#2

The Constant Gardener by John le Carré

I finished The Constant Gardener last week. I wanted to read it because the movie was my favorite movie of 2006. It's an incredibly moving and beautiful story. And romantic! I love how it's a mystery with intrigue and fighting corruption and it's political and suspenseful, but that at it's heart, it's a love story. I don't know if I want to spoil it for anyone! But I just love it. I love the way Justin changes in the story. I love that he loved Tessa so much to do so.

The novel is fabulous, too, but I still prefer the movie, probably because I saw it first. I think the novel isn't as good as the movie because the movie isn't as dense as the novel. Also the novel focuses entirely on Justin's point-of-view, unlike the novel, and so I think that point is in the movie's favor, too, because his mission is the one you care about.

The novel's ending felt a bit anti-climatic to me, at first. Now I'm getting over it, though. The movie's ending is essentially the same, but the order is switched around, and so you get a bit more satisfaction. But, like I said, I'm getting over that feeling. I think the ending of the novel is growing on me.