One of Graham Greene's most chilling and prophetic novels, The Comedians is set in a Haiti ruled by Papa Doc and the Tontons Macoute, his sinister secret police. Just as The Quiet American offered a preview of the coming horrors of American involvement in Vietnam, this novel presages the chaos in Haiti. Classic Graham Greene.
Roger Sharrock
Laughter is possible even in the dark night of Haiti...a vision that is at once comic and intensely serious...a major novel.
From AudioFile
No novelist in his time infiltrated the corrosive, soul-depleting terrain of Third World dictatorships with a more discerning eye or acidic wit than Greene. In THE COMEDIANS, he is at his sardonic best, laying scalpel to the repressive, casually violent regime of "Papa Doc" Duvalier in Haiti, as seen through the eyes of Brown, a hotelier with nearly nothing left to believe in. Tim Pigott-Smith captures the signature cynicism of Greene, so much so that the occasional appearance of pure sentiment strikes like a scream in night. If Pigott-Smith's attempts at a French-Caribbean accent sound a bit like Peter Lorre, it's a small fault, given the wicked intelligence he brings to the narration. M.O. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Review
"Graham Greene arouses responses of curiosity and attention comparable to those set up by Malraux... Faulkner and Hemingway." - New Statesman
The Comedians FROM THE PUBLISHER
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 the title. Hiding behind their actors' masks, they hesitate on the edge of life. And, to begin with, they are men afraid of love, afraid of pain, afraid of fear itself.
SYNOPSIS
The centenary edition with a new introduction by Paul Theroux: three men meet on a ship bound for Haiti. Hiding behind their actors’ masks, they hesitate on the edge of life — afraid of love, afraid of pain, afraid of fear itself.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Greene's 1967 novel features three characters-a hotelier, an American idealist, and a confidence man-en route to the corrupt Haiti of Papa Doc. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
AudioFile
No novelist in his time infiltrated the corrosive, soul-depleting terrain of Third World dictatorships with a more discerning eye or acidic wit than Greene. In THE COMEDIANS, he is at his sardonic best, laying scalpel to the repressive, casually violent regime of "Papa Doc" Duvalier in Haiti, as seen through the eyes of Brown, a hotelier with nearly nothing left to believe in. Tim Pigott-Smith captures the signature cynicism of Greene, so much so that the occasional appearance of pure sentiment strikes like a scream in night. If Pigott-Smith's attempts at a French-Caribbean accent sound a bit like Peter Lorre, it's a small fault, given the wicked intelligence he brings to the narration. M.O. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
Art & Photography
Book Info
