FRWL - question
SeanIsTheOnlyOne
Posts: 503MI6 Agent
I've just reread FRWL and I was wondering about one detail.
I don't understand the assassination attempt of Kerim the day before Bond's arrival. Given General G clearly insists on the fact everything should remain "normal" in Istanbul to make sure the British will not suspect anything, why does Krilencu, who also runs for SMERSH, try to kill Kerim precisely when the usual peaceful rivalry between the two sides is "needed" ?
In the film, the bomb in Kerim's office explodes after the murder of a Bulgarian agent by SPECTRE. Only the British and station T can be suspected, justifying then Krilencu's response. There's no issue here because neither SMERSH nor any other Soviet entity are behind the Lektor conspiracy, whereas in the book, the Presidium is notified and even gives the go-ahead. Then we can suppose all the Soviet agents in Istanbul are asked not to take useless risks towards the British. Why attacking Kerim first then ? Kerim himself tells Bond he doesn't understand why the Russians suddenly decided to light the fuse...
Does anyone here see my point ?
Comments
Good point. The most likely explanation is that Fleming wanted to get some action into the book and wasn't careful about how it fit into the plot.
A more charitable explanation is that the Bulgars, who were subcontracted to do dirty work for the Russians and already had a grudge against Kerim, took advantage of the situation to settle their grudge. At the gypsy camp "it seems the Bulgars were ordered to kill Vavra and as many of his men as possible," since Vavre was working for Kerim, who says "the declaration of war against me personally I can also understand." Therefore any violence between Kerim and the Bulgars could be chalked up to the ongoing feud between them, rather than Smersh. And that is exactly what Kerim and Bond think after the gypsy attack.
And as Grant tells Bond, Smersh at some point decided "this Turk of yours had to be got rid of," so perhaps the organization was already attempting to separate Bond from Kerim with a scheme to make the latter's death look like it was caused by the feud with the Bulgars.
Yes but Kerim is the head of station T and the best person to make Bond and Romanova escape from Turkey with the Spektor. Having him alive until the couple and the device get on the train seems a better idea than taking the risk of killing him too early. Bond's doubts are huge during the whole trip from Istanbul to Paris, and the fact Kerim gets killed on the train and not before is important because at this point, half of the job is already done. That's precisely what makes Bond decide to continue the trip...