A caveat before the review - Graham Greene is possibly my favorite writer of the English language. No book of his might be among my top 3 favourite books, but as an author there are very few that I like as much as Greene. There is something simple but beautifully understated in his writings. Some thing authentic, complex and grey about his characters. John Le Carre', another of my favourites, with his morally ambiguous protagonists and causes is also supposed to have been influenced by Greene.
The Honorary consul is a typical Greene novel dealing with expat British protagonists in foreign lands, and one of his eight books set in South America. The setting here is a provincial town in Argentina. Charley Fortrum, is the honorary British consul with dubious authority and a notorious fondness for drink. Dr. Eduardo Parr is a British doctor and second part of the three who make up the British contingent in this town.
In a case of mistaken identity the eponymous Honorary Consul gets kidnapped by rebels from across the border. The books is largely about Charley's friend Dr. Parr's efforts to have him released. Incidentally Dr. Parr is not only sleeping with Charley's wife but also has inadvertently played a part in the Consul being kidnapped. The result is a complex tale which is somehow not chaotic but beautifully languorous as expected in Greene novel. Thoroughly enjoyable.
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