Call for the Dead

I started reading a random le Carré at a holiday house (because there is always a le Carré at a holiday house) and, after abandoning my Sanderson full-opus attempt, decided to read the Smiley books from start to finish instead. I’d already read several but never felt I quite grasped the detail and complexity of character for which the books and character are celebrated.

Call for the Dead is the first Smiley novel, and it’s a cracker. ‘Cracker’ isn’t quite right for le Carré though, as he rarely writes with excitement, it’s more steady and scholarly, much like Smiley himself. It’s a slim volume with nary a word wasted—a lesson for Sanderson perhaps?—and the story unfolds like reverse origami. Small touches abound, a description of a room or backstory on a gentlemen’s club, and Smiley is an amazing choice for hero: a rotund, half-blind, withdrawn bureaucrat-type (the final lines brilliantly capture this) who spends more time thinking than doing, but that thinking is always fascinating as you try and keep up with his insights.

The only weakness here might be a tendency to exposition, which, despite being appreciated by a confused reader, may have been better left unsaid. But I’m not a mystery novel reader, so perhaps this is the norm? Subsequent books in the series will hopefully answer this question.