| The Constant Gardener |
Article Index for The Constant |
Articles about The Constant Gardener |
Website Links For Constant Gardener |
Information AboutThe Constant Gardener |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT THE CONSTANT GARDENER | |
| 2001 novels | |
| constant gardener, the | |
| books by john le carré | |
| british book awards | |
| pharmaceuticals policy | |
|
''The Constant Gardener'' is a 2001 Novel by John Le Carré . It tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat who finds his wife murdered and seeks to uncover the truth behind her death. The 2005 film has a different ending. PLOT SUMMARY Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Nairobi , finds his wife Tessa murdered. Investigating on his own, he discovers an international Conspiracy of corrupt bureaucracy and pharmaceutical money. Justin suspected that his activist wife married him only to infiltrate diplomatic circles while having affairs behind his back. This results from mistaken snippets of conversation and correspondence that were actually part of Tessa's plan to lure her husband's unscrupulous colleague (who is infatuated with her) into helping her. Ignoring friendly warnings, grim threats, and physical assaults, Justin learns that Tessa uncovered a corporate scandal. A large Pharmaceutical Company , under the cover of AIDS tests and treatments, is testing a Tuberculosis drug with severe side effects. They are covering up the side effects (and burying the bodies in mass graves) and improving the drug in anticipation of the massive tuberculosis outbreak that would fuel their wealth. After planning to expose the corrupt politicians back in the home office, Justin returns to the scene of Tessa's murder, knowing that the hired killers are on their way to intercept him. Justin is killed by what appears to be a group of hired guns. A high profile diplomat gives a eulogy at his funeral but is then exposed by a letter that he wrote to a colleague telling him to watch (and eventually kill) Tessa (This part of the plot only occurs in the film version). PLOT CRITICISM Critics contend that the movie & book failed to use the opportunity to level realistic and needed crticism of the pharmaceutical industry and the plight of Africa. Instead, they argue, both mediums created an unrealistic, naive and almost laughable plot typical of many in the paranoid thriller genre but less entertaining or believable than the best of them 1 . It has been suggested that a more realistic plot would involve the conflict between underground labs and pirated drugs, the struggle of governments and the pharmaceutical industry that creates working deals that honor intellectual property and the plight of Africa generally. There is a real intersection of human drama there that need not be, in the critics' view, exagerated or faked in order to create a cathartic effect from the actual tragedy imposed by those forces. One might summarize these forces as: (1) the misery of the poor in Africa, (2) the corruption and possible manipulation by pirate labs and coup leaders, (3) the corruption and possible manipulation by industrialists and governments, (4) the creative frustration of companies spending billions to innovate whose property rights are effectively circumvented and (5) orphan disease programs (eg. resistant malaria) that now leave the innovators to rely strictly on charitable donations, as profit motive has been removed case after case (eg. HIV). The criticism that most of the critics level is that the movie fell short of what it could have been due to the fake plot line. However, most enjoyed the cinematography and the depth of character as portrayed by the actors and writers. |
|
|