The Heart of the Mater

[SheykAbdullah]

I just finished reading this in the Portable Graham Greene. Has anyone else read it? If you have, what do you guys think of Scobie, weak man cursed with the inability to make a decision to save himself, or pridefully self-centered? And Mrs. Scobie? Is she cold and hard, or just human?

[Ryduce]

I've been meaning to read some Graham Greene ever since I saw Donnie Darko,but I'm a lazy bastard so I've never gotten around to it.Tell me how it is when your finished please.

[Virgil]

I've only read one novel by Greene, Brighton Rock, and I really enjoyed it.

[Unspar]

I thought The Heart of the Matter was more about Scobie dealing with guilt than his worth as a person. It seemed like Greene refrained from making a judgment on him as a person or as anything, so I can't say he's weak or self-centered. That's not what it's about. It's about Scobie's judgment on himself, and I think Greene wants us to sympathize with him up to that judgment, that point of no return.

I didn't like Mrs. Scobie.

[SheykAbdullah]

I posted the topic because I was reading the author's comments about the book, Greene hated it, and said that Scobie was damned from his own pride. I just didn't get any pride form Scobie, he seemed almost humble to me. He also said that Mrs Scobie wasn't intended to be cold and harsh, and in the version I read she didn't seem to be. I guess there were two versions of the story published, one with a deleted scene.

Did anyone else get pride out of Scobie?

The Heart of the Matter was awesome, I love Greene. If anyone's seen The Third Man he wrote the screenplay as well.