The Constant Gardener

Rating:
Summary: Gardener looks like a winner
Review: There is nothing as sure as a good John Le Carré book. Some are great, others not, but they are always at least enjoyable. The man writes with so much assurance and charm that people who like deep and well-written thrillers have to love and thank him for such a great material.

'The Constant Gardener' is a really interesting book. It has an engaging beginning that will be solved throughout the novel. Tessa Quayle is brutally murdered in a distant region in Kenya-- where the couple lives. Before her death, she and her husband --the gardener in the title-- had felt apart. Ever since they moved to Africa, she involved with humanitarian works, while he focused in his office duties. The crime will shad a new light in her life, and Quayle will learn that Tessa is far from being what he thought she was.

In a nutshell the novel is Quayle's quest trying to find out who killed his wife and why. The deeper he goes, the more dirty he finds. He learns that her death may be linked to the pharmaceutical industry and its market in the third world.

Le Carré has his special gift for drawing believable plots with by characters that are very human. Quayle and Tessa are people that may be anyone's friends. The dynamics of their falling apart is very true to earth. But not only them are believable, but also the supporting characters.

The narrative is in a worthwhile slow motion --in other words, it requires patience from the readers. But people who enjoy Le Carré's style will find it fascinating the way he unfolds the story until it ending. At the same time, the writer is able to touch upon serious issues like the capitalism and the pharmaceutical industry that causes at lot of harm to many countries --mostly in the third world.

All in all, 'The Constant Gardener' is quite a decent read, but it requires a lot of concentration from the reader. It is different from the fast pace explosive thrillers that are out there, but it is still very good on its own merits.

Rating:
Summary: Gardener looks like a winner
Review: There is nothing as sure as a good John Le Carré book. Some are great, others not, but they are always at least enjoyable. The man writes with so much assurance and charm that people who like deep and well-written thrillers have to love and thank him for such a great material.

`The Constant Gardener' is a really interesting book. It has an engaging beginning that will be solved throughout the novel. Tessa Quayle is brutally murdered in a distant region in Kenya-- where the couple lives. Before her death, she and her husband --the gardener in the title-- had felt apart. Ever since they moved to Africa, she involved with humanitarian works, while he focused in his office duties. The crime will shad a new light in her life, and Quayle will learn that Tessa is far from being what he thought she was.

In a nutshell the novel is Quayle's quest trying to find out who killed his wife and why. The deeper he goes, the more dirty he finds. He learns that her death may be linked to the pharmaceutical industry and its market in the third world.

Le Carré has his special gift for drawing believable plots with by characters that are very human. Quayle and Tessa are people that may be anyone's friends. The dynamics of their falling apart is very true to earth. But not only them are believable, but also the supporting characters.

The narrative is in a worthwhile slow motion --in other words, it requires patience from the readers. But people who enjoy Le Carré's style will find it fascinating the way he unfolds the story until it ending. At the same time, the writer is able to touch upon serious issues like the capitalism and the pharmaceutical industry that causes at lot of harm to many countries --mostly in the third world.

All in all, `The Constant Gardener' is quite a decent read, but it requires a lot of concentration from the reader. It is different from the fast pace explosive thrillers that are out there, but it is still very good on its own merits.

Rating:
Summary: Not His Best Work
Review: This is an ambitious and very well intentioned novel. Unfortunately, Le Carre falls short of his best work and this book has some significant flaws. The ambitious part of this work is an attempt to combine 2 disparate genres; a psychological novel and a socially relevant novel. The psychological part is Le Carre's description of the obsessive quest of his protagonist to reconstruct, and really to re-experience, the last days of his beloved wife. This portion of the book is done very well and displays Le Carre's ability to develop characters and the plot in a subtle and penetrating fashion. The socially relevant portion is Le Carre's effort to expose the miserable medical conditions in Africa and the moral corruption of many international pharmaceutical companies. Despite Le Carre's noble intentions, this aspect of the book is less interesting. His presentation of this issue comes across as very black and white. In one sense, this is legitimate, as Big Pharma has often behaved disgracefully in developing nations. As an artistic device, this is less successful. One of the best features of Le Carre's Smily novels was the persistent moral tension surrounding the ambiguity of his protagonist's conduct. What is permitted in the pursuit of a good cause? This type of tension is absent from this book and it lacks the interesting moral dimension of his best novels. I am afraid that the plotting is a little contrived as well. Another contrast between this book and the Smiley novels. Still, this is a good book. From almost any other writer of popular fiction, this book would be an unmitigated success. Le Carre's best work, however, raises expectations that this book does not meet.

Rating:
Summary: To Bee, or not to Bee......
Review: While not his best book of the last 10 years, Le Carre's The Constant Gardener betrays a passion for subject that was missing from his recent works. (Single and Single is a notable example!) One can tell that Le Carre is affected by a reality that is so horrifying he can not, in his own opinion, portray it properly; he compares his story to a, "holiday postcard," of Africa, which after reading The Constant Gardener is unthinkable.

Born to a family tradition in the British Foreign Service, handsome Justin Quayle can only garden while his young wife, Tessa, attempts to expose the unethical practices of pharmaceutical companies in Africa, keeping Justin from the truths she discovers, for which she is killed. Tessa had become a hero to the Africa women she had touched in her aid work, and upon her death Justin takes up arms against her sea of troubles. Who killed Tessa, and why? Early on, Tessa's murderers are identified, the motive established. But Le Carre goes on to show that she was really killed by those in the West who would trade medical cures for the violence and corruption that is Africa's illness; we all are gardenining while Africa goes to pot.

Le Carre's compassion is admirable, and conscience does not make a coward of his hero. Justin sees his mission through to the end, though it takes him from being a man who tends gardens to one who pushes up daisies. The importance Le Carre places on Africa's impossible troubles allows for little character-complexity; everyone wears either a black or white hat, the African stage up-stages its players. However, I am not disappointed that Le Carre took a risk and put his heart in the way of his pen this time. Had he done otherwise, I might not have trusted as much what he most wanted to say, that Reality is much scarier than fiction.