Summary: Three men, Brown, Smith, and Jones meet on a ship bound for Haiti during the reign of terror of "Papa Doc" Duvalier. They are the "comedians" who must confront not only the tragedy of Haiti, but themselves.

One of the darkest periods of Haiti's troubled history was the rule of "Papa Doc" Duvalier from 1957 until 1971. It was a reign of terror enforced by a secret police, the Tontons Macoute who killed between 30 and 60,000 while many others fled the country.

This is the Haiti to which the three main characters in the book are traveling aboard the Medea. Brown is a hotelier, who inherited the Hotel Trianon from his mother, and is returning, having been unable to sell the property, and drawn by a love affair with the wife of an ambassador. Smith is a former presidential candidate, of the Vegetarian Party, which got 10,000 votes in its election race. He hopes to establish a center for vegetarianism on the island. Jones is a confidence man, who consistently stays just one step of the law, on his tails even aboard ship. He styles himself a major, boasts of battle experience in Burma, Japan, and the Congo, and hopes to secure the rights to establish a golf club for Duvalier and his cronies.

Each faces the shattering of their "comedic" dreams in the face of the brutal realities of Papa Doc and the sinister Tonton Macoute epitomized by Captain Concasseur. From the moment Smith arrives, he must deal with the fleeing minister, Philipot, who commits suicide by his pool, and the later absurdity of his casket being carted away in the back of one of the Tontons vehicles, half sticking out the trunk. This was the same Philipot that Smith and his wife hoped to meet to pursue their vegetarian dream, only to discover that any dream of this sort must be accompanied by bribes and graft. Subsequently, Smith, in his rectitude stands up to the powers and takes his money across the border to the Dominican Republic, shedding his naive ideas about Haiti, but not his principles.

Jones is perhaps the most interesting, going from being held in prison as the law catches up with him at last, to becoming a crony, only to be found out as even shadier than the crooks in the regime. He hides out in the embassy where Brown's lover, Martha lives and Smith, in his jealousy, traps Jones in his own lies and lures him to lead a band in a quixotic revolt against Duvalier. In doing so, Smith comes face to face with both his longing for and inability to believe in enduring love.

Like other Graham Green works, Brown in particular struggles between faith and doubt, between the Catholicism in which he was raised, and a world seemingly desolate of goodness, of purpose, and of love. It was interesting to me that Dr. Magiot, a Marxist, is the one true believer (other than Smith with his vegetarian-utopian dreams), whose life, and sacrifice is motivated by the long view of the fulfillment of a Communist vision of the future. Greene helps us understand the appeal of Communism for principled people faced with corrupt regimes and a subservient church. More than this, Greene uses the backdrop of the absurd comedic horror of Duvalier's Haiti to strip the central characters of their comedic illusions and face them with who they were and what ultimately mattered to them.

Graham Greene's The Comedians provides another portrait of human frailty in a tropical climate. Here, a stateless hotel operator named Brown finds himself traveling to Haiti with a couple of American vegetarians and a British scoundrel calling himself "Major" Jones, all hoping to pursue their own dreams in the island nation. Soon after arriving in Port au Prince, these outsiders instead confront the brutal dictatorship of Papa Doc Duvalier, whose secret police (the Tontons Macoutes) harass foreigners, terrorize citizens and murder political opponents at will. When the Tontons murder a government official friendly to the outsiders, Jones is drawn into a native rebellion while Brown forms a relationship with Mrs. Pineda, the wife of a foreign diplomat. Greene's book alternates ironic portraits of three rootless Westerners whose identities are constantly in flux (the vegetarian Smith boasts of a quixotic political campaign, causing Haitians to call him "the Presidential Candidate"; Jones invents wartime escapades that cannot possibly have happened) with a searing portrait of Haiti's perennial agonies that, unfortunately, remains recognizable to this day: Greene views it as a country of proud, worthy people hounded by dictators, natural disasters and unwelcome foreign meddling (an annoying CIA operative, similar to The Quiet Man's Pyle, bothers Jones and Brown throughout the third act). The book drags in spots, especially when detailing Brown's romantic endeavors (though they do tie into Brown's ultimate betrayal of Jones), but the balance of the work is vintage Greene: a mixture of palpable ironies, dark humor and empty, pointless tragedy. Adapted into a misguided film version featuring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor at the height of their tabloid notoriety, with Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones in support.

Sterk begin, matig einde.

In need of respite from a run of poorly-written modern novels that were blinged up to the eyeballs with hype, I sought refuge in a Graham Greene one, knowing that elegant prose and grammatical excellence awaited me.
Our narrator, Mr Brown, is a burnt-out international wheeler-dealer who returns to Haiti by ship, having inherited a hotel there. On the voyage over, Mr Brown buddies up with (wait for it) a Mr Smith and a Mr Jones.

Haiti has fallen under the tyrannical rule of "Papa Doc" and his secret police. And it is against this backdrop that we witness (amongst other things) a dead body floating in a swimming pool, a knee-trembler in a cramped car, corruption, rebellion and civil unrest. Brown (possibly a facsimile of Greene himself) is rootless, cynical and non-commital in love, a man who prefers to 'go it alone'.
I binge-read Graham Greene's books as a teenager and, until this one, hadn't returned since. For the life of me, I can't think why; there is a visuality to his writing, and his prose is as slick as a buttered eel.

TRIGGER WARNING: Regrettably, the word "golliwog" is used once in the narrative. The only mitigation I can offer is that the book was written fifty-three years ago, so make of it what you will.

I didn't write it, so please don't shoot the messenger. : (

By all accounts, Graham Greene was an irascible, quarrelsome fellow given to condescension (I'd have locked horns with the truculent old bugger) but there is no doubt that he was a stylish writer.

Monstrously good -- and disturbing.

A few hundred miles off the Florida coast you'll find "an evil floating slum," says Greene, who makes us aware of the violent and corrupt republic of Haiti. Throughout the 60s it was ruled by Papa "Doc" Duvalier, a crackpot viper-tyrant (Hitler meets a runaway from any PG Wodehouse novel), who jibbered anti-Com jingles. Result: he murdered thousands of his own people while pocketing millions in US aid.

Welcome to a perfect Greeneland. (If GG were alive he'd write a devastating narrative on the foolhardy Bush/Neo-Con attempt to "remap" the Mideast). Most of us don't know anything about Haiti, or care to -- except Americans are still advised to stay away. Yes, it's all very creepy and gives you bad dreams just thinking about the Caribe's 3rd World "nightmare republic" -- a light sail from Key West.

Into a ghastly comic Grand Guignol arrives Greene, providing an adulterous affair (well, naturally), at least one death and two suicides easily predicted, and a sprinkle of mystic cologne (well, naturally), along with a voodoo ritual. You can't put the book down (well, naturally).

--
Salute: Geoff Grandfield for cover art (Penguin Classics).

What a wonderful novel.

Set in Haiti during the reign of Papa Doc Duvalier and his Tonton Macoute, it is the story of three lonely people with the names of Smith, Jones and Brown who meat on a steamer on route to Haiti. This story of love, loss, murder, revenge and jealousy is wonderfully written and truely evokes the feelings of repression and helplessness that must have existed during this period.

Graham Greene's writing is as always impeccable and a joy to read.

I loved this book, and would highly recommend it to others.

Η μεγάλη εκτίμηση και ο σεβασμός που τρέφω για τον G. Greene είναι δεδομένος. Σε όποια επαφή είχα -ακόμα έχω- με το λογοτεχνικό του έργο, η επίγευση παραμένει εκείνη της πλησμονής, της λογοτεχνικής απόλαυσης και πληρότητας. Το αυτό ανέμενα και από τους "Θεατρίνους". Πολλώ δεν μάλλον, όταν οι απανταχού κριτικές και αναγνώστες "παιάνιζαν" "Αριστούργημα!" και λοιπούς πληθωριστικούς χαρακτηρισμούς θαυμασμού.
Τα προαναφερθέντα δεν πιστεύω πως ισχύουν στην περίπτωση των "Θεατρίνων", μυθιστορήματος που με άφησε σε μια κατάσταση παγερής αταραξίας. Δεν αναφέρομαι βέβαια στην υπόθεση του έργου (εξελίσσεται στα χρόνια της δικτατορίας στην Αϊτή, όχι πως έχει σημασία…), αλλά στο χαρακτηριστικό ύφος του συγγραφέα, του οποίου το "φάντασμα" μόνο μπόρεσα να διακρίνω εδώ.
Εκτός του αφηγητή, ο οποίος είναι έρμαιο του παραδοσιακού Green-ικού διπόλου "καθολικού-παθητικού/ ιδεολόγου εμπλεκομένου", οι δευτερεύοντες χαρακτήρες φαντάζουν στα μάτια μου "χάρτινοι", παρουσίες που πλαισιώνουν τον κεντρικό χαρακτήρα, περισσότερο φορείς ιδεών παρά αυθύπαρκτες μυθιστορηματικές οντότητες με "Ουσία και Βάθος" (τι υπέροχο βιβλίο!).
Ακόμα και η ατελέσφορη -σύνηθες μοτίβο στο έργο του- ερωτική σχέση του μονίμως τυπτόμενου ήρωα, αποτελεί απλό μετείκασμα εκείνης του τραγικού "Τέλους μιας σχέσης", τ��ς ωραιότερης ερωτικής ιστορίας, κατά την άποψή μου.
Συγκεφαλαιώνοντας, οι "Θεατρίνοι" δεν είναι κακό βιβλίο. Απλώς μου άφησε την αίσθηση πως όλα εκείνα τα εξέχοντα στοιχεία συγγραφικής ιδιαιτερότητας του Greene ως συγγραφέα εξέλιπαν, και πως θα μπορούσε τελικά να είχε γραφτεί από κάποιον σύγχρονο γραφιά με παρόμοιες ανησυχίες και στυλ. Και αυτό, για εμένα, αποτελεί τη μεγαλύτερη μομφή.

Don’t take Comedians of the title as ha-ha funny. Think more in terms of a more philosophical human comedy sort of thing.

Brown, the protagonist, is a stateless rootless person who sort-of settles in Port-Au-Prince Haiti after inheriting a hotel from his estranged mother. As Papa Doc Duvalier consolidates his brutal power in Haiti, we wind up with the odd juxtaposition of the apathetic well-off white guy raised in boarding school in Europe plopped into a collapsed terrorized society. While sailing back from New York on a freighter (following an unsuccessful attempt to sell his hotel — no more tourists, no demand), he meets the Smiths, an unsuccessful challenger in the 1948 US presidential race under the banner of the Vegetarian Party and his heart-of-gold spunky wife, and the mysterious Major Jones, a self-proclaimed military leader in WWII Burma. On shore, we meet Martha Pineda, the wife of the South America ambassador to Haiti with whom Brown is having an affair, her husband who may or may not know about it or care one way or the other, Captain Concasseur, head of the Tonton Macoutes (Haitian gestapo) among others including some who turn out to be dissidents.

When you toss ingredients like this in a bowl (a heated bowl no less), you know you’re bond to wind up with one heck of a salad. Brown may be the lettuce and Concasseur may serve as the dressing. But the flavor comes, I think, from the Smiths and especially Jones, who ultimately steals the show.

If there is one thing I love about Graham Greene, it's the globetrotting nature that runs through his body of work. It seems like I've visited half the world already in the six novels I've read so far.
Whilst The Comedians is set predominantly in Haiti, it never really gets to the heart of the country when it comes to Papa Doc's rule and, more importantly, the effect on its people. Aside from a prostitute and a few beggars missing an arm or a leg, Haiti is never really delved deeply into; but then that's not Greene's main concern here. The primary characters of Brown, Smith & Jones are all foreigners for a start, and even Brown's adultery with the young wife of an Ambassador happens to be German. I came out of it not really knowing any more about Haiti, Papa Doc, and his Tontons Macoute that I didn't know already - which wasn't a lot. That's not to say I'm in any way disappointed by the novel, as I think it's one of Greene's best. The Likes of The End the Affair and The Quiet American maybe more widely known and read, but I think this is the better book.
It is more a psychological study of the hotelier Brown, who makes friends, and enemies, along with an interesting backstory of how he came to run his hotel, which Greene handles superbly well. He might not be that likeable, but I believe him to be one Greene's best created characters. The Comedians flirts with that of a thriller later on, with a tense drive through a storm as Brown tries to get Jones to safety after he is hunted by Tontons for being a suspected communist. There is humour - Jones dressing up as a woman to evade the Tontons being the one actual laugh, but the book still carries with it a serious tone. Most of all I'd describe it is an entertaining and stylish political drama, but one where the focus is on the foreigner rather than the core of Haiti itself.

When people’s favourites come to power, they quite soon turn into sinister dictators… And all those who disagree with their unique role are just comedians that must exit stage and disappear…

The ambassador said, ‘Come on, cheer up, let us all be comedians together. Take one of my cigars. Help yourself at the bar. My Scotch is good. Perhaps even Papa Doc is a comedian.’
‘Oh no,’ Philipot said, ‘he is real. Horror is always real.’
The ambassador said, ‘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.’

Every democracy is democratic in its own way; all tyrannies are similarly horrendous… I hope Count Leo Tolstoy will turn in his grave.

Graham Greene's "The Comedians" is a enthralling, gripping, and cryptic novel. It ranks, for me, as one of the best novels I have read by this amazing author, alongside "The Quiet American" and "Our Man in Havana."

Mr Greene uses historical backgrounds, such a pre -US. involvement in Vietnam, Post World War 2 Germany, and in "The Comedians" the Haitian takeover by Papa Doc as well as any novelists.

The characters in "The Comedians" are so fascinating and mysterious that they almost remind one of Hemingway characters. Mr. Greene gives you just enough to keep you searching and searching. Like Hemingway, he teases his reader and never under estimates the knowledge of his audience. His writing is superb and I highly, highly, recommend "The Comedians." A MARVELOUS PIECE OF WRITING!

The setting is Haiti during the early 1960s when Papa “Doc” Duvalier assumed the reigns of the Presidency. The country is a police state where one is being constantly threatened by the “Tonton Macoute” who are essentially thugs and can do what they want.

The plot is interesting enough – and our main protagonist owns a hotel near Port au Prince, that prior to the outbreak and instability, was quite popular. Now, like the country, it is a shambles. Our lead character is carrying on an affair with the wife of the Venezuelan ambassador. Also, there is an American couple visiting who have no knowledge of Haiti and want to promote the vegetarian lifestyle. With the “Tonton Macoute” constantly lurking about, it all makes for some interesting confrontations.



The main issue I have is with Graham Greene’s style. He appears to believe in nothing. All is a charade. I have found this in other books I have read of his over the years. He hardly seems to believe in his overly sardonic characters. The hotel owner, for example, when discovering a French Resistance medal in his mother’s jewelry case doubts very much that it is authentic or that she is worthy of it. This, of course, extends to the belaboured affair he is having with Martha, the ambassador’s wife. As the title suggests – are we not all “comedians” – desperately trying to fool others along the vicissitudes of life? With over two hundred-fifty pages of masks and chicanery this all became tiresome.