The quiet American

by

188 pages

English language

Published Aug. 6, 2002 by Penguin Books.

ISBN:
978-0-14-200138-7
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3 stars (1 review)

One of Graham Greene's best works. The story is set at the time of the French war against the Viet Cong and tells the story of liberal British journalist Thomas Fowler, his mistress Phuong, and their relationship with American idealist Pyle. The latter is an earnest young man indocrinated with geo-political theory and whose attempts to shape the world to American ideals ends in his own personal tragedy and drastically alters the lives of the other two participants. Written before the US involvement in Vietnam this is a strangely prophetic work and seriously encapsulates the British viewpoint towards that conflict. A beautifully written book and highly recommended.

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reviewed The quiet American by Graham Greene

Review of 'The quiet American' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This story, told almost entirely in flashbacks, had a middle section that was too long for me. The rest is a mystery of sorts, and went well enough. The long middle section was a triangle between Fowler (Europe) and Pyle (American) over Phuong (Vietnam), and I see the allegory of the current and approaching wars. It's just that it seemed to drag.

At the time of release, it was seen as Anti-American, but that doesn't fit. It is one of Graham Greene's serious novels, as opposed to his Entertainments (i.e. Our Man in Havana). I have not seen the movie, though I understand the Michael Caine/Brendan Fraser film is far better than the earlier one.

In summary, I rate this 3 stars, and may revisit that after exploring another of his works.

Subjects

  • Indochinese War, 1946-1954 -- Fiction
  • Triangles (Interpersonal relations) -- Fiction
  • Americans -- Indochina -- Fiction
  • War correspondents -- Fiction
  • Indochina -- Fiction
  • Vietnam -- Fiction