Word: fortnum
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Argentina. They aim to kidnap a visiting American ambassador and hold him against the release of ten political prisoners. But, as one character remarks, "nothing happens as we intend." Acting as his customary farce majeure, Greene has the revolutionaries mistakenly snatch and fruitlessly hold for political ransom poor Charley Fortnum, a gentle, sixtyish, befuddled and more than slightly sodden Englishman who serves as honorary British consul in an upcountry town that boasts only three British passports...
...holder of one of them is Dr. Eduardo Plarr. Plarr's British father has been held for years in a Paraguayan prison, and Plarr has not only become involved with the kidnapers but is the lover of Charley Fortnum's young wife. When Fortnum winds up a hostage, Plarr finds himself in one of those absurd and passionate plights that Greene is so skillful at convincing us are truthful metaphors for man's lot in life. "Let this comedy end as comedy," Plarr says in mock prayer. "None of us are suited for tragedy." But naturally, this...