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Barry's Reviews > The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener
by John le Carré
by John le Carré
This is an odd book, and I'm not sure why it works and why it's so compelling. The heart of the story is a murder mystery, but that mystery is almost secondary (certainly parallel in importance) to the pharma mystery. The conclusion of the pharma mystery, upon completion of the book, caused me to reflect and wonder if there really was a pharma mystery at all or if it was just a piece of clever writing that made it appear to be mysterious when it really wasn't.
On the surface, this book isn't that great, but for some reason (the reason that I can't identify) this book attracts and compels and urges me forward toward completion. The ending is bittersweet, incomplete yet somehow fitting. It's not a happy book, but it inspires. There are loads of humor in the dialogue, yet it feels inappropriate to laugh given the setting of the story. In short, this book works and is a fine piece of writing, even if I can't put my finger on why it works so well. That perhaps may be this book's biggest mystery of all.
On the surface, this book isn't that great, but for some reason (the reason that I can't identify) this book attracts and compels and urges me forward toward completion. The ending is bittersweet, incomplete yet somehow fitting. It's not a happy book, but it inspires. There are loads of humor in the dialogue, yet it feels inappropriate to laugh given the setting of the story. In short, this book works and is a fine piece of writing, even if I can't put my finger on why it works so well. That perhaps may be this book's biggest mystery of all.
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I see that you gave a high rating to The Constant Gardener. Goodreads’s synopsis of it opens with the words “Frightening, heartbreaking, and exquisitely calibrated…” and my novel, Cooper’s Promise, could be similarly described.
My writing is often compared to John le Carre’s. As one reviewer said, “Smith continues to do for the thriller what John LeCarre did for the spy novel: elevate the genre through strong, complex and sympathetic characters without sacrificing a good story.”
In terms of The Constant Gardener, the similarities aren’t in style only. Cooper’s Promise is also set in Africa—a darker heart of Africa than Joseph Conrad could have imagined—and it touches on an important geopolitical issue, in Cooper’s case human trafficking instead of le Carre’s exposure of the pharmaceutical industry.
Cooper's Promise tells the story of a soldier who vows to save a young girl who's been trafficked in order to redeem himself for another promise he couldn’t keep. It's exciting, fast-paced, and literary at the same time. It was twice shortlisted for the prestigious Faulkner-Wisdom Competition, and the screenplay adaptation has won numerous grand prizes and first places, including Best Original Drama and Best Male Lead.
Here’s a link to the Nook version: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coope...
Here’s a link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1462084087/r...
You will find a synopsis on either site.
Thanks, and keep on reading -- it gives us writers hope.
Tim