John le Carre
It has been some time since I have read a book in the first person, so it took a bit of getting used to. For some reason I had a hard time taking this seriously since it read as a diary/journal. Or at least that is how I was reading it. The protagonist is Bruno Salvador, an English citizen whose mother was Congolese. Having been raised for part of his life in Africa, his identity is just as mixed as his genes. Bruno is a contract interpreter for the British government, using his talents to help with decoding the many dialects and local varieties of language from sub-Saharan Africa. When he gets a special assignment to interpret some high level, secret meetings, Bruno jumps at the chance. What he finds is that he is attending negotiations that will affect the future of his native Congo. What he realizes is that the neutrality required by his profession is not necessarily something that his personal ethics allow. Of course this leads to trouble and angst. An interesting look at what is probably the reality of how nation affecting negotiations happen and how corporations and money are the essential driving force. Otherwise, not really a great book.
Wait
No comments:
Post a Comment