Rating: 
Summary: A tedious novel
Review: To cut a long long long and monumentally boring story short, the novel is tedious. While in the early parts it has some promise of interesting things to come, it becomes confused, hard to read and exceptionally slow. It is almost as unreadable as some of the Booker Prize Winners. It was quite a torture for me to labour through to the end. It is an extremely disappointing work of the author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Rating: 
Summary: Past His Prime?
Review: In his latest thriller, John le Carre explores the murky world of the international drug companies and their nefarious activities among the people of Africa. Justin Quayle, once a mild-mannered diplomat who lives for his garden, becomes an avenging angel when his beautiful wife Tessa is horribly murdered for her discoveries about illegal drug trials being conducted by a large drug multinational among the people of Kenya. The story is interesting but soon runs out of steam...is John past his prime?
Rating:
Summary: The Constant Gardner
Review: Definitely one of the worst books I've ever read. I am a long time le Carre fan, but I think he has lost it. I had to finish the book because I was hoping that a miracle would occur to make it worth reading. Nothing but boredom for 475 pages, then the excitement, intrigue and interest barely raised an eyebrow. The ending became a little abstract and somewhat predicable. le Carre is going to wait a long time for me to read any of his new work....but the Smiley stories are forever re-readable.
Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievably great book!
Review: This book is an eye opener - not only for what it tells about Africa, but also for the strong implications about life in western society, and the influence of big economical forces on the way we are advised to live.
Rating: 
Summary: my review
Review: This book deals with an interesting topic: about the politics of big Pharmaceutical companies regarding their "dumping" medicines into the African market.The plot in itself tries to hold on and the characters are interesting, as well as the places we read about, but the ending is the one that confused me totally for it did not follow the concept of the book at all.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and rough going...
Review: I'm a Le Carre fan from Cold War days and admit to having downed most of his books with enthusiasm. This one was a rough ride, however. Good concept, interesting theme (big bad pharmas against the little people) but somewhat disjointed delivery and a tremendous amount of British-style language filler that made reading a chore...for a Yank anyway. Not a page turner by any stretch. Sorry John. Out in the cold...
Rating: 
Summary: A hard reading
Review: It is an interesting book inside, it shows you how the medicine goes for the money instead of going for the cure of people, but is not an easy reading, it was hard for me to finish the book.
Rating:
Summary: Le Carre back on track
Review: After a few slightly lackluster novels, it is great to see LeCarre back. I am glad to see him tackle current villains of the world with his usual sardonic wit.
Rating:
Summary: Another Cold War
Review: John leCarre of Cold War espionage fame has over the years widened his scope, while still giving us the insider's look into the worlds of diplomats and spies--which turn out not to be so separate at all. I need not rehash the plot, other than to say that this is intelligently written and suspenseful, a great read as most of LeCarre's books are. The author raises many ethical issues that are hard to resolve, but bear considering. The major issue in the book, testing of a drug that is still unsafe on an unsuspecting poor population, and a cover up of the bad results, is clearly abhorrent. But LeCarre raises more subtle issues.What are the developed world's obligations to the third world in the case of pharma companies? How far must we go in protecting their patent rights if the result is denying access to the poor? Is exclusive protection in rich nations sufficient reward, and should we let generics be developed much more quickly where they are needed? LeCarre raises issues about the basic morality and efficacy of a simple issue like food aid--should we continue it if doing so requires making deals with the very governments which pursue a fruitless civil war that causes the famine in the first place? And of course LeCarre brilliantly paints the world of diplomacy and its compromises. If all this profound thinking scares you away, don't let it. LeCarre includes an unprobable, doomed love story, a mystery to unravel, and a few surprises along the way as characters slowly reveal their true selves. This one is an intelligent page turner of high quality.
Rating:
Summary: Like peeling wallpaper off a wall
Review: This is the first LeCarre novel that I have managed to finish. It is one of many books that I have read this year where I simply did not give a hoot whether the characters lived or not. They were not terribly likable. Still, it was a readable.
| 
