The Constant Gardener

Le Carre's best in several years

In Kenya, someone rapes and murders activist Tessa Quayle, wife of a mid level British diplomat while the victim¿s traveling companion Dr. Arnold Bluhm has vanished. Tessa and Arnold protested the inhumane practices of the global pharmaceutical companies. They bitterly complained about the use of locals to test new products and the selling of expired medicines that would be flushed down the toilet in the West.

The police blame the missing Arnold for the crime as evidence surfaced that they were lovers. Tessa¿s sedate, older spouse Justin wonders if something more sinister led to his wife¿s death. Even as his superiors want to place a lid on a major scandal, Justin begins to make inquiries starting with the time Tessa spent as a patient in an African hospital where he believes she discovered something top secret. He also believes that someone felt she deserved to die to keep all hidden skeletons buried so the public doesn¿t know.

Many recent novels have anointed the giant drug companies as the replacement to the Soviet Union as the enemy of the common person. With THE CONSTANT GARDENER, espionage thriller guru John Le Carre comes out of the cold and joins the ranks of writers starring a serene David battling against the pharmaceutical-government complex who will kill for profit. The story line is fast-paced and no one does locality scenes better than Mr. Le Carre does as he shows with his vivid tour of Kenya¿s Lake Turkana region. Fans of his great tales will welcome the author¿s switch, as this is one of his better entries in recent years and is one of the sub-genre¿s superior crafted tales.

Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Our friends, the pharmaceutical companies

are the bad guys here. I read this book three years ago, and passed it on to a friend. Not as great a work of art as THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, this is still well worth the read. Especially in light of the killing being made at the moment by drug cartels and NGOs from AIDS in Africa. Kind of makes you wonder, who are the real modern cannibals?

style of 'aid' the West gives Africa

Not his best book, but still a good read. If you like spy/mystery you must read his book 'Absolute Friends.'

Sad

more than simply a murder case story. i found it very sad: the Tessa Quayle story, the African tragedy. the ending was very dipressing: almost a complete victory of evil. Very touching book. i didn't expect it to be, but i was deeply touched by it.

I'm so glad that I didn't give up on this one!

I have read maybe three of LeCarre's books, and he always drives me nuts trying to figure out what is going on. I almost put this one back on the bottom of my 'books to read' pile after about 90 pages. I always find myself frustrated in the early going as to 'where is he going with this'? Mr. LeCarre is very meticulous about developing his characters before he hits you with the 'two-by-four between the eyes' plot twists. This novel was stupendous. You knew the characters right down to their toenails when he starts to let the story really roll, peeling off layer upon layer of betrayal. Justin the milk-toast diplomat: LeCarre has you so lulled into thinking that he's a do-nothing larva that when he starts to break out of his chrysalis of propriety, you find yourself laughing and crying at the same time - go Justin! The story line is about as scary as they come, considering the pharma-related headlines of the last several months. LeCarre tells a story that we don't want to believe could be true, but we suspect that there is more truth between these lines than we read in our daily papers. We are treated to the possible havoc that could be wroought by raw corporate power underpinned by greed, predjudice and ethnic fanaticism at its worst. We understand why the heroes do not survive. It's doubtful that any of us would, either. This may be a work of fiction, but as in other of LeCarre's novels, it is a fiction that is chilling to the bone in the truths it speaks.

'A Great Crime'

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

Held my interest till the end

I really enjoyed this book. I felt I was learning about 3rd world countries and the way companies use them as guinea pigs for the advancement of the almighty dollar. The storyline held my interest till the end

No weeds in this garden

I had just finished reading The Informant: A true story by Kurt Eichenwald. The Informant is a non-fiction account of how the FBI used an Archer Daniels Midland executive to gather information in the lysine antitrust case the government brought against the corporation. I was ready to read more and Le Carre¿s The Constant Gardener fit the bill. Often, when I read fiction such as Le Carre¿s, I wonder how much of it was based on truth. By the time I had finished the book I was sure that the pharmaceutical-government complex was up to something in not only Africa but elsewhere as well. Powerful companies who are not opposed to killing the people who stand in their way seem very likely to me. The suspicion surrounding the death of Karen Silkwood a Kerr-Mckey employee or even my recent novel about the military-industrial complex and an organization of fictitious aerospace contractors comes to mind. John Le Carre has done a marvelous job at describing in detail his characters and their surroundings. The setting of the story is Kenya. Carre¿s writing and descriptions reminded me of how Hemmingway wrote about Africa in The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories. In John Le Carre¿s The Constant Gardener the plot moves fast and tense and his characters are well drawn. For me The Constant Gardner was an exciting book to read and one that I would recommend to any one who enjoys either a mystery or a thriller.

Excellent!

Classic LeCarre. Sprained my wrist turning the pages.

Absolutely Awesome! (pardon my American please!)

I have enjoyed many of Le Carré's novels, particularly the George Smiley trilogy and 'The Tailor of Panama' and of course novels by other authors, mostly American. But I love Le Carré's plots and writing elegance. And I've thought, how much denser a plot could Le Carré weave? I believe he raised the bar on himself with this latest, 'The Constant Gardener.' I did not want the reading to end. I felt almost born-again, and had a feeling that there may yet be some hope left in humankind. I have a feeling this is not your average fictional text. John Le Carré's must have felt spiritually cleansed after completing this absolutely awesome novel. (The disclaimers at the end were very appropriate indeed.) Thank you.

Excellent

Always excellent. A super read as always.

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