Thursday, July 19, 2007

The Constant Gardener Book Review

I originally bought this book because I knew I would have some extra time on my hands here, and it was S$17 for a book over 500 pages, meaning it would actually take a significant chunk of my time to read. I absolutely loved this book. I have no idea what the movie is like, haven't seen it, but have great respect for the folks involved in making it. If it retained the energy and the fury of the book, it must be a good movie.

The basic plot is that Tessa Quayle is killed due to interference with a tuberculosis drug. Her husband investigates, and it is this investigation, of himself, of their relationship, and of her fight against the big pharmaceuticals, that makes up the story. It's tightly woven, well-told, and the characterizations are brilliant. I really enjoyed how John le Carre really made all of the characters jump to life for me. The first time that really happened was when I cried in David Copperfield, and le Carre has done almost as good a job at character development as Dickens did.

I personally love this book because it attacks - justly - those companies that represent what I hate most: millionaire "philanthropists" who are perfectly willing to be "humanitarians" when it serves their own purpose and makes it possible to buy a larger, sleeker private jet. These new arch-criminals aren't going to be featured on Saturday morning cartoons. But they play just as fast and loose with human life and the environment, as though life, precious in all its forms, is here solely for their own personal benefit. May a pox descend upon them all.

If you have time, and, as summer is upon us, I'm sure some of you do - read the book. It's brilliant.

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