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Scott

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Scott is Currently Reading

Scott is currently reading

Call for the Dead (George Smiley, #1)

by John le Carré

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in October 2021

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Scott said: " I read a lot of mystery authors and each of their popular character driven series… Robert B. Parker, John Sanford, Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, Louise Penny, and Craig Johnson to name a few. And now, with the passing of the literary legend, John Le I read a lot of mystery authors and each of their popular character driven series… Robert B. Parker, John Sanford, Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, Louise Penny, and Craig Johnson to name a few. And now, with the passing of the literary legend, John Le Carre’ in December,2020, I have decided it’s time to start reading his works and exploring his post World War II influence on the literary world of spies and mysteries. I have always wanted to read him and that time is now.

Le Carre’s first book, “Call for the Dead” was originally published in 1961, 60 years ago and introduced his legendary spy, George Smiley, a classic character that served as a forerunner to today’s successful bestselling genre of well-known established writers and leading characters. I was interested to see how well Le Carre’s cold war culture, characters, and leading protagonists stood the test of time in consideration of well-developed the genre has become in the current day.

Overall, the results were interesting, positive, and promising.

“Call for the Dead” introduces British SIS agent, George Smiley, whose wife, Lady Ann Sercombe recently left him to run off with a Cuban race driver. George is rather unattractive, short and fat, and finds pleasure in his government work and German poetry and classics.

When the book begins, George appears to have made a mistake. After conducting a routine security interview with Samuel Fennan, George concludes that the man is cleared of the concerns regarding a past membership in the Communist Party of Great Britain.

However, the following morning Smiley is called in the early morning and ordered into the office. When he arrives his advisor, Maston, demands to know what he said in the interview, because Fennan shot himself last night following their interview, leaving a letter that claimed his reputation was ruined forever and he could not live with it. Maston informs Smiley that Fennan’s wife stated her husband was devastated by his interview and that an inquiry will be conducted, insinuating that Smiley will blamed for the outcome.

George immediately goes to visits Fennan’s wife, Elsa, who appears cold and unhappy to see him. He senses something wrong with and then thinks he’s caught her in a lie. However, his advisor refuses to believe anything that George has to offer if it conflicts with a suicide outcome. To make matters worse, George heads home to find someone inside his house and before he knows it someone attempts to kill him, and almost succeeds.

George finds himself trying to figure out why would Fennan’s wife lie? Why would someone want to kill him? What started as a routine security interview has become an investigation that could cost Smiley his career and even worse, his very life…

In reviewing this book, a few things need to be understood. First, this book is over 60 years, which makes it a generation old. However, I think it stands the test of time pretty well. It was nice to enjoy a time when mysteries were focused, the writing tight, and unnecessary commentary is excluded. The second thing is this is more of an old-fashioned mystery than a spy story. Noting wrong with that at all. Just noting that this is more a contained plotline that is less complex and encompassing than Le Carre’s later work that contains larger storylines with greater level of dramas.

Having addressed those items, there are several things that I liked about this book that made an enjoyable and brisk read. Le Carre’s characters were interesting, his plotting well-constructed and well-executed. I especially appreciated his unique writing voice. Le Carre’s professional experience of working for the British government and being forced to write concise reports really helps provide him a key understanding of how to effectively write what he knows. There is a real authentic feel to his writing that is distinctly his own. I love his combination of intellectual literary style and a no-nonsense, get-to-the-point, just the facts, governmental report delivery. He blends the two together to deliver an interesting and entertaining story.

Overall, this was a pretty good book. My guess is that most Le Carre’ fans of the series will not necessarily list this book as one of the favorites, but you can see Le Carre’s obvious potential to be classic writer, along with the emerging qualities and strengths of George Smiley as a protagonist strong enough to not only carry a series, but to leave a lasting legacy to readers like me of the following generation. I am very optimistic that things will continue to get better and my interest is definitely piqued to start his second book – “A Murder of Quality”. ...more "

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— Feb 28, 2026 04:16PM

Oct 17, 2021 06:05PM · see review

Scott is currently reading

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #6)

by Matt Dinniman (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, books-read-but-not-owned

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— 8 hours, 25 min ago

Feb 25, 2026 09:19PM

Scott is currently reading

The High 5 Habit: Take Control of Your Life with One Simple Habit

by Mel Robbins

bookshelves: currently-reading, audible

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— Feb 28, 2026 04:17PM

Feb 24, 2026 05:55PM

Scott’s Quotes

“there is no sound in nature that makes men move along faster than the pumping of a shotgun. Except maybe a chainsaw”
― C.J. Box, Below Zero

9 likes

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all"
”
― Aristotle

120 likes

“Quiet people have the loudest minds.”
― Stephen King

tags: authors, books, dark, horror, inspirational, inspiring-quotes, minds, quotes, reading, steven-king, writers

472 likes

“The act of choosing a value for yourself requires rejecting alternative values. If I choose to make my marriage the most important part of my life, that means I’m (probably) choosing not to make cocaine-fueled hooker orgies an important part of my life. If I’m choosing to judge myself based on my ability to have open and accepting friendships, that means I’m rejecting trashing my friends behind their backs. These are all healthy decisions, yet they require rejection at every turn. The point is this: we all must give a fuck about something, in order to value something. And to value something, we must reject what is not that something. To value X, we must reject non-X. That”
― Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

76 likes