The Comedians in Espionage Aficionados

Feb 05, 2013 Feliks rated it really liked it

Shelves: brit-lit-modern, genre-detective

The exotic setting; the torrid affair; the cast of seedy supporting characters; and the constant menace of the lurking death-squads helped picque and maintain my interest in this Grahame Greene novel. He has sadly failed me in other works but I rate this one fairly intriguing to read. See, I like a little briskness in a thriller. And 'Comedians' has just barely enough of this --whereas some of his other titles (bogged down with Catholic soul-searching and gelatinous-pacing) got me quite frustrat ...more

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Jul 15, 2025 Michael Martz rated it really liked it

Way back in the '70s, Haiti wasn't the place to be. Neither is it today, but at least there's not a murderous dictator and a bunch of nasty secret police terrorizing the citizenry. Graham Greene, with his stylish prose and storytelling acumen, throws a few characters together into that dangerous Caribbean cauldron and delivers a tale that's mostly sad with a not unexpected ending. With "The Comedians" as a title, one might expect comedy but although there's a little of that it's mostly a story o Way back in the '70s, Haiti wasn't the place to be. Neither is it today, but at least there's not a murderous dictator and a bunch of nasty secret police terrorizing the citizenry. Graham Greene, with his stylish prose and storytelling acumen, throws a few characters together into that dangerous Caribbean cauldron and delivers a tale that's mostly sad with a not unexpected ending. With "The Comedians" as a title, one might expect comedy but although there's a little of that it's mostly a story of trying to find normalcy in a chaotic society.

Our 3 main characters, Messrs. Brown, Jones, and Smith are strangers traveling from the US to Haiti as passengers on a small Dutch freighter. Brown, the story's narrator, is a semi-Brit (actually born in Monaco) who owns a hotel inherited from his mother in the Haitian capital. He's returning from an unsuccessful attempt to sell his property to a buyer in NYC. Jones is a true Brit with an unlikely background and a lot of stories that may or may not be true. Smith, an American, once ran for President and garnered all of 10K votes. He's on a mission from God to turn Haiti into a vegetarian wonderland and is prepared to present his project to a high Haitian official. The men become acquainted on-board the ship, with Smith and Jones pledging to give Brown's hotel their business once they arrive in town. Brown's love interest is a young German woman who is the wife of an ambassador. Smith's wife is a prim, no-nonsense supporter of her husband's efforts, and Jones tends to pay for his dalliances in one of Haiti's best brothels. Brown, the narrator, is having trouble deciding whether his new found friends are serious people or, as he puts it, 'comedians'.

Haiti is a rough place. Papa Doc is a freakishly sadistic leader with a secret police force doing much of his dirty work. Insurgents are in the hills preparing to challenge the existing government but lack support. The minister Smith was to meet is discovered dead by suicide in Brown's pool at the hotel. Brown has lived long enough in Haiti to know the ropes, but Smith has a lot of learning to do and eventually discovers that a country whose population is starving isn't necessarily a good place to develop a center for vegetarians. Meanwhile, the true wild card, 'Major' Jones, continues to tell tall tales and entertain those with whom he comes into contact. Smith and wife conclude that their visit was a mistake and move along to the next port and Jones finds himself in deep trouble, necessitating quick moves to save his life and a final effort on his part to show the world that his stories weren't all BS.

The pace of The Comedians is a bit slow at times, but Greene's prose is so beautiful that I didn't mind. The conclusion of the story was a bit predictable but getting there was a challenging trek. I remember this period of Haiti's history and it was interesting to read about it from people (fictional, I know) who were actually inside and to hear what and how the US was addressing the situation. It's now 50+ years from when The Comedians was released and, although the government isn't as overtly authoritarian as it was back then, the country is still a shambles. Greene's novels always have a moral aspect to them that makes his readers think and The Comedians certainly fits the mold. ...more

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