The Constant Gardener

Rating:
Summary: "A Great Crime"
Review: The English Gardener is the most unusual and darkest of all the Le Carre novels, exceeding even The Little Drummer Girl in these regards. This book has more in common with Heart of Darkness than with the George Smiley spy novels, yet there are some stylistic carry-overs from the cold war books. Despite all of The English Gardener's emotionally disturbing features, there is beauty here . . . the beauty of idealism, love, and honor. Even in the densest, most forbidding jungle, wild flowers will relieve the darkness and provide hope. Every reader will be challenged to her or his core by the thought, "You think you're solving the world's problems but actually you're the problem."

Before describing the novel in more detail, let me caution all of those who are easily upset by the human ability to be inhumane, that this book teems with incidents of inhumanity in many of its worst forms. The emotional impact of this novel is intense and lasting. You may well have dreams (or nightmares) about it.

On the surface, the book is a detective story. Fragmentary reports and rumors seep in of a horrific and mysterious murder in Kenya of Tessa Quayle, the young newly-wed wife of a middle-aged British diplomat, Justin Quayle. Everyone knows more than they are telling, and seems to want to hush matters up except for two young English investigators. The press soon is having a field day making speculations about what Tessa was doing traveling under her maiden name with a black Doctor and sharing a room with him. Yet appearances are deceiving, and Justin soon begins to unravel an international plot of insidious proportions.

Tessa was a lawyer, and she had stumbled across "a great crime." Because of her husband's diplomatic role, they had agreed that she should pursue her investigation without involving him. "She follows her conscience. I get on with my job." As a result, he remained in his domesticated garden of diplomatic activity while she was stalking big game in the jungle of corporate greed. With her death, he leaves the garden of Eden having eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, and follows her pathway.

Many people will find that the plot moves too slowly for them. After 30 percent of the book, you will already have figured out the mystery of "a great crime" (even if someone doesn't tell you the plot in advance as some reviewers may do). Clearly, the book could have been shortened by 100 to 150 pages without losing any important material from my perspective.

While you are dragging through document after document, keep in mind the benefits of Le Carre's approach. One reason for this extra length is because Le Carre provides elaborate raw detail, so that the reader feels like he or she is Justin and pursuing the wrong-doing directly. Another benefit of this bulk is that readers who may not be familiar with the details of pharmaceutical research, political lobbying, and business promotional practices will avoid being lost by the story. If you are familiar with this type of information, the story will definitely drag. Another reason for the involved material is that Le Carre is painting with a very broad brush and wants to be sure that you know that he is indicting all of society . . . not just the bad guys. The final reason seems to be a desire to present the fumbling efforts of an amateur investigator in a realistic way. All in all, these sections work, but they are extraordinarily laborious for the reader.

I thought that the main weakness of the book related to the actions of the business people involved. I found their greed, short-sightedness, and viciousness to be so extreme as to not be credible. Le Carre would have done well to have backed off a bit and colored them with some white and gray as well. As depicted, these executives seem to be pure disciples of Satan himself. That darkness is relieved by having many characters with white and gray qualities as well, but modern readers are accustomed to a bit more reality in their novels than Milton provided in his epic poem of Paradise Lost or Le Carre did with his business leaders here.

An important minor weakness is found in the science involved. Those who like great scientific realism will find the descriptions here a little off the mark, particularly in terms of how toxicity is tested and revealed. If you have a scientific background, this will also ruin the story a bit for you. If you can suspend your justified disbelief a little, you will benefit more from the story.

The book's greatest strength is challenging the natural human tendency to focus on what's right around us, the garden we tend. If we do so, we are very vulnerable to having those who watch the guardians be corrupted. In the process of that debasement, we are all lost. "We all betrayed her." is the sentence in this book that will haunt you afterwards. In this way, John Donne's poetry of "No Man Is An Island" is recalled.

A particularly rewarding stylistic device is starting the narration from the perspective of an outside observer who does not know the facts before switching to Justin's perspective. As a result, you will appreciate better the extent to which appearances can be deceiving . . . like the beautiful garden that a murderer may have filled with the bodies of victims.

After you have finished the story and have let its power wash over you, I suggest that you pick an area where you can check on the guardians of truth and honesty, and begin to watch those guardians. Consider Tessa's and Justin's examples in determining how to exercise your oversight effectively.

Look for wrongs to right outside your normal range of attention, and be persistent in righting them!

Rating:
Summary: A very fine book and a great read.
Review: I think this is the first John Le Carre book I've ever finished. I usually find the characters too patronizing, the plots too crammed with incredibly unexciting spy arcana, and the characterizations of women too weirdly 1950s for me to ever soldier on (a very Le Carre image there) to the last page. But hallelujah, the cold war's over. And after several awkward forays into a sort of half-genre Le Carre has found a new pace, and it is terrific.

"The Constant Gardener" is Justin Quayle, a midrange bureaucrat in the British foreign service whose young wife Tessa is heavily involved in relief work from their base in Nairobi. Tessa is horribly murdered and the respected African doctor she was traveling with disappears. Bits of information fall into Justin's lap about a so-called wonder drug for TB, and Tessa's research into its ultimate side effect - death. The practices of pharmaceutical companies in the Third World, the business of humanitarian aid, and roles governments play in regards to both are probed by interesting characters in a smart and smartly-paced series of events that lead to an ending that will make your skin crawl.

I never found much suspense in Le Carre's other books because it was so difficult to care about his characters. This book will keep you riveted from start to finish. "The Constant Gardener" is what I always thought a John Le Carre book was supposed to be.

Rating:
Summary: An emotionally powerful new novel from John le Carre
Review: Too often a commercially successful novelist -- especially one identified with a particular genre -- falls into the easy routine of writing in essence the same book over and over again or, at best, cutting corners to quickly finsh off yet another manuscript to be shipped off to the printer in time for the annual publication date. But that is not John le Carre. His work almost always shows a progression in his exploration of theme and technique. Certainly there are echoes of his most recent works from "Our Game" through "Single & Single", but in "The Constant Gardener" we are drawn even more deeply into an identification with the central character during his lonely odyssey. I cannot imagine how anyone could read this novel without being strongly emotionally affected.

Rating:
Summary: What is ethics?
Review: "Just a small county east of London" in the view of Foreign Office diplomat Sandy Woodward. Le Carre begins his examination of the modern form of imperialism in Kenya with the murder of the wife of Woodward's colleague, Justin Quayle. Woodward has reason to know Tessa's murder may not be a random killing. His definition of ethics places him among those once called "the Silent Majority". A civil servant on the rise, he reflects how ethical values have been eroded by surging "globalization". The erosion results from a rising tide of a new imperialism - the multi-national corporation. There are billions of dollars to be made in developing new drugs and ethics aren't profitable. When government policy furthers the process, people like Woodward are there to help it along. How Le Carre's people deal with ethics is the central focus of this book.

The George Smiley trilogy gave us a lexicon of "spy industry" jargon. This book introduces "pharma" as a new buzzword. It identifies a new subversive adversary - the international pharmaceutical corporation. It's a term that is likely to be with us for some time. In the way that his spy novels kept us focused on the Soviets as cruel foes, the pharmas are depicted as influential, determined powers existing nearly uncontrolled. Unlike the image carried by the Soviet antagonists, the pharmas' image is ameliorated by the demand for their products. Everyone wants what they can provide. What cost are we prepared to pay in their bringing it to us? Le Carre bluntly confronts us with that question. Le Carre shows vividly how the response is clearly individual. No agency will front for us in dealing with the pharmas.

A departure from his spy novels, this book is hard to categorize. That's good, since it shows Le Carre has breadth and remains capable of surprise. He's on a campaign here, and wants us to join it. He shows the venality of government agencies under thrall to outside forces and depicts the people representing those elements with skill. Woodward is particularly well portrayed, as is Curtiss, the pharma baron. Justin Quayle is more difficult to diagnose. For a Foreign Office functionary, his ability to "go to earth" seems rather elevated, but Le Carre needs this to give us all the information we require. Only Le Carre could give a persona to someone dead, displaying it without providing a living voice at any point. Tessa speaks through Justin Quayle's memories and interpretation of events. It seems clear that the characters take a back seat to the message of the book.

Justification for the conclusion of this tale seems lacking. It's almost as if Le Carre had tired of writing and had to contrive an ending, no matter how illogical. There's no motivation given for the pilgrimage, especially with prior events related in the story. The scene is very nearly a reprise of Leamas at the Berlin Wall in Spy Who Came In From The Cold. There is the same sense of philosophical failure and bleak future. Clearly, this book will not launch a trilogy in the vein of Smiley's quest. Which is sad, since globalization is a force sweeping the world in ways that would have made Lenin cry out with envy. Le Carre shows how the morality of communism and corporatism stand at par, toppling governments, repressing dissent and manipulating lives. Once again, Le Carre has exposed a world hidden from most of us. He's exposed it with his usual skill at language and characterization. It's a book to be ignored at your peril.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Solid Effort
Review: It's amazing how LeCarre quietly sucks you into a story. His books often seem overlong and glacially paced, yet somehow, but the last quarter of a novel, I find I can't put his books down. The Constant Gardener is no different.

There are so many things LeCarre does well in this novel. First off, the characters are thouroughly fleshed out individuals. Next is the variety of locales; you feel like you've been to Kenya, London, Italy, and Canada, as the novel swings around the globe. This time around, the plot isn't as strong and driving as in previous novels, but LeCarre makes up for it with strong characterization in the leads.

One place the book fails is in the villains. I found they came off a bit hokey and sometimes generic. But it was easy to overlook that and other minor failings because the novel is otherwise expertly written. If you read this novel, I suggest you also try "The Billion Dollar Molecule". TBDM is a great work of non-fiction relating the trials and potential riches of drug developement. This is a nice bookend for "The Constant Gardener"

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful, exciting thriller
Review: I honestly believe that The Constant Gardener is one of John Le Carre's best books of his career, and certainly the best of the last decade. This is partly due to the nature of the story itself; set in Africa, filled with exciting characters and paced in an unusual but compelling way, keeping the reader turning the page long after the mysteries of the tale have been solved.

What struck me about the book, however, was how different it was from Le Carre's usual body of work. Normally his characters are so dark, their motives so clouded, that you expect even the protagonists to be morally compromised. Thus, in any other book it would be assumed that the character of Justin's motivation would be solely to discover his wife's murderers, but in a book by Le Carre it comes as a shock, halfway through the book, when the reader discovers the two main figures of the novel, who were married, were actually deeply in love with each other. It suggests that Le Carre takes the subject of the book; the greed of corporate drug companies, very seriously, and places all the ambiguity upon them. When an author is this passionate about his work he demands that his readers take it seriously, and Le Carre fans would do well to do so.