningly placed, are essentially fair.” (Forward – P.D. James)
Addendum: “Chased by the Light” by photographer Jim Brandenburg was highlighted in our book-sharing book club. It is available through your public library.