The Outsider: how Frederick Forsyth used facts to inform his fiction

The Hindu

2 days ago

The conventional spy genre's analog charm has withstood the test of time largely due to its universal entertainment value. The generous helping of hair-raising action coupled with overt acts of machismo, prevalent in novels like those of Alistair MacLean feed into a primal, adrenaline-pumped, cycle of pleasure derived from doses of violence.
Ian Fleming romanticised the genre, with James Bond conforming to a patriarchal society's constructions of ideal masculinity. But his characters also serve as vehicles of wish fulfilment and modes of deferred rebellion through their highly individualistic and anti-establishment tendencies. Conversely, in John le Carre's writing, the psychological impact of an existence defined by betrayal and confusion takes centre-stage. In his work, spectacle is replaced with characterisation, fantasy with reality, and sympathy with empathy.
Free-flowing narratives
In a genre thus alternatively populated by action and emotion, acclaimed British spy-thriller writer Frederick Forsyth's novels, much like him, identify as 'the outsiders'. Forsyth (1938-2025) does not resort to scenes of gaudy violence or high-octane fights, instead choosing understated motion and smooth efficiency as his tools of tension. His narratives are neither rigidly structured nor conventionally plotted, thereby imbuing them with a free-flowing, procedural linearity.
His central characters generally cannot be boxed into the good-bad dichotomy, and often behave as emblems or caricatures rather than emotional human beings who can be empathised with. In spite — and often because — of this blatant and conscious flouting of established 'rules' and tropes, Forsyth's classic novels are not only critically acclaimed hallmarks of the genre, but also remain equally entertaining for the modern Hollywood action-addled reader base. Much of this enduring appeal and feeling of contemporaneity almost 60 years since their writing can be attributed to Forsyth's unique style of amalgamating a spy-thriller with a non-fiction novel.
Also referred to as 'faction' — a portmanteau of the words fact and fiction — the non-fiction novel is characterised by its mode of presenting real historical events in a dramatic format. Forsyth's appropriation of faction largely adheres to a more developed style of the genre popularised by the likes of Truman Capote.
Archetypal faction novels include Capote's InCold Blood (1965) and Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song (1979). Forsyth, who in the 1960s worked as a journalist for Reuters and the BBC before going freelance, was not only in the epicentre of the then-rapidly emerging form of New Journalism, but also debuted as a writer with the non-fiction book The Biafra Story (1969) — one of the first eyewitness accounts of the war from a Biafran perspective. It thus comes as no surprise that when he turned towards fiction in order to make ends meet, Forsyth's proclivity towards the journalistic mode of writing imbued his thrillers with certain key non-fictional aspects.
Realist fiction
The Day of the Jackal (1971) opens with the dramatisation of a real-life assassination attempt on French President Charles de Gaulle by members of the OAS (Secret Army Organisation), who opposed his decision to grant freedom to Algeria. The Odessa File (1972) includes pages-upon-pages of information on the socio-political scenery of the world post the Third Reich's fall. The entire first act of The Negotiator (1989) is designed to paint an accurate and expansive picture of the geopolitical chessboard during the Gulf oil crisis, and even features real figures like Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev. These interludes, while language-wise dry and heavy-handed, prioritise journalistic insight and economy of words, and are purposefully designed to inform more than entertain.
Forsyth's decision to thus incorporate his intricate and accurate knowledge of the inner workings of world powers and their covert operations into his novels serves not only to add to their verisimilitude and urgency, but also allows him to treat historical events as the first domino fall — Jackal's events are written as the fictional consequences of the factual failed assassination attempt.
In his historical epic Shei Shomoy (1983) (Those Days), Sunil Gangopadhyay tackles an issue similar to that faced by Forsyth — writing a fictional story set in a world defined by fact. Both authors end up taking similar approaches.
Gangopadhyay states in the afterword that the characters of his novel exist as emblems, meant to embody specific socio-cultural ideologies and institutions — the 'protagonist' Nobinkumar is a personification of Time itself. Similarly, Forsyth deliberately crafts one-dimensional characters, whose identities are defined by what they personify. In Jackal, The Jackal represents the Outsider, de Gaulle the Establishment, the OAS the Opposition, and Lebel the Idealist. None of them undergo a transformation, and none of them tread a character arc.
Imperfect like life
Historical characters and events are central to both novels, with the authors deciding to conduct their stories alongside the established course of history, often intertwining but generally not contradicting it. Similarly, both Gangopadhyay and Forsyth forego adopting any codified, traditional narrative. In both novels, the authors are unafraid to depict days passing by without any significant developments.
The primary focus is always on the logical progression of events and the realistic passage of time, irrespective of the impact this has on the story beats. The original question, then, still remains — in the face of such extensive rule-breaking, why do these novels work? The answer might be simple.
It is a truth undeniable that real life rarely adheres to the rules of literature. Normal people do not become heroes following a 12-step programme. The sum of our lives does not always fit squarely into character arcs. Tragedy does not discriminate between the righteous and the flawed — it comes for everyone.
And because facts never die, Forsyth's fiction will not either.
In essence, the 'imperfections' in his novels are perfected by the imperfections of our lived reality, and if there is any lesson to be learned from the width of the master's bibliography, it is that of spontaneity, motion, and enjoying the journey without worrying about its destination.
Archisman Ghosh studies English at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata