A Call for the Dead
4.0 Stars
3-15-2025

Filling in some of the early Le Carre stories that I missed the first time through. I'd heard that his earlier stuff is not that great, but that was a misapprehension! Even his first stories are 1-2 tiers above the common author, filled with structural complexity and enjoyable psychological portraits. There's a few mis-steps, but even in his first book he has scenes of a quality that most authors never reach. I suppose my joy in these is a bit like the joy of staring at a face, they are these endlessly fascinating objects that have so much depth and detail to key off of.