I measure all of Greene’s novels against The Power and the Glory, one of my all-time favorites. The End of the Affair, while it has some beautiful prose, falls short because it lacks the broad seriousness of The Power and Glory, replacing its profound ethical situation with what seems to me minutiae of Catholic dogma. Brighton Rock, which pushed noir into a theological seriousness it hadn’t seen before, lacks the humanity.

This, The Comedians, may be the closest I’ve found for Greene to approach his masterpiece.

Brown is less broken than the Whiskey Priest, but he is clearly suffering in an unfulfilled, god-deprived way. He owns a hotel in Port-a-Prince, Haiti, and he has made his peace with the rising terror of the Papa Doc regime. A bit like Rick in Casablanca, he’s tolerated because he represents an oasis of international life in a corrupt and fearful state.

He comes to style himself a “comedian,” someone who’s prepared to laugh at life rather than take it seriously. As such, there’s a perverse humor in the opening scenes when he finds himself with men named Smith and Jones aboard the ship taking him back to Haiti. He’d gone back to New York to try to sell his hotel and maybe to end things with his mistress, Maria, but he’s back. It’s a bad situation, but it’s better than anything else he has.

Smith appears a figure of ridicule, but he slowly emerges as a flawed man looking to do the best he can. A one-time Presidential candidate on the Vegetarian platform, he is full of crackpot ideas. He proves a decent man, though. He has faith, and he follows it. Greene, who makes clear he thinks it’s the wrong faith, at least admires him for his bedrock decency.

In contrast, Jones is corrupt. A con-man so caught up in his own lies that he can’t untangle them when he tries, he’s come to Haiti with a half-formed plan to sell the dictatorship nonexistent weapons. He’s selfish and scheming; at one point he admits to Brown that he’d planned to take him on as a partner and then leave him holding the bag when the murderous Tonton Macoutes found out.

Jones’s semi-redeeming quality is that he is funny. He makes people laugh, and that causes them to like him. As such, he turns out to be a good comedian. He seems incapable of doing anything sincere, but he rallies people to his selfish cause. If only he and Smith could be united in purpose, there might be something.

The novel focuses on Brown as he slowly acknowledges the brutality of Papa Doc’s reign and as he explores his feelings for the women in his life, Maria and his dead mother. It’s a rich portrait, one that suggests some of the spiritual deadness of the Whiskey Priest but without the blunt (and beautiful) crisis of clear faith.

By the end, though, [SPOILER:] Brown finds himself on a quest risking his life for this unworthy con-man. It’s less poignant than the Whiskey Priest’s self-sacrifice for the Judas-figure half-caste, but the structure is the same. If Brown can get Jones to a group of rebels near the Dominican border, he might save the man’s life and do something to push back against Duvalier.

[FURTHER SPOILER:] The conclusion offers an interesting commentary on the Christ-figure hero. Unlike the Whiskey Priest, Brown doesn’t die as he brings salvation of a kind to Jones. And Jones, surprisingly, proves an effective guerilla. He delivers on enough promises to keep the men alive, though it costs him his own life. As such, the ending constitutes Greene’s own best joke. (I believe in the man’s ability to write serious fiction, but I don’t think of him as particularly funny.) Jones rises to the lie he has told about himself, and he redeems his earlier selfishness and cowardice. And, unlike the other Greene I know, our protagonist manages a sliver of redemption as well.

With this, I’ve gotten to most of the most-talked about Greene. With it as well, I’m resolved to keep going to see if anything else can displace this as my second favorite of his.

The exotic setting; the torrid affair; the cast of seedy supporting characters; and the constant menace of the lurking death-squads helped picque and maintain my interest in this Grahame Greene novel. He has sadly failed me in other works but I rate this one fairly intriguing to read. See, I like a little briskness in a thriller. And 'Comedians' has just barely enough of this --whereas some of his other titles (bogged down with Catholic soul-searching and gelatinous-pacing) got me quite frustrated.

Graham Greene is my new favorite author. Paul Theroux dissed this book in his introduction, but it was just Paul Theroux showing that he doesn't know much. This is sort of a book about Haiti and totalitarianism and brutality and corruption and the Evil Empire (America) but it is more a book about loss, rootlessness, the emptiness of the middle of the night, fatherlessness, faith and lack thereof... Greene is deep, clean, concise. Theroux says that it seems dated 40 years on, but that's only if you focus on car models and the like. It's not dated -- it's haunting.

The Comedians is a book that can be enjoyed for the superficial things alone. On the surface, the book is a thrilling adventure and a novel of place, set in Haiti. The book begins on a ship carrying a few interesting characters - the first person narrator Mr.Brown, the vegetarian couple the Smiths, the spooky Jones and the silent African who can only answer with yes or no. Mr.Brown owns the Hotel Trianon in the uncertain land of Haiti. The Smiths have arrived in Haiti to establish a vegetarian society as they believe vegetarianism can remove all passion and create world peace. The book is off to a terrific start with the interactions between these characters on the ship, punctuated by witty and sharp dialog.

The action then shifts to the Hotel Trianon. Mr.Brown is in a state of passivity as he recalls the glorious days when tourists used to throng his hotel, naked women bathed in the swimming pool and the bartender would make rum punches. But Haitian society is crumbling under the new dictatorship. Military police runs riot. His hotel is empty except for the Smiths. All Mr.Brown can do is watch helplessly and seek refuge in his hotel. Nobody knows for how long. He is also involved with the German wife of the South American ambassador in Haiti.

While I enjoyed the dialogs, the descriptions of the life in the hotel and Greene's evocation of the landscapes and customs, I am not sure I completely grasped the book's message. Greene seems to be suggesting that the world is full of "comedians" like Mr.Brown who can only watch as society crumbles. He is simply playing the part of being a dashing hotel owner and carrying on with the German lady but at the end of the day he is doomed and has no future. On the other hand, people like The Smiths are committed to their cause. Even if they may be driven by preposterous ideas, they can still save people. Mr.Smith, who once ran for president of the United States stares down an upstart military policeman and can hold his own. Mrs.Smith attempts to save the hearse of a Haitian from the military police on behalf of his wife. She even saves Mr.Brown's life when military police arrive at the Hotel Trianon. Even Jones, who is a suspicious, spooky and phony character and seems to be working for personal glory, ends up saving a few men by sacrificing his life.

Like in The End of the Affair, the book features a love quadrangle involving Mr.Brown, the German lady, Jones and Luis the South American ambassador. I don't know if this is a recurring thing in Greene's novels. Even The Third Man had some really complicated relationships.

Mr.Brown's character resonated with me. I live in India which is slowly turning into an uncertain land. While I am in a privileged position compared to millions of other Indians, some things affect me too. A couple of years ago, the government introduced partial alcohol prohibition in my home state of Kerala. Some of the cheap but glorious bars in Kerala shut down and have been replaced by family restaurants and car parks. I often find myself recalling those glorious days when I would sit for hours in the bar at Mercy Tourist Home with my friend, just talking and drinking. But those days are gone now. The control of governments and religious organizations over my life continues to rise everyday. And there isn't much I can do about it. Afterall, I am just a comedian.

Phenomenally good, even by Greene's standards, the Berkhamsted boy doing good with a classic tale on that saddest and most fascinating of countries, Haiti. Set at the time of Papa Doc Duvalier and his chilling secret police, the Tonton Macoute, it's a bizarre tale where the only answer to the sequence of events is black humour of a very dark kind.

The characters are well drawn and sympathetic including the fantasist Mr. Jones and the decent Mr. Smith while the narrator's lovelorn jealousy is a theme that threatens to take over towards the end of the novel. Comparisons to other Caribbean countries are always fascinating to ponder and it's hard to escape the conclusion that of the nations of any size in that region, Cuba has come closest to getting it right.

absolutely excellent novel about haiti under papa doc duvalier.extremely ironic title as there wasn't anything remotely funny happening in that country under his rule.and not much since then either.

Το έργο διαδραματίζεται στην Αϊτή της εποχής του στυγνού δικτάτορα Φρανσουά ("πάπα ντοκ" λόγω του ιατρικού παρελθόντος του) Ντιβαλιέ, αλλά δυστυχώς δεν έχει τη δύναμη και τα "άντερα" που έχουν άλλα αντίστοιχα έργα (βλ. π.χ. το αριστούργημα "Η γιορτή του τράγου" του Mario Vargas Llosa) πραγματευόμενα λατινοαμερικανικές δικτατορίες υπό τη σκέπη των ΗΠΑ.

Οι χαρακτήρες του σχετικά "νωθροί" και "ψόφιοι", τα κινητρά τους αδύναμα και οι ζωές τους ακόμα κάπως αδιάφορες παρά τα όσα τραγικά συμβαίνουν γύρω τους, ακροβατούν μεταξύ τραγικού και κωμικού, αλλά... όχι με την καλή έννοια. Υπάρχει μια αμηχανία στη διαχείρηση της κατάστασης σε όλο το βιβλίο. Παρά το γεγονός ότι τα "υλικά" είναι εκεί, πολιτικά πάθη, δικτατορίες, διωκόμενοι μαρξιστές, παράνομοι έρωτες, απρόσμενες φιλίες, χαρακτήρες που κινούνται μακριά από το άσπρο και το μαύρο σε τόνους του γκρίζου, περίπλοκες κατάστασεις... η σούπα παραμένει άνοστη. Οι χαρακτήρες δεν κατάφεραν να ζωντανέψουν για μένα, συχνά είναι πολύ "γελοίοι" για να είναι αληθινοί στο πλαίσιο που λειτουργούν, ή δεν πείθουν ως προς τις ιστορίες που τους δίνονται, είναι π.χ. αδύνατο να καταλάβεις τι βρήκε η Μάρθα στον πρωταγωνιστή και σύνηψε μαζί που παράνομη σχέση μακράς διαρκείας. Η πλοκή, σχετικά αδύναμη, σχεδόν προβλέψιμη, χωρίς κορυφώσεις που να αποζημιώνουν τον αναγνώστη, παρά το "τρεγμένο" φινάλε.

Μερικές φορές είχα την αίσθηση ότι διάβαζα μια "ξεδοντιασμένη" "Καζαμπλάνκα" με Αμερικανικό Background. Είναι αστείο, αλλά ο Γκρην κατάφερε να γράψει ένα ψυχρό και βαρετό μυθιστόρημα στην Αϊτή των βουντού, της εποχής μιας φρικτής δικτατορίας...

طنز بی‌امانه گرین رو خیلی دوست دارم.
براش هیچی مهم نیست.
از کلیسا تا سیاست خارجه‌ی آمریکا تو هائیتی.
هرچی که بگی.

Libro "politico" per eccellenza di G.Green. Siamo nella piccola repubblica di Haiti sotto la dominazione di Papa Doc al secolo Francois Douvalier, spietato dittatore e della sua guardia nazionale, i Tonton Macoute, deputata a far fuori tutti gli oppositori politici del guardiano della "democrazia" nei Caraibi minacciati da Fidel, il comunista.

Il protagonista e narratore è l'anglo-francese Brown, disincantato e cinico "albergatore" del Trianon a corto di turisti, che non ha sostituito con nessun altra fede quella appresa e persa nel collegio dei gesuiti a Montecarlo.
Se non incontrasse sulla nave, che lo riporta ad Haiti dopo un breve allontanamento, Smith " il candidato presidenziale" sconfitto da Truman, e Jones un avventuriero spaccone e contaballe, la storia non prenderebbe gli sviluppi che ha, ma si limiterebbe a registrare i fallimenti imprenditoriali e amorosi del sessantenne Brown. Tutti a recitare un ruolo più o meno autentico.
Invece...i commedianti della storia, da cui si può escludere il solo Smith e consorte, unici autentici "ingenui" del cast, si trasformano in eroi loro malgrado.

Libro di autentica indignazione politica, specie se paragonato al "La festa del caprone di Llosa dove questi tenta un salvataggio "umano" di Trujillo, il dittatore della repubblica dominicana.
Non il più bello tra quelli di G.G. : "Il potere e la Gloria" è tra i miei dieci top ten, ma " I commedianti" è assolutamente consigliato.
Ci da, infatti, la speranza (l'illusione?) che la zona grigia, o maggioranza silenziosa, che assorbe senza scomporsi i più efferati delitti dei suoi capi, possa fissurarsi e lasciare uscire gocce d'opposizione radicale dure come pietre. Ricordate Anna e Otto Quangel, i protagonisti del romanzo "Ognuno muore solo" di Fallada?

I found the plot and the characters to be less developed than in other Graham Greene novels I've read. An OK read, but not his best.

This is one of the Greene novels that withstand the test of time (in contrast with many others by him), especially because the main theme is a nimble thing, nimble to Greene-standards that is. Still, the story is pervaded by a striking moral gloominess: the world is a stage, everyone is a comedian, and some play their part with more panache than others, all told with the typical Greene dark humour. The story has a good built-up, but in the end it gets a bit floppy. The relationship between Brown and Martha is strikingly similar to the one in The End of the Affair. I read this a very long time ago (1992), at a time I was professionally engaged with Haiti. That's why it was a plus to me that the novel is situated in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, and explored some of the characteristics of that fascinating but tragic country.

"We mustn't complain too much of being comedians—it's an honourable profession. If only we could be good ones the world might gain at least a sense of style. We have failed—that's all. We are bad comedians, we aren't bad men."

I started out thinking I was going to just read a 'minor' Greene, and finished the novel once again shocked by my ability to completely underestimate Greene. The Comedians is a dark tragedy set in a Haitian Hell ruled by Papa Doc and his Tonton Macoute. Into this tortured hell floats Brown, the Smiths and Jones. This sad troupe each struggles with overcoming fear, death, love and apathy while dancing on the edge of the abyss. It reminded me a little of Under the Volcano, but instead of one man's struggle with mescal, it is humanity's struggle with apathy and fear.