| The Honorary Consul | |
| Author | Graham Greene |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Spy novel |
| Publisher | Bodley Head |
| Publication date | 1973 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 335 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-370-01486-3 (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | Travels with My Aunt |
| Followed by | The Human Factor |
The Honorary Consul is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1973. Henry Graham Greene OM, CH (2 October 1904 &ndash 3 April 1991 was an English writer best known as a novelist but who also produced Short stories The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Genre of spy fiction —sometimes called political thriller or spy thriller or sometimes shortened simply to Spy-fi —arose before Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Bodley Head is an English Publishing house founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Travels with My Aunt ( 1969) is a novel written by British author Graham Greene. The Human Factor (ISBN 0-679-40992-0 is an espionage Novel by Graham Greene, first published in 1978 and adapted into a Henry Graham Greene OM, CH (2 October 1904 &ndash 3 April 1991 was an English writer best known as a novelist but who also produced Short stories Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. It was one of the author's favourite works. [1]
Plot summary
The story is set in an unnamed town (though clearly Corrientes) in northern Argentina, near the border with Paraguay. Foto-0065jpg|thumb|216px|The Belgrano Bridge]]Plaza 25 de mayo Corrientes For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay ( Spanish: República del Paraguay; Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái) is one of the only
Eduardo Plarr is a young doctor of English descent. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland As a boy, he left Paraguay with his mother, escaping to Buenos Aires while his English father remained in Paraguay as a political rebel. Buenos Aires is the Capital and largest city of Argentina. It is geographically located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern They never hear from the father again.
When Plarr moves to the quiet, subtropical backwater town, he strikes up acquaintance with the only two English inhabitants, a bitter old English teacher, Humphries, and the Honorary Consul of the title, Charles Fortnum, a divorced, self-pitying alcoholic who misuses his position. Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions Plarr's other main acquaintance is Julio Saavedra, a forgotten but self-important Argentine novel writer full of silent machismo.
Visiting the local brothel with Saavedra, Plarr is attracted to a girl, but she is taken by another man. For the 2008 film of this name see The Brothel. For the television series of this name see Cathouse The Series. A couple of years later, he is called to treat Fortnum's new wife. Plarr sees that she's the same girl from the brothel, Clara. Plarr regards himself as a cool, self-controlled Englishman (although he has never been to England), he finds himself becoming obsessed by Clara. He later seduces her by buying her some sunglasses and they begin an affair, although he tries to remain emotionally distant from her.
"Caring is the only dangerous thing," Plarr says in the novel. "`Love' was a claim which he wouldn't meet, a responsibility he would refuse to accept, a demand. So many times his mother had used the word when he was a child; it was like the threat of an armed robber. `Put up your hands or else . . . ' Something was always asked in return: obedience, an apology, a kiss which one had no desire to give. "
Clara becomes pregnant, and Fortnum believes the child is his and starts drinking less.
Then some of Plarr's friends from school turn up at his surgery, one of them is a failed priest named Rivas. They have news of Plarr's father; he is alive in a jail in Paraguay. They have a plot, for which they need a doctor's assistance, to kidnap the US ambassador on his trip to Corrientes. They will demand the release of political prisoners in Paraguay, including Plarr's father, in return for the ambassador.
But the band kidnaps the wrong man; Charley Fortnum, the Honorary Consul, who they take to a squalid hut in a shanty town. Shanty towns (also called Squatter camps or Favelas are settlements (sometimes illegal or unauthorized of impoverished people who live in improvised
The rest of the novel charts Plarr's efforts to get Fortnum released, either as a result of diplomatic action from the UK, whose ambassador in BA is a comedy figure, or as a result of his schoolfriends giving up. But no-one listens to him. Saavedra and Humphries fail to help Plarr in his efforts. The police suspect that Plarr is involved in the kidnapping, as they know about his affair with Clara, and his behaviour has been suspicious. And they tell him his father was shot dead in Paraguay while attempting escape.
Plarr goes to the hut, where Fortnum has been shot in the leg while attempting escape. Fortnum spends much of his time as he faces up to his death in sentimentalizing about Clara and in remembering the fearsome figure of his father. Then he discovers that Plarr is having an affair with Clara, and that the child is Plarr's. Meanwhile, members of the motley band drift away, and the police close in and surround the hut, while the failed priest, Father Rivas, conducts a makeshift mass inside with the rain coming down and police waiting. The police deadline is about to expire.
Plarr goes out to talk to the police, but he is killed by the paratroopers, along with the other kidnappers. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force Paratroopers are Soldiers trained in Parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force. The authorities blame Plarr's death on the kidnappers. Plarr's mother, once a beauty and now bloated, and some of his previous older mistresses attend his funeral. Saavedra reads a homily. The UK embassy then relieves Fortnum of his consulship. In the last scene, Fortnum and Clara attempt a reconciliation. Fortnum will name the child Eduardo.
Adaptation
The book was made into a film, directed by John Mackenzie in 1983, with Richard Gere as Plarr and Michael Caine as Fortnum. John Mackenzie (born 1932 is a British Film director.He directed such films as Ruby, The Long Good Friday, The Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Richard Tiffany Gere (born August 31, 1949) is a Golden Globe - and Screen Actors Guild Award -winning American Actor. Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr, CBE (born 14 March 1933 better known by his screen name Michael Caine, is an Oscar - and BAFTA
The soundtrack theme was composed by the ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and performed by John Williams. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942 is an English rock Singer, Bass guitarist songwriter Composer, John Towner Williams (born February 8 1932) is an American Composer, conductor and Pianist.
References
- ^ Allain, M: "Conversations With Graham Greene", page 136. Penguin Books, 1991
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