The Comedians (Penguin Classics) | Graham Greene

The Comedians (Penguin Classics) | Graham Greene | So much in so few pages

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The Comedians (Pen...

	The Comedians (Penguin Classics) Graham Greene Penguin Classics, 2005 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Three men meet on a ship bound for Haiti, a world in the grip of the corrupt ?Papa Doc? and the Tontons Macoute, his sinister secret police. Brown the hotelier, Smith the innocent American, and Jones the confidence man?these are the ?comedians? of Greene?s title. Hiding behind their actors? masks, they hesitate on the edge of life. They are men afraid of love, afraid of pain, afraid of fear itself...

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

This is a late review and I won't go over what has already been said about this novel. Papa Doc's reign of terror is now historical fact. But if one reads this tight political thriller and one of Greene's best, you can see history repeating itself in the not too recent Hussein reign of terror or go back on a grander scale to Hitler. It goes on and on and THE COMEDIANS deliberately gives the main characters a "no name" status--common with no first names. They are people who hide themselves behind comedic masks and at times tell funny stories while the terror of the Touton Mocteuc consumes everything around them.

We are fortunate there is a paperback edition of this classic still available in print. It is a must read to learn the valuable lessons of the past. When the book was written, it was immediate and hard hitting. The author has visited Haiti twice and before finishing it, Papa Doc heard of the book and refused him entrance into the country, so the book ends on a boat leaving the country which was probably not the author's original ending due to his inability to enter Haiti again.

A very important book for all. A must read. As I stated, I am not giving plot summary or details that have been written about previously in 20 some reviews, just an overview of the book and the impact it still maintains after 40 years.

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So much in so few pages

Greene's writing never fails to surprise me. From his humorous yet poignant "Our Man in Havana" to his touching "Travels with My Aunt," his style of writing and choice of characters is always unique and diverse. "The Comedians" is no exception and offers readers a glimpse into Haiti, the personal demons of the main character, and a wide range of eclectic supporting characters. Although his graceful style of writing, most evident in "The Orient Express" is not apparent, the dialogue is biting and the musings on the fears, hopes and failures of mankind more than make up for the differences in style between the two books. Contained within approximately 300 pages, Greene has managed to capture a love affair, a rebellion, abuse of power, and the eternal search for a lasting connection to place.

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Perhaps Greene's greatest

"I am in favour of jokes. They have political value. Jokes are a release for the cowardly and the impotent."

This was my first Graham Greene novel, and is still my favorite. The preceding quote comes from a leader of the Haitian Tontons Macoute during the brutal reign of Papa Doc during which the novel takes place. I love that quote not because I agree with it, but because it sums up how little value the most brutal among us place on subtlety or joy. All of Greene's central themes are here - socialism vs catholicism, death as reward for virtue, and of course us American simpletons and the havoc we bumblingly sow across the globe. That last part was sarcastic, at least mildly.

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Fascinating glimpse into a troubled country...

In the introduction to this novel, it seems like Paul Theroux does everything in his power to dissuade you from reading it. "The novel is not one of Greene's best..." he writes. Maybe so, but a bad novel by Graham Greene is better than a good novel by most other authors. Theroux points out that some of the themes - such as a narrator who involved in an affair with a woman who is married to a boring politician - are familiar to Greene's readers. Also, he feels that Greene only gave a superficial depiction of life in Haiti. Perhaps so, but what is here more than makes up for any failings of the novel.

Even Theroux admits "[the novel's] value most of all is its setting... Haiti had no fiction - and hardly had a face - until Greene wrote this book." In many ways this is THE novel about Haiti. Most of its readers won't be FROM Haiti, so it helps that the narrator is an outsider. Brown has returned to his hotel (once, one of the best spots in the Caribbean) because he is unable to sell it - and also to resume his affair with an ambassador's wife. On his return, he enters a nightmare country ruled by the infamous Papa Doc Duvalier.

This novel has become part of Haiti's history. Every time one sees the Oloffson on television or in print, it will always be followed by the blurb: "As immortalized in Graham Greene's novel, The Comedians." Unfortunately, Haiti remains one of the most interesting places in the world, forty some odd years after the publication of this novel. To quote Theroux, who wrote his intro in 2004: "As a Failed State, Haiti has little hope of financial independence or political stability, and seems destined to remain one of the world's slums." This is the type of place that attracted Greene - beautiful countries in the grip of despair, as Mexico was in The Power and the Glory. Greene was obscenely talented (one of the century's best novelists and travel writers). The Comedians is invaluable not only because it allows us a rare glimpse into a mysterious country, but also because it allows us to spend more time in Greeneland.

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Cynicism Meets Innocence Amidst Ruin in Haiti. Welcome to Greeneland!

Just like ten years earlier in "The Quiet American" Greene presented Vietnam in vivid detail to his audience. In "The Comedians" he does the same with Haiti. Dictator "Papa Doc" is in power with American assistance since he's a bulwark against communism. Important characters include Brown the protagonist, Martha his German mistress, Jones the trickster who can't talk without lying, Mr. and Mrs. Smith the innocent Americans traveling to Haiti to espouse benefits of Vegetarianism and Dr. Magiot, one of few doctors in Haiti who is discreetly a communist. One finds the usual Greene elements in this novel: protagonist's cynicism, doubt, love-hate relationship with his mistress, his frequenting the brothels and the discussion about morality, Catholicism and God. Reading Paul Theroux introduction is helpful too.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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