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2024-04-25 6:25 pm

The Constant Gardener: A Novel

by John Le Carré

2005

Status

Checked out

Genres

Collection

Standard Shelves

Publication

Pocket Star (2005), Edition: First Edition, 576 pages

Description

Frightening, heartbreaking, and exquisitely calibrated, John le Carre's new novel opens with the gruesome murder of the young and beautiful Tessa Quayle near northern Kenya's Lake Turkana, the birthplace of mankind. Her putative African lover and traveling companion, a doctor with one of the aid agencies, has vanished from the scene of the crime. Tessa's much older husband, Justin, a career diplomat at the British High Commission in Nairobi, sets out on a personal odyssey in pursuit of the killers and their motive. A master chronicler of the deceptions and betrayals of ordinary people caught in political conflict, le Carre portrays, in The Constant Gardener, the dark side of unbridled capitalism. His eighteenth novel is also the profoundly moving story of a man whom tragedy elevates. Justin Quayle, amateur gardener and ineffectual bureaucrat, seemingly oblivious to his wife's cause, discovers his own resources and the extraordinary courage of the woman he barely had time to love. The Constant Gardener is a magnificent exploration of the new world order by one of the most compelling and elegant storytellers of our time.… (more)

Media reviews

literaturkritik.de

Im Nachwort seines 18. Romans schreibt John le Carré: "Je tiefer ich in den pharmazeutischen Dschungel eindrang, desto klarer wurde mir, dass mein Roman, verglichen mit der Wirklichkeit, ungefähr so harmlos ist wie eine Urlaubspostkarte." Was so nicht stimmt, denn der Roman ist weder harmlos noch

sollte man ihn an der Realität messen. John le Carré hat eine blutige Variante der Verstrickung von Politik und Wirtschaft in Szene gesetzt, von der wir inständig hoffen, dass sie niemals Realität wird. Schon die Vorstellung solcher Zusammenhänge, wie sie John le Carré in seinem Roman aufgezeigt hat, flößt Angst ein und sensibilisiert das Unrechtsbewusstsein des Lesers. Eine positive Nebenwirkung! Aus diesem Grund und für einige spannende Lektürestunden sollte man dem Autor dankbar sein.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member reading_fox

One of the first of Le Carre's social novels. Now also released as a film. Vastly different to his early spy thrillers, but also very similar in style. It is written in Le Carre's slow third person prose. Watching characters from over their shoulder and many paragraphs of their inner most thoughts,

the turmoils of being human in a world that is never black and white, and where signals can be easily misinterpreted.

The basis of the book is Kenya - Nairobi. The opening chapters could almost be one of his early spy thriller. The politics and lives of governemnt officials, holding parties and trying to see through another day. But then comes the news that Tessa Quayle nee Abbot the beautiful wife of one of thier staff Justin, has been found murdered up country in the wild areas. After various flashbacks the point of view changes and Justin takes centre stage. Justin who's only hobby had been gardening of the title, trys to ressurect the research that Tessa had been conducting in private, to find out, in the spirit of conspirancy theories everywhere, if this what had caused her to be killed. He travels around the world as only an inherited fortune can allow you to do, meeting secretly with the various players in the game. Detail slowly emerge that maybe everything was not as it should be in the murky world of pharma corporations and Africa.

The book is fiction. This must be bourne in mind all the time. Yet it is also a very powerful commentry on modern society and the power of multinational companies. As le Carre says in the afterword, not all of them, but some. He names no names, but I doubt any american reading this can avoid thinking of Vioxx.

Slow and ponderous it is also a gripping read. The atmosphere of life in africa is only sparing described, but the people and policies of international politics and the workings of government policy are rendered in vivid detail as always.

LibraryThing member soulbyte

This book took me an age to get through. I read it on recommendation from my boyfriend because we wanted to watch the film but wanted to read the book first. The first part of the novel, i.e. the part which doesn't follow Justin on his journey is very dull. It plants the seeds of something great,

which is why I carried on reading, however its not until about 200 pages in that the pace picks up, when Justin starts investigating his wife's murder. The book is thought provoking and the imagery of Africa is outstanding but I expected much more from the story.

LibraryThing member ecw0647

One of the reviewers on Amazon complained that this book had little to do with gardening. Good grief!

I think Le Carre has made the transition from Cold War spy novels to contemporary issue thrillers quite handsomely. In this book, he really goes after the pharmaceutical companies, accusing them

not only of unethical practices using Africans as guinea pigs, but also suggests they would kill anyone whom might deign to challenge their unholy hegemony.

It's also truly a great love story. The relationship of trust and reliance that emerges gradually through the course of the novel between Tessa and Justin is really wonderful. Unusual perhaps; striking, nevertheless.

This is a tale of grand corruption on an international scale but also a celebration (albeit tragic) of the idealistic individual. But I warn you, it's a dark tale.

LibraryThing member nohablo

THE CONSTANT GARDENER. A brisk but rickety, uneven read. Le Carre's got an excellent, twisty mind for subterfuge and intringue and gimlet-eyed maneuvering, as well as a (usually) supernatural ability to twist a phrase. These are great things, and he's unstoppable once he brings his big guns out.

But here, he gets so bogged down in stamping SAINT and SINNER on the foreheads of each of his characters that he swerves into patches of smarmy sanctimony. The realities underlying the plot of his book are, in themselves, so fucking grim that Le Carre's attempts to jerk our strings plays out as unseemly and hammy.

SIDENOTE: Also! Gotta say that I'm sick of stories about the Beloved White Saviors (hi Tessa!) of Poor Impoverished, Corrupt, Helpless Africa (hi Wanza! And, you know. All the other African characters of any real significance!). Made my skin crawl in the same way as THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. Because, seriously, if Le Carre strung any more garlands around Tessa's neck (HER SERVANTS - IE BLACK PEOPLE - LOVED HER SO MUCH. SO DID OTHER BLACK PEOPLE. WHATTA LADY.) he'd have garroted her. But, yeah. Kipling already played out this burden. Let's get real, and let's not simplify it to some overemoted crap. It's not angels versus demons, it's complex and it's people versus people.

LibraryThing member CliffBurns

Le Carre has been hit and miss for the past decade but this is definitely one of his better recent books. THE CONSTANT GARDENER is a more emotional offering than the author's earlier fare; there's a strong sense of moral outrage (a trait also in evidence in his three subsequent novels). Le Carre

has left the Cold War and entered the Hot Zone of the present day--his prose is more impassioned and his message never more relevant.

LibraryThing member Karen_Wells

John le Carré is incapable of writing a bad sentence, and frequently writes good ones. This gives him a major head start on the pack and always has. Yes, he writes thrillers, but they are highbrow thrillers which attempt to do more than while away a few hours in the airport lounge. This book took

me a fortnight to read, which is unusual for me. It is not a page-turner. More precisely, I found turning the pages to be a good idea, but not absolutely essential. The highlight for me was the masterful way in which grief was explored: Justin for his murdered Tessa. The lowlight was the over-elaborate way the plot was spun out with what the author considered to be subtle nuances of characterisation and colour; some worked, others got on my nerves. Particularly irritating - because incomprehensible - was the cagey way Justin responded to the police, as though he didn't want Tessa's murderers found. This labouring of tension - taking secrecy and subterfuge to the limit and then slightly beyond - is a gripe I've had with several other of his works as well. But the ending was very fine, and the book is staying in my memory warts and all.

LibraryThing member JRuel

I was rather surprised : I thought John LeCarré (only) wrote spy novels, but I thought the love story, as well as the utter befudlement of the main character at what happens around him were handled quite well! Also, there is a strong social and political comment about neo-colonialism and the

liberties some industries take with humanity, which is always a plus with me.

LibraryThing member pamplemousse

Absorbing, polemical thriller about the abuse of the third world by unscrupulous drug companies. Criticised by many as "not as good as the Smiley novels", this is nonetheless an exciting and interesting tale which will have you asking questions.

LibraryThing member trench_wench

Saw the film first, so maybe I missed out on some of the suspense, but still found the book to be an enjoyable page turner. I like Carre's dialogue in particular. I would like to read some more of his stuff I think.

LibraryThing member kristicw

Le Carre' is a gifted storyteller. This book is captivating, compelling and complex (any other "c" words I could use in that alliteration?). It is not a feel good story, if that is what is desired; the ending is frustrating, but exactly what needed to happen.

LibraryThing member jimmydare

This was a suprisingly effective and moving thriller. I read it prior to seeing the movie. Actually, I was finishing it up just as the lights dimmed for the film. I'd never read much Le Carre but this book put me in the mind of a pop Graham Greene. It's a perfectly paced thriller that manages to be

socially conscious and entertaining.

LibraryThing member ablueidol

I saw the film first and was drawn to the performances of the main actors which along with the editing made story live and credible. The book by comparison felt more wooden and plodding. The words didn't light my head as the film did. Perhaps if I had read it first I may be more critical of the

film. However, not the case for say Dan Brown whose prose is plodding but whose structure and ideas created brilliant images for me. The film also worked and didn't disappoint. However, read the book if you can as the subject of the west mistreating Africans for its own profits and health is a serious matte

LibraryThing member Andi182

This book was kind of disappointing to me. I thought it would be almost an epic book. Instead it was a medium book that extended more than it could. The prolongation of the story withdrawed any suspense of it.

LibraryThing member Mrs.Scholey

I found this book tricky to follow at times. I was well into the book before I felt I had a good grasp of who the characters were and what they were about. It took solidmonth to finish this story, not because of its length, but because I never really had that have-to-read-it-every-chance-I-get kind

of feeling. It dragged on for me.

LibraryThing member John5918

I love Le Carre but to be honest I don't think this is one of his best books. I'm very happy that it exposes the activities of transnational corporations, but in this particular instance I think he has pushed his story a little too far to be convincing. Having lived in the region since the 1970s

and worked in the aid industry there, I am also critical of some of the small errors of detail.

LibraryThing member siew

I found le Carre to be too heavy-going for me - slow progression of the plot, uninspiring unravelling of the mystery, flat characterisation. Perhaps my watching of the film first has influenced my reading of the novel to this degree, however I can't help but think that the film did more justice to

the mystery side of things.

LibraryThing member apartmentcarpet

I read this for a book club, against my better judgement. There's not much to say, really. A thriller is a thriller. The plot was average, thriller-type stuff, and so was the ending. The characters were average, thriller-type characters and they did thriller-type things. I have a hard time

understanding why everyone got so excited about this book.

LibraryThing member cinesnail88

I've read my fair share of garden variety political thriller books, and Le Carre's was similar while remaining different. I was reminded of Ludlum's Bourne books, and yet, I enjoyed how Le Carre managed to romanticize the whole battle. It was good, the pharmaceutical angle was interesting, I was

duly entertained. Now I just need to see the movie.

LibraryThing member kathysoper

First-world greed milks third-world need. Spies, murder, international conspiracy, etc. Probably well-done for its genre, but not my cup of tea.

LibraryThing member stubbyfingers

This book was recommended to me by my mom. I haven't seen the movie and this is my first John le Carré.

This book was amazing in that it managed to be interesting even though absolutely nothing happened. After the first 100 pages, the whole plot was explained and nothing really new happened in the

last 400. Except the first 100 pages were the boring part. Why were the first 100 pages told from the point of view of a minor character? Any importance that character might've played was wiped away in an easy paragraph later on. Actually, all major facts were given away quite easily. There really was no suspense. And then, after 450 pages of nothing happening, the book just ended.

The writing was beautiful and intriguing and I found myself not wanting to put this down and looking forward to picking it up again. I kept expecting something interesting to happen. It never really did, but I liked it despite it's lack of suspense.

LibraryThing member adawn

This one was a book club pick, to be read and then when we got together we watched the movie. The book is a 700+ page meh fest. It’s not bad, perse, but it’s not good either. And frankly it’s supposed to be all suspenseful, but really isn’t because you know who killed Tess straight off.

It’s no big shock at all. I really just didn’t care about any of the characters, and actively hated others. But it was readable and passed decent time while I was trapped in a boring hotel in the middle of nowhere Missussauga for a week.

The movie was even worse only because of the fact that I had just read the book so any tiny wee bit of suspense and thrill that might have been in the movie was obliterated. It was apparently nominated for Oscars, but I really have no idea why. The movie did, however, redeem itself and the book with it’s ending - an original bit that never happened in the book. So ya for that.

LibraryThing member kwyles

Struggled to get through this.

LibraryThing member pwjone1

John le Carre is one of the better authors working today, somewhat handicapped by the end of the Cold War, but still able to write extremely well in this tale of mismatched and misjudged marriage, where a low-level functionary in a back-water British state department overseas job is married to an

activist wife, who manages to get in harms way by pushing too far, or at least further than the system is willing to go with her. The main part of the story then is how the husband traces her route, learning more about her (and himself) as he goes, in effect falling in love all over again, and at the same time relearns and rediscovers himself, for better or worse. le Carre unwinds the story line, a master story-teller, and much of this is character driven, as you come to understand the main players and their places in the story, and it all pretty much in the end falls into place, a twist here and there, but looking back, also some amount of inevitability. We may all miss the slow unwinding of British Spy/Bureaucrats jousting with their own organization and the Soviets, but this novel has many of the same elements, government against itself and big business, and oh yes, a spy here and there, against the whole backdrop of Africa and the problems of the poor, and just staying alive. Very well written, very entertaining and intellectually satisfying to read. One of le Carre's better books.

LibraryThing member jerry-book

The first 75% of the book was good but the last part was not satisfying. I just didn't like the ending. My least satisfactory LeCarre book.

LibraryThing member vrchristensen

I have heard some say that of all LeCarre's books, this is the weakest. I confess that, while I'm familiar with the names of many of his other books, this is the first of his I've read. I have to say, I really loved it. It is a tender piece of storytelling, subtle in all the right ways that make

the imagination work to fill in the rest, resulting in intense and complicated emotion. The story is about the death of Justin Quayle's wife, and his search to find out the truth. On his journey, he takes us along the emotional and circumstantial road of their union. By all appearances it was, at least for her, a marriage of convenience. For him, quiet, soft spoken, it was of the heart. But the words, never spoken, leave a chasm after her death of unresolved conflicts, both emotional and real. Was her involvement as a human rights activist what lead to her death? Or was it something more? Was she the constant wife, or did her affections lie elsewhere? His work as a diplomat, and hers with human rights, meant that they knew little about the professional sides of each others' lives. But did they know each other at all? It's a moving, gripping story, full of suspense and intrigue and yet paints a picture of a very intimate relationship, that, despite its flaws, its necessary sacrifices, was something worth remembering, worth fighting to understand, and, perhaps, renders life not worth living without.

Awards

British Book Award (Winner — 2006)

Christian Science Monitor Best Book (2001)

The Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (Crime)

The 100 best books of the 21st century by The Guardian (68)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2001

Physical description

576 p.; 4.19 inches

ISBN

1416503900 / 9781416503903

Barcode

1601964

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