Reading the World discussion

From Kirkus Reviews

Greene usually subdivides his fiction into novels or entertainments. This is to an extent the former, but superlatively the latter. As an entertainment, it is an adventure story with some fauve scenery— Haiti, that "shabby land of terror" under the regime of Papa Doc, a dictator who may be a survival—or revival—of Baron Samedi. As a novel, even if it is not as seriously concerned with conscience and commitment as its predecessors, there are reminiscent asides; and there's an attractive affair. The comedians of the title are Smith, Jones and Brown, as improbably brought together by the "authoritative practical joker" as the old routine they suggest. They meet on the way down to Haiti where Brown, who tells the story, is summoned by his mother, a grande amoureuse, who lives and dies with abandon. Brown, who was born in Monaco, is not only a man without a country but a purpose or a belief. Jones is a confidence man with a special, unexpected innocence. And Smith is a freedom-riding vegetarian with a dream of nut cutlets and educational films for the natives. Together they are involved in this variation of the absurd: death, the suicide of an ex-minister; love, Brown's attachment to the young wife of an Ambassador; hope, the liberation of Haiti from Papa Doc; and faith, Brown's not quite lapsed Catholicism.... Greene says, comedians are an "honorable profession... If only we could be good ones the world might gain at least a sense of style." And Greene's Comedians is eminently, expertly stylish. It may not be his most important book but a good many attractive adjectives apply.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

I found this Graham Greene to be easier to digest than others of his. Perhaps it is because he considered it "entertainment". However, it still dealt with the violence and corruption of the Haitian regime of Papa Doc in a serious way, and of course investigated the on-going misery of adultery, the guilt and promised redemption of Catholicism even if it is an odd variant where God would prefer violence to indifference. The book at all times walked a thin line of being very serious and taking his characters seriously while allowing the reader to be amused by various turn of events. A few of the characters such as Doctor Magiot and the well meaning but hopelessly naive Smiths are people with core values they struggle to live up to while our main characters, Mr. Brown and Mr Jones are only comedians; people surviving by tricks, lies and forged beliefs.

I havent been able to locate a copy from my libraries.