« The Schakal » author Frederick Forsyth is dead-DiePresse.com
More in short.
The British author Frederick Forsyth, champion of the Polittrillers, is dead. Suddenly he was famous with his debut novel « The Schakal », which was filmed several times and was finally implemented as a TV series (with Eddie Redmayne in the leading role). Now Forsyth died at the age of 86.
The German Crimeaner Hans-Peter Schwarz has Forsyth in his 2006 book « Fantastic Reality. The 20th Century in the Mirror of the Political Thrill » with Großmeister John Le Carré (By the way, his son Nick Harkway stepped into his father’s footsteps and the « Smiley » series has just revived). While Le Carré traumatized intelligence figures were in the foreground, forsyth’s heroes would look different: « They are sober realists – purpose -oriented, decided, pronounced machos, idiosyncratic opponents of sluggish bureaucracy. »
In contrast to Le Carré, Forsyth was never a great stylist. He wrote, like the US thriller author Tom Clancy, who died in 2012. The military and secret services always played a major role. The weapon types used were described more precisely than the characters of his characters. (Phu)
