Talk:Frederick Forsyth

Numpty? What the hell is a numpty?

From the end of the article: "During the interview he referred to Gordon Brown as a numpty." -- That's supposed to mean something? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.236.111.58 (talk) 23:08, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

"Numpty" is a Scottish dialect word for an idiot, which is rapidly gaining currency throughout the UK. Mr Larrington (talk) 14:39, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

It has a Wiktionary entry too - so I've added a wikilink. a_man_alone (talk) 15:23, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

André Malraux

Well, I think you could put an information about the publication of "The Day of the Jackal" in french. Because of André Malraux, Minister of Culture of France from 1960 to 1969, the book could be published in the country. The censure in France didn´t let the book be published because of the things about Charles de Gaulle and the argellians. But Malraux said that didn´t see reasons to censure the book once it has some cultural signification, which was agreed for various literary critics. Ken Bruce April 29, 2006 São Paulo, Brazil

Eh, I've always wondered if the book was ever published in France. Had de Gaulle's historical presence in the country subsided enough to let some real history come out about him? 74.137.218.247 19:27, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

The assertion that André Malraux allowed the book to be published in France doesn't make any sense

André Malraux served in the French government as first Minister of Cultural Affairs from 1958 until 1969.

The Day of the Jackal was written in January 1970 and published in 1971.

André Malraux couldn't have had anything to do with allowing the book's publication in France.

96.18.38.36 (talk) 21:18, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

Indian Fanbase

It's interesting to see that many of the comments here come from Indian fans. Do Forsyth's novels sell particularly well there? Lisiate 01:44, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Spoilers

There are some really annoying spoilers in this article, mixed in with other content and with no warning. Examples:

1. "The German Army Officer was the reporter's father. "
   
2. "Also a subtle twist at the end of the novel can reveal that a lot more was going on than the reader initially suspected: Cat Shannon, the central figure of The Dogs of War, turns out to have had his own agenda all the time; Adam Munro of The Devil's Alternative finds out that he was not a player but a pawn to people in high places; in The Odessa File, the reporter's true motivation is revealed at the end, and a number of events in Icon turn out to have been committed by people other than those who the reader had been led to suppose. In Avenger, one of the events that allows the Avenger to escape is unexplained until the last few paragraphs."
   
3. "He is a strong supporter of the British monarchy. In his book Icon, he recommended a constitutional monarchy as a solution to Russia's political problems following the collapse of the Soviet Union."
   

Could these spoilers please be marked as such or removed from the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Semi-anonymous Andrew (talk • contribs) 18:43, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

No. Reasoning is here.--Terrillja _talk 19:08, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

1. From Wikipedia:Spoiler : "except for the content disclaimer and section headings (such as "Plot" or "Ending") which imply the presence of spoilers." There are no such disclaimers or headings here.
   
2. The article is not specifically about the books in question and reading about the life and works of Forsyth seems like a reasonable thing to do, without expecting the twist of a specific story revealed.
3. Is it necessary to include these plot twists in the sections where they occur, without warning or disclaimer, in order for the contents of that section to be complete? -- Semi-anonymous Andrew (talk) 08:06, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

40th anniversary of The Day of the Jackal

A good interview with FF in 'The Daily Telegraph' to celebrate the above:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/8524091/Frederick-Forsyth-I-had-expected-women-to-hate-him.-But-no....html

Interestingly enough, I think Patrick O'Brian was also the son, or maybe grandson, of a furrier.

Overall, FF, John Le Carre and Robert Harris are also masters of their craft and how poor the literary world would be without them! I am now going to embark on reading 'The Odessa File' and then 'The Dogs of War' e-versions on my amazon kindle.

Having read this article, I am unfortunately in opposition to FF ref. his stance on the EU - which has done a huge amount in terms of rebuilding Eastern Europe's infrastructure, the monarchy - Britain should be a Republic, and climate change - anyone who ignores the reality of what is going on is living in cloud cuckoo land. Ivankinsman (talk) 08:54, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

Cites?

Very little of this man's extraordinary exploits seem to be supported by verifiable sources. Just what evidence is there for this version of events?

He has an autobiography coming out in September, that may help for verifying the information. Vg31-irl (talk) 19:07, 25 July 2015 (UTC)

Then again, even if it is a little dodgy, does not a little 'colour' and daring-do help to sell books? For why would anyone need the boring truth, if they can be sold a little bullshit? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.149.166.163 (talk) 16:11, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

Fallen Soldier

Today, Forsyth released a lament titled 'Fallen Soldier', sung by the soprano, Melissa Adler of the Royal Opera House. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bzbEkwY7aE http://www.eveningecho.ie/viral/hear-former-fighter-pilot-frederick-forsyths-moving-tribute-song-for-fallen-soldiers/1843036/ Irish Melkite (talk) 10:05, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

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Frederick Forsyth

This biography reads as if it were written by the man himself. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 185.5.172.228 (talk) 14:43, 7 January 2019 (UTC)

Connection between the 1972 book The Odessa File and real life spy Eli Cohen

In Frederick Forsythe's 1972 book "The Odessa File" there is a passage that sounds a lot like part of the life of Israeli spy Eli Cohen. On page 21 of the book it discusses an Israeli agent who was the top agent in Egypt. He was captured in 1965 after a raid discovered a radio transmitter in his house. If anyone has contact with Forsythe, they might be able to verify this connection. Dwnoone1 (talk) 15:01, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

Cohen was arrested and executed in 1965 in Damascus. His case received much publicity at the time, so it is not surprisingly that Forsyth would have heard of it. Alternatively, Forsyth might had heard of the case of Wolfgang Lotz who was arrested in Egypt for espionage for Israel in 1965 after his Egyptian intelligence traced his radio transmissions back to his house. Unlike Cohen, the Egyptians sentenced Lotz to life imprisonment. Both cases received much publicity, so it would not surprise me in the slightest that Forsyth incorporated elements of both into his book, but we need a RS saying so. --A.S. Brown (talk) 05:39, 14 April 2020 (UTC)    

Short story link

This [1] is a pdf link to a short story by Frederick Forsyth:

Do you think it's useful for the article anyway?

Shubhrajit Sadhukhan (talk) 16:48, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

@Shubhrajit Sadhukhan: Please do not add links to texts still in copyright per WP:COPYLINK. --AFBorchert (talk) 23:15, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

@AFBorchert All materials of the NCERT textbook are free to be downloaded and probably in the public domain. See this [2].

Shubhrajit Sadhukhan (talk) 09:02, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

@Shubhrajit Sadhukhan: This is not correct. Please be refered to the NCERT terms of use for its textbooks. Quote: While copies of these textbooks may be downloaded and used as textbooks or for reference, republication is strictly prohibited. No agency or individual may make electronic or print copies of these books and redistribute them in any form whatsoever. Use of these online books as a part of digital content packages or software is also strictly prohibited. No website or online service is permitted to host these online textbooks. A restriction in regard to links is included as well: Links may however be provided with written permission from the NCERT. --AFBorchert (talk) 11:21, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

Biafran war

Missing from the article is the significant point about Forsyth's writing about the Biafran war, that he was a strong critic of the role of the British government and of the reporting by UK news organisations.

See for instance:

The Guardian - Frederick Forsyth - Buried for 50 years: Britain’s shameful role in the Biafran war, 21 January 2020.

    ←   ZScarpia   08:49, 10 August 2021 (UTC)