While we have your attention, Mr President... (great letter to the Guardian from Frederick Forsyth)

Guardian uk ^ | 11-20-03 | Frederick Forsyth

[Coop]

That really is a fine letter, one that made me smile. Thanks for posting.

[6323cd]

Mr. Forsyth is now on my must-read list. Thank you, sir.

[Indie]

Just a few of Mr. Forsyth's "minor" works..LOL:

--The Day of the Jackal
--The Odessa File
--The Dogs of War

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

The British left intermittently erupts like a pustule upon the buttock of a rather good country.

The American left intermittently erupts like a pustue on the buttock of a rather good country.

Priceless.

The letter deserves a hallowed place somewhere.

[EscapedDutch]

I highly recommend The Fist of God by Mr. Forsyth. Very much an on-topic book indeed. His attention to detail and accuracy makes him my favorite writer.

[workerbee]

Good read bump

[SAJ]

''The Fourth Protocol'' and ''The Devil's Alternative'' are his best, IMNNHO. Whacking good stories. Also, ''The Negotiator'' was enormously entertaining, if rather far-fetched.

[workerbee]

I imagine the left will add book burning to their protests now...?

[Poohbah]

Recommended reading: his short story collection, "No Comebacks."

The one story from that collection that really sticks with me is "Money with Menaces."

[Koblenz]

Fist of God is one of the best novels ever written. His latest, Avenger, was also good. Better than the collection of short stories that he released a few years ago. Day of the Jackal and Devil's Alternative were great. Odessa and Dogs of War were good, but not his best. Still, he's one of the best novelists ever.

[Spok]

So has this guy been knighted, or is that reserved exclusively for rock stars??

[Lorianne]

Cute letter. Thanks for posting.

[Poohbah]

I liked Devil's Alternative; it really felt like you were there in a massive crisis.

The Fourth Protocol was very elegantly plotted.

"No Comebacks" has a GREAT short piece titled "Money with Menaces." That story is very rare: a short story with an unstated moral to it.

[Chummy]

Huzzah for Mr. Forsyth, and excepting the buttocks eruption of which he writes, huzzah for the UK!

[doug from upland]

Dear President Bush,

I'm sure you'll be having a nice little tea party with your fellow war criminal, Tony Blair. Please wash the cucumber sandwiches down with a glass of blood, with my compliments.

Harold Pinter
Playwright

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Frederick Forsyth is not just a novelist. In fact, he's not a good novelist. Frederick Forsyth is and has always been a great novelist.

[6323cd]

Oh my gosh; I read "The Day of the Jackal" when I was 16, and didn't make the connection that he wrote it! My bad!

[Taliesan]

Dear Mr. Pinter:
You sadly have me confused with those well-known blood drinkers, the Baathist fedayeen, who are of course mostly now dead. With my compliments.

George Bush.

[livius]

Wonderful! Thanks for posting.

I bet somebody's going to see a surge in the sale of his books (at least a tiny, Freeper-driven one).