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A review by jgwc54e5
The Comedians by Graham Greene
5.0
This a dark novel yet there’s plenty of black humour in amongst some gruesome scenes.
Brown, Jones and Smith are three men who meet on a boat to Haiti.
Brown, the narrator, owns a hotel in Port-au-Prince.
Major Jones is more of a mystery, he may be a war veteran or just a braggart.
Smith, is “the presidential candidate”. American, he and Mrs Smith want to spread vegetarianism, to end “acidity” and therefore violence.
Are they major players or just comedians on the great stage of life?
Haiti is under the control of “Papa doc” Duvalier, and his violent secret police, the Tonton Macoutes.
There’s murder, corruption, political repression and in this Cold War era the CIA backs this murderous regime supposedly as a bulwark against communism but of course there’s plenty of profiteering.
“The ambassador said, ‘Come on, cheer up, let us all be comedians together. Take one of my cigars. Help yourself at the bar. My Scotch is good. Perhaps even Papa Doc is a comedian.”
Wikipedia says “Duvalier attacked The Comedians in the press. His Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a brochure entitled, "Graham Greene Demasqué" (Finally Exposed). It described Greene as "A liar, a cretin, a stool-pigeon... unbalanced, sadistic, perverted... a perfect ignoramus... lying to his heart's content... the shame of proud and noble England... a spy... a drug addict... a torturer."”
That is funny!
Brown, Jones and Smith are three men who meet on a boat to Haiti.
Brown, the narrator, owns a hotel in Port-au-Prince.
Major Jones is more of a mystery, he may be a war veteran or just a braggart.
Smith, is “the presidential candidate”. American, he and Mrs Smith want to spread vegetarianism, to end “acidity” and therefore violence.
Are they major players or just comedians on the great stage of life?
Haiti is under the control of “Papa doc” Duvalier, and his violent secret police, the Tonton Macoutes.
There’s murder, corruption, political repression and in this Cold War era the CIA backs this murderous regime supposedly as a bulwark against communism but of course there’s plenty of profiteering.
“The ambassador said, ‘Come on, cheer up, let us all be comedians together. Take one of my cigars. Help yourself at the bar. My Scotch is good. Perhaps even Papa Doc is a comedian.”
Wikipedia says “Duvalier attacked The Comedians in the press. His Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a brochure entitled, "Graham Greene Demasqué" (Finally Exposed). It described Greene as "A liar, a cretin, a stool-pigeon... unbalanced, sadistic, perverted... a perfect ignoramus... lying to his heart's content... the shame of proud and noble England... a spy... a drug addict... a torturer."”
That is funny!