BOOKSHELF: Frederick Forsyth

 Ramesh Kumar from Greater Noida

Remember my recent posting on my John Grisham Collection wherein I have passingly mentioned about Frederick Forsyth and promised more? Here it is..

I owe this British author introduction to my streetmate/schoolmate and a long time family friend Raghunathan. Indirectly, that is. Vasudevan, his chitthappa (paternal uncle), it was who familiarized him with English pulp fiction. James Hadley Chase, Earl Stanley Gardner (the unforgettable Perry Mason-Della Street legal counsel-secretary duo), Frederick Forsyth etc.

A word about Vasudevan. I had known him between 1968-76 when I was in school and college. He was a regular visitor to his elder brother Ranganathan mama (Raghu's dad who is no more. Om Shanti!) Always in a creased, bottom-folded pant, thin belted with shirt tucked inside and a receding hairline. He was working in the Reserve Bank of India. 

By the way, he was also instrumental in making me familiar with To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee through Raghu, of course.  Raghu's younger brother Kumar (affectionately called Anvar because he resembled the shop assistant at the neighborhood Anvar Stores, Mylapore!) used to babble the Lee book name with a lot of fun and mirth. Wonder whether he read it or not! I did subsequently. Even the classic movie featuring Gregory Peck. More about GP soon. 

My interaction with Vasudevan was a sparse, "hello" at frequent intervals. 

Now, back to Forsyth. 

It was the infamous Emergency era with Indira Gandhi at her dirtiest period, snuffing out all freedom of expression (1975-77). We were in college and one fine day, I noticed Raghu engrossed in a novel with an unknown author. Never heard of Frederick Forsyth and the novel was Day Of The Jackal. 

The book details the failed assassination attempt on the life of the French President Charles De Gaulle by the Algerian rebels who felt wronged by the French.  They hire an assassination, named as Jackal, for the same task. That again fails. But the racy prose, description of the investigation by a small team of sleuths and how they zero in on the assassin and how the attempt to kill De Gaulle was thwarted once again. 

This opened up the world of Forsyth to me which led to devouring all his works: The Odessa File. The Dogs of War; and the latest The Fox (2020) which he wrote after a long gap. Incredible research to create the right ambience. He gets into the skin of the characters. Sorry to repeat the cliche: Unputdownable. Jackal and The Odessa File were made into movies also. 

Time for a revisit to these gems.