Books

So, I’ve been a bit lax posting around here recently. Sorry about that. Summative essays, other college stuff, other other stuff… it all started adding up. But here’s something new, anyway.

I thought I might share a few of the books I’ve been reading recently. Not the boring texts for uni – no, these are genuine bestsellers direct from your friendly neighbourhood bookshop.

The Constant Gardener by John Le Carré

Yes, I know this isn’t a new book. And yes, I know I only bought it because of the movie – well, it was in Waterstone’s 3 for 2 because of the movie, therefore I bought it. But it is very, very good.

I’ve been reading quite a lot of Le Carré recently – I don’t know why, probably because there’s lots of them in the library and they are jolly good reads. But this one is different. There’s no obvious enemy – unlike the Smiley books, the reader doesn’t know that Karla and his Soviet friends are the bad guys, and the Smiley and co are the good guys.

And there seems to be a much greater political angle in this book. Obviously, it’s set now (ish – it was published in 2000, so a few years ago, I suppose) in Kenya, and Le Carré makes it very clear what he thinks of certain elements of Kenyan government, the British diplomatic corps, multinational pharmaceutical corporations…

But this political stance doesn’t get too heavy for the story. This is one of his best page-turners, with some very strong characters (one of whom is dead almost all the way through – not too sure how Rachel Weisz can get so much acclaim for playing her… must see the film!) and some quite dramatic moments. Read it!

(I’ll post more when I get round to it. In the meantime, have a look at Five People You Meet in Heaven, Saturday and The Way I Live Now…)