Reviews

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

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kevin_shepherd's review against another edition

5.0

Reportedly, the genesis of The Quiet American was a happenstance encounter between author Graham Greene and a prattling, obnoxious, now-anonymous American aid-worker on a road trip from Ben Tre Provence to Saigon, Vietnam in the autumn of 1951. Greene's story is certainly rife with distain for virtually all of its American characters, none of which are particularly quiet, except a dead one. I got the impression that Greene's book title was itself a sarcastic stab, the irony being that the only quiet American is a dead American.

I came to Graham Greene the same way I came to Martin Amis, and Ian McEwan, and P.G. Wodehouse; all via the writings and inferences of the late, great Christopher Hitchens. Hitch has never let me down and Greene is quite possibly the best of them all (so far). This one hits on all cylinders: intrigue, love, espionage, revenge, and an ending that I found enormously satisfying.

mick_travel's review against another edition

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reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

kjmoulton's review against another edition

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5.0

Read while traveling in southeast Asia. The characters are types, stand-ins for geographic world powers, but Greene plumbs the depths of human beings' failure to understand one another with absolute mastery. A gorgeous, haunting book.