Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Comedians

By: Graham Greene
Narrated by: Adrian Lukis
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Three men meet on a ship bound for Haiti, a world in the grip of the corrupt 'Papa Doc' and the Tontons Macoute, his sinister secret police. Brown the hotelier, Smith the innocent American and Jones the confidence man - these are the 'comedians' of Graham Greene's title. Hiding behind their actors' masks, they hesitate on the edge of life. And, to begin with, they are men afraid of love, afraid of pain, afraid of fear itself...

©1976 Graham Greene (P)2020 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Stamboul Train cover art
The Captain and the Enemy cover art
The Human Factor cover art
The Heart of the Matter cover art
Slaughterhouse-Five cover art
A Tale of Two Cities cover art
Taliesin cover art
The Midwife's Revolt cover art
For Whom the Bell Tolls cover art
Under the Volcano cover art
War and Peace cover art
A Farewell to Arms cover art
The Winds of War cover art
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde cover art
The Jewel in the Crown cover art

Critic reviews

The ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man’s consciousness and anxiety. (William Golding)

What listeners say about The Comedians

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    93
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    101
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    81
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

As always faultlessly brilliant

Grahame Greene is a wonderful writer. His thoughts are deeply philosophical and he never fails to engage my mind from start to finish.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So many voices!

Graham Greene is a masterful writer, that goes without saying - and Adrian Lukis' ability to bring Greene's characters to life is truly impressive. I lost count but he voices at least 17 characters, and each one is so distinct, you never lose sight of who they are. Between them, Greene and Lukis bring this very particular time in Haitian history to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Brilliant narrator

The book is good. Mainly I want to shout out this narrator - his performance was fantastic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Recommended listen

Another author at the height of his career. Full of characters that are totally believable. History lesson in the troubled island of Haiti, whose troubles continue today. Excellent reader and well crafted story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Kept me listening

Great narrator and good storytelling . The characters were all well defined. Great overall good to listen to whilst gardening .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Excellent characterisation by narrator

I didn’t know this book at all before I listened to the audiobook so wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s a pretty depressing account of a place and history I was unfamiliar with. The flawed characters were brought to life expertly by the narrator who had an astonishing array of believable accents and voices. When not reading the dialogue I found his voice extremely dull - I was tempted to give up before 10 minutes had passed - but I’m glad I pushed through, as he is fantastic with dialogue.

We got to know a small cast of characters and their relationship with each other, the political regime and the country. It’s a hard listen as they had such a difficult time, and only the Smiths brought any light relief.

I don’t think I’d listen again but well worth hearing once.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant novel, brilliantly read.



I haven't read any Graham Greene before so was unsure what to expect.

Other reviews have covered the plot better than I could, but suffice to say that it is some of the strongest character writing I have ever come across.

The narration is as close to perfect as I can imagine, with the use of clearly different voices for each character and each one conveys something extra to the text. Really quite the best narration of a novel I've heard. It also conveys the protagonist's deep cynicism without removing our empathy.

I can't recommend this highly enough.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story but not much comedy

Set in Haiti near the end of Papa Doc’s vicious regime the story is pervaded by an aura of menace as the Tonton Macoute kill and injure anyone they please. Against this backdrop are the stories of flawed people who nevertheless elicit sympathy as they try to make the best of their lives. The central character hotelier Mr Brown is a familiar Graham Greene character full of regrets, embroiled in a tempestuous affaire with a married woman and still carrying the guilt of a lapsed Catholic. As with other if the author’s books I leave with a sense of sadness for the characters I’ve lived with for many hours.
The narrator is outstanding.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classy

Well read,
I have been thoroughly entertained.
Worth my monthly credit.
A grown up story.
Dark, funny and believable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superbly read - a classic Graham Greene novel

The narrator, Adrian Lukis, reads this classic with wit, verve and at exactly the right pace. His treatment of the American couple, the Smiths, is humane and humourous. The novel itself is beyond reproach - love, betrayal, loyalty are the classic themes, set in the exotic environment of Haiti leading to a conclusion which echoes life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful