Dec 08, 2001 02:28 PM
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(Updated Dec 08, 2001 02:28 PM)
John Le Carre is back with another great book. This time however, there is a change in the subject as well as technique. It is not one more espionage-spy thriller which has been the forte of Le Carre, but rather a subject which has been Robin Cook's domain. Yet, Le Carre has done full justice to the subject in his own inimitable style and has come out with a winner.
Le Carre's hallmarks of seamless narration, manipulation of the suspense, exquisite prose, investigative process, immaculate detailing, depth of understanding are all there. What is most appealing and touching is the passion. The plot:
British High Commission- Nairobi. The news comes to the chief of the administration Sandy that Tessa Quayle 25, the young and beautiful social activist wife of 40 year old Justin Quayle, the first secretary in the embassy has been murdered in a remote corner of Africa, alongwith her driver. Her companion -cum-Guru, Dr, Bluhm, A Nigerian doctor also an aid worker has gone missing. Tessa was a fiercely independent minded, jolly, daring aid worker affiliated to an UN agency. Tessa had strong opinions and didn't mind calling a spade a spade.
Justin Quayle, a mild mannered, simple-minded gentleman is shocked at the sudden death of his beloved wife. Justin had given full freedom and autonomy to Tessa who was half his age and had never bothered to find out what she was up to, and never interfered in her personal or professional life.
Justin is disturbed by the happenings around him. His colleagues and seniors, while expressing their deep sympathy and understanding are subtly questioning him to elicit some unknown information. Newspapers and local rags are printing all kinds of nonsensical stories: Tessa was in love with Dr.Bluhm, Tessa had an unhappy marriage, Tessa was cheating on her husband, Tessa was raped, Tessa was on some secret mission etc, etc. Staff is gossiping, the whole atmosphere has become very stifling and suffocating.
Suddenly the High Commissioner is re-called to London and has been asked to proceed on leave. Rob and Lesley, two smart cops from London have descended on Nairobi mission and are interrogating all the members of the embassy. Interrogations are making everyone uncomfortable, especially Justin who cannot understand the reason and rationale behind the line of questioning. He is intelligent enough to understand that something is seriously wrong somewhere, and he doesn't know anything of what others think he knows. Never to have pried into the independent life and work of Tessa, now he starts digging and discovers startling information, which further whets his appetite to unravel the truth.
The cops are suddenly called off and Justin is transferred to London. When he reports to Foreign Office in London, his boss wants him to take a sabbatical, a rest, which tantamounts to virtual house arrest. Rob and Presley the frustrated investigators who were rudely yanked off the case and were stripped off all the information collected by them have smelt a rat and as a measure of vengeance have decided to help Justin uncover the mystery of Tessa's murder and complete her incomplete mission. Justin manages to skip out quietly slipping the surveillance and starts his own investigation.
How he does his investigation and what all he discovers and finally what happens….is the superbly told story. I wouldn't like to spoil the fun of your reading.
During the course of this very interesting story, Le Carre raises very relevant and disturbing questions on many topics. The damage the unbridled quest of profits does to the humanity and exposes dark side of unfettered capitalism which could threaten the very existence of the human race. Some of the passages are worth reproducing here:
'' Pharma companies donating obsolete drugs save costs of destroying the unsaleable drug and in the process get a few million dollars of tax breaks for their generosity and reap free publicity.''
'' Lazy bums in aid organisations, with cushy jobs and fancy tax free salaries and perks keep travelling on fat expense account attending inane seminars and conferences so that they never get to spend their own money. They don’t give a to what's really happening! Sure there are millions of dollars to be doled out, spend on pharmas, everyone is happy! ''( we all know in our country thousand of crores of rupees being spent on ''poverty alleviation'' programs, and whose poverty is being alleviated!)
An aid worker exclaims: Do you see these women in tattered clothes chugging around babies? Well these are the only hope for Africa. We don’t give food packets to men, they sell them off and buy booze and dope, we give to women only. Women make homes while men make war, only women do God's work.
Sheer apathy and brazenness of a bureaucrat: '' The drug was in trial stage, if it poisoned a few people who were anyway going to die, what's the big deal? Drugs have to be tested on somebody, who do you choose? Harvard Business School? We aren't in the business of passing judgements on safety of drugs, are we? We are supposed to be greasing the wheels of our industry so that Queen's subjects are happy, we can't go around telling people that one of our companies is poisoning Africans! People are dying anyway, look at the death rate in this country…not that anybody is counting.
There many such poignant passages which stir the reader's conscience and makes on think.The very title ''Constant Gardener'' is loaded with philosophical meaning. I welcome readers to explain the title.
Le Carre having written such a thought provoking and courageous book, goes out of the way to pen a three page disclaimer to ensure that he doesn't get sued. I have seen such an elaborate disclaimer for first time…what could be the reason? Ludlum never did any such thing!
The book can well be appreciated in one sentence in Hindi; '' yeh kitab aapki aatma ko chooke, aapke vivek ko jhinjhod ne mein saksham hai''
