Call for the Dead

 

By John Le Carré  (read by Michael Jayston)

Book 1 of the George Smiley novels

 

The only reasons that I even read this book were that it showed up in this month's poll for Agatha Christie Centenary Read that I joined and I found it in an Audible sale pile. To be honest, it is head and shoulders above both this month's main read, The Secret of Chimneys and the side-read winner The Third Man by Graham Greene. Not that I disliked either book, only that this one was so much better from the ground up.

I love the lack of sentimentality, especially after some of the treacle I have indulged in these past few weeks. Set in post-WWII London, the story is stark and anguished; the characters are all damaged,  disillusioned and alienated by their wartime experiences and disappointments.  In spite of the lack of sentimentality, le Carre created some of the most lyrical prose I have read this year. The book might be short and sweet but it is also cold and deep.

Also kudos to the narrator Michael Jayston on whose shoulders fell the awesome task of bringing the story to life without killing it in the process. He let the words on the page do the talking with minimal embellishment.

Four stars