October 2015- The Mission Song

The Mission Song - John Le Carre

When the Cold War ended, le Carré, the master of spy thrillers, turned to writing stories set in the third world, continuing the themes about which he clearly feels very strongly – corruption and betrayal. This one is set largely in an anonymous northern island, and is told in the first person by Bruno Salvador, a British citizen (or at least so he believes) who is sent to translate at a conference between a collection of conflicting Congolese tribal leaders/war lords and a shadowy organisation of nameless individuals called the Syndicate. An unnamed British government department has selected him because his background (an Irish Missionary father and a Congolese mother) means that he has acquired fluency in English, French, Swahili and a range of minor African languages. Bruno is initially pleased to help because of his empathy with the people of his homeland. The meeting is ostensibly about organizing a coup prior to planned elections, so that the ‘real’ democratic forces can seize control and the Syndicate can exploit the rich minerals for the benefit not only of themselves, but also of the Congolese people, who will receive the “People’s Portion”. Needless to say, all is not as it seems.

Bruno’s naïvity (and how can one so intelligent be so naïve?) is quickly stripped away as the relations between the Congolese delegates and the representatives of the Syndicate become clearer, and he becomes privy to an entirely different agenda. He is torn between his ethical principles and his professional duty as an impartial interpreter. When he chooses the former, and returns to London at the close of the conference he carries with him evidence of the coup. But remarkably he is still naïve enough to trust people in authority and so more betrayals occur. He is forced to go into hiding with a politically active Congolese nurse with whom he formed an instant romantic attachment after earlier having met her by chance while interpreting for a dying man in a London hospital. This part of the plot stretches credulity too far for me. In the end morality wins and Bruno, with help, does manage to stop the coup, but with serious consequences for him and his new girlfriend. At least they are alive; in real life I suspect they would have ‘disappeared’.

Overall the book is well-written and most of the characters are believable in terms of their dialogue and speech patterns, but the plot, which bears some resemblance to the notorious botched 2004 attempt to organize a coup in Equatorial Guinea that involved Mark Thatcher, is rather turgid and little more than a polemic against the wickedness of Western influence in Africa, even though most of the Congolese characters are just as venal. Reviewers have pointed out a number of weak plot features, which I agree with. For example: how is it that one of the Congolese ‘war lords’ is brutally tortured by agents of the Syndicate, but within a few hours appears at the conference table full of life and none the worse for his ordeal; why doesn’t Bruno copy his stolen material while on the run; and why was he not searched when he left the island at the end of the conference?

Le Carré has written many marvellous spy novels and some of his later efforts after the Cold War era are almost as good, but this is not one of them.

No score available.