Livre - The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener by John Le Carré
Pages: 570
Editions Coronet
Genre: Mystery, thriller, politics

3/5

No, this is NOT a book about gardening. 

Actually, the book starts with the savage murder of Tessa Quayle, a british lawyer who lives in Kenya with her husband, Justin a diplomat. Very quickly, it appears that the murder has to do with Tessa's work and investigations on ThreeBees a medical society that cares for a lot of african women, children and men. Justin will take on the investigation, at the peril of his own life to unveil what Tessa couldn't.

I was expecting so much of this book! I thought that this would be thrilling, and powerful. I thought i was going to be swept up by the story and read it in two or three days. Unfortunately it didn't work for me.

*** 

Firstly this book is mostly about politics and how european governments use African Countries and take advantages from their resources. This is interesting and not a common subject for a book. BUT, it seemed to me that this was the only constant theme of the book. And to be completely honest, this wasn't what I signed for. Maybe it's because I read it in English which isn't my native language that it bored me this much... who knows ? But the plot took ages to actually start. So, ok, the murder is discussed from page 1, but then, the investigation and the action never really kicked on. I was waiting, and waiting and waiting for 400 pages ! Every time something interesting happened, it was over in a page or two, like this wasn't a big deal.

I would say that if the book were 300 pages long and not 570, I would have probably enjoyed it much much more. It was just too boring, and slow paced, and just meh for me. I actually didn't finish it.