The Timeless Works of Graham Greene

Mar 14, 2014 | Literature

In human relationships, kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths.

– Graham Greene

The licentious lifestyle of Graham Greene would be of little surprise to even the casual reader – the author’s recreations of the spectrum of the human condition suggest a less-than-pious life lived, after all. Born in 1904 to an established middle-class family, Greene was educated at Oxford, converting to Catholicism after courting Vivien Dayrell-Browning via postal correspondence. The couple separated in 1948 due to Greene’s indiscreet philandering, after which he continued to pursue an ill-reputed lifestyle while apparently suffering guilt from a religion he did not intend to believe in.

Greene remains a vital part of the English literary cannon despite, according to Evelyn Waugh, having “not a specifically literary style at all. The words are functional, devoid of sensuous attraction, of ancestry, and of independent life”. Richard Jones later wrote in the Virginia Quarterly Review that “nothing deflects Greene from the main business of holding the reader’s attention.”

 

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Brighton Rock
1938

Brighton Rock was the first of Greene’s so called ‘Catholic novels’, and one that would set the tone for his career. Set in Brighton in the mid 1930’s, this gangster thriller chronicles the seedy underworld of Brighton and the bid of 17 year old Pinkie to stay both alive and in power. One of Greene’s most famous works, Brighton Rock opens with the immortal line “Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him”. Hale, the focus of the first chapter, does not make it to the second. What follows is a complex web of detective work, while concepts of good and evil are defined and debated throughout.

While not instantly a bestseller, Brighton Rock was critically well-received and over time has become one of the most influential books in writing-style in the last century. The first adaptation for film in 1947 started a trend of Greene’s novels enjoying a close relationship with cinema. Both The Third Man and Our Man in Havana followed as established cinematic classics.

 

 

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The Quiet American
1955

The Quiet American broke new ground for Greene. Published during the infamous ‘Red Scare’ years, the novel was condemned in America, in the wake of the 1954 French War of Indochina. Critics to both the political left and right condemned the book as thoroughly ‘un-American’ for many reasons, the most ‘outrageous’ of which was not celebrating the enforced spread of Western culture into Asia. The book also drew criticism due to the protagonist’s nationality – notably British – as opposed to the idealistic young American who perpetrates the most violent act of the novel. The novel was conversely well-received in Britain, inspiring two film adaptations in 1958 and 2002.

 

 

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Ou
r Man in Havana
1958

A dark satire, Our Man in Havana explores the nonsensical world of the British Spy abroad. Inspired by true events Greene witnessed during his own time with MI6, protagonist Wormold – after being recruited somewhat reluctantly – begins to file fake reports to headquarters in an effort to keep his job and new-found financial security. The plot twists and turns until he tries to save the real lives of the fake comrades he’s invented, as the events he’s fabricated begin to happen around him.

Published in the midst of the Cold War, the novel satirises government intelligence – or lack thereof – and, with a heavy focus on the British, pokes fun at both the naivety and willingness to believe any ill-substantiated information.

Ruler Fidel Castro allowed an adaptation to be filmed in Cuba, in the anticipation it would show the brutality of the previous regime and promote his own. However, his government were left disappointed by the comedic take on the period, of which Greene later said:

“Alas, the book did me little good with the new rulers in Havana. In poking fun at the British Secret Service, I had minimized the terror of Batista’s rule. I had not wanted too black a background for a light-hearted comedy, but those who suffered during the years of dictatorship could hardly be expected to appreciate that my real subject was the absurdity of the British agent and not the justice of a revolution.”

 

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The Heart of the Matter
1948

One of Greene’s most critically well received novels of his career, The Heart of the Matter is also one of his most profoundly human achievements. Classed as one of his Catholic novels, Greene expertly manoeuvres between duty, faith and love, and the knowledge than none of them stand alone. 

Winning the James Tait Black Prize Memorial Prize in the year of its release, the New York Times billed it as “A Searching Novel of Man’s Unpaid Debt to Man” in its 1948 review. A bitter parable of kindness, the author writes with a pity that encourages understanding yet not hard judgement of any of the characters involved.

While filled with both moral and existential dilemmas, the scenery of the novel also greatly contributed to its critical reception, with Evelyn Waugh going to far as to claim the West Africa Greene created on paper, had replaced the real experience in his own memory, such was Greene’s skill with creating sensory memory.

Selling over 300,000 copies upon its release, it has since been included in several ‘Best 100’ lists, and it frequently referred to as one of the top English Language books of the last 100 years.

 

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