Search - The Constant Gardener

Loved the movie, but had trouble getting into the book.

It is hard not to see how real this story can be if an ordinary person is placed in this circumstance. I think often of my missionary friends who travel the globe and try not to allow the politics of the host country interfer with their mission to share God with the world. How this book reminds me of that struggle from the perspective of the one who decides to seek truth rather than turn a blind eye to it. Can we say we would be so bold?

John Le Carre manages to weave together a passionate love story, a chilling, suspenseful thriller, and a scathing commentary on the objectification of the African continent and its' people. The end result is one heck of a pager turner! I finished the book with tears in my eyes for both the beautiful, and ultimately tragic, love story and the sad commentary about our supposedly 'progressive' world.

An aging, soon to be passed over, embassy bureaucrat evidently does more gardening than he does his young, brilliant wife. She traipses around Kenya with a do-good doctor attempting to nail to the wall a major pharmaceutical conglomerate that is systematically reducing the overpopulation with a new wonder drug. They get murdered and away we go. Hubby jumps on the trail to take all guilty parties to task. Good luck! Let’s see, who’s involved: a major international conglomerate pharmaceutical corporation, their monster African distributor, the corrupt Kenyan government, the do-nothing British Embassy in Kenya, their superior counterpart in merry old England, government political criminals, a myriad of corrupt aid agencies, local warlords, mercenaries, killers for hire. Had enough, or should I keep adding to the sewage. Typical “Honest John.” You may not appreciate the reality of the ending.

I wanted to love this book, but I had a really hard time getting into it. Not sure why. I liked the movie and this has to be one of the very few times I liked the movie better than the book. The book feels dry and disconnected from the characters.

An excellent book. Well-written, good story. I liked it.