Can anybody recommend what books to read by Graham Greene? I have already read Brighton Rock.
Can anybody recommend what books to read by Graham Greene? I have already read Brighton Rock.
Originally Posted by fleaaaaaa
I have just finished "The End of the Affair" a few days ago, so I can only recommend that, as it's the only one I've read. "Brighton Rock" is on my TBR pile at the moment. I loved TEOTA. I was really pleasantly surprised by the book, as I thought he may be overrated. I don't know why I haven't read him before. I can definitely give it a
I loved the film "The Quiet American" and had planned on reading that book of Greene's. I found it free one day from my library 'give away' pile. I was so pleased, since I have seen the film adaptation a few times now and even own it. The book has to be something special.
"It's so mysterious, the land of tears."
Chapter 7, The Little Prince ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Power and the Glory. I read it earlier this year, it's not brilliant but certainly vivid.
His collection of short stories is also very good
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Short...1851489&sr=8-5
If you have already read Brighton Rock, you won't read anything that quite matches it but the End of the Affair is very good and so is The Heart of the Matter. I can also recommend Our Man in Havana and The Quiet American as excellent examples of Greene's writing and I also enjoyed England Made Me, It's a Battlefield and The Confidential Agent.
Incidentally, Brighton Rock, which must be one of the best screen adaptations of a novel, is now available on DVD and the author did the screenplay for the film.
I've just fished out my video of Brighton Rock as I haven't seen it for a while, but I want to read it first. I love the film.
I've only read of Greene the Story collection of which Subterranean speaks but it is a fantastic collection; great great scope of Greene's writing.
I have recently picked up a collection of his short stories, though I haven't acutally read anything by him yet.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
Yes, the film is marvellous; it brilliantly captures the seediness of post-war Brighton that Greene mirrors in the novel, and Richard Attenborough's performance as Pinkie Brown is terrific, both in the colloquial and literal sense of the word. Of course, he is meant to personify evil, as opposed to Rose's innocence, but the sinister quality he brings to the part makes it one of the best screen performances I have ever seen.
There is a difference to the way that Pinkie is killed at the end of the novel
and no happy ending as in the film but it doesn't matter, because either way both book and film are excellent.
This has nothing to do with the OP as I cannot suggest a title that has not already been posted, but is an aside to the comments on Brighton Rock.
It was published in 1938, btw, and depicts pre-war Brighton: when I first read it, I passed it over to my father who had lived in Brighton in the mid 1930s. He read it with interest and returned it to me with the comment that it was an accurate picture of the town at the time. He went on to tell me tales of gang warfare, running fights through the streets with people being thrown through shop windows and knives being drawn (with the aside that I was not to tell my mother - he had probably told her at the time that he was living in a quiet seaside town of blameless respectability!) and remarked how adept the non-gang members like himself and his friends were at darting down the many narrow side streets in the town.
Yes, I was aware that Greene wrote the book pre-war as the film deals with the notorious razor gangs that were a feature of the 1930's, but because the film was made in 1947 and the clothes, set designs and some of the dialogue is more appropriate to the 1940's, I assumed that it had been given a more contemporary presentation by John Boulting, the director.
"The End of the Affair" is wonderful and moving.
I have now also read......
The heart of the matter
The end of the affair
The comedians
The comedians should not be forgotten as it tells the story of a man who owns a hotel in Haiti, while Haiti is under the regime of Papa Doc. I think that alone makes it a part of history, I didn't know who papa doc was until I had read this book but I found it fascinating, there is always some dictator or tyrant whatever age you live in. It's strange that I had never heard of him before.
Is Graham Greene available on the public domain yet?
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