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rooafza's review against another edition
4.0
Travel companion on trip to Vietnam. The struggle of an English journalist to remain neutral and detached(degage) at the height of the First Indochina War. The beginning of the doomed American intervention. Characters seem vaguely familiar from other Greene works.
"Sooner or later, one has to take sides..if one is to remain human"
"Sooner or later, one has to take sides..if one is to remain human"
cdfan's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I liked the writing but didn’t love the book. A bit of eat your vegetables reading.
alisonbutzzz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
regdor's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tittypete's review against another edition
3.0
It's like 1955. An English reporter is in Vietnam covering the French colonial power's struggle against the Viet Minh commies. He smokes opium and digs out his Vietnamese lady friend Phuong on the regs. He meets this extremely corny American guy named Pyle who falls in love with Phoung after meeting her for about ten minutes. Pyle is super forward and is like I'm going to marry your woman. English guy is all whatever. Then he finds out the American is in Vietnam trying to get a third force going in the conflict. One the people can really get behind. One that's not commie and not a colonizer. Best way to do that? Subsidize some minor acts of terror and blame it on the commies. This pisses the English guy off and he gives Pyle a real tongue lashing. Then Pyle ends up dead and people are all "who dunnit?" English guy gets high and crushes puss.
I found the tone of this book to be a tad on the whiny side. As if England is sort of bitter that is wasn't them fucking up the lives of everyone in Vietnam. And I though the Pyle character was so over the top in his corniness that it was off-putting even though we was essentially the bad guy.
I found the tone of this book to be a tad on the whiny side. As if England is sort of bitter that is wasn't them fucking up the lives of everyone in Vietnam. And I though the Pyle character was so over the top in his corniness that it was off-putting even though we was essentially the bad guy.
wanderlustqueen's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting perspective on the effect ignorance and innocence can have on others. That being said, the narrator really annoyed me for his own arrogance and selfishness, but I think that was supposed to happen.
onesonicbite's review against another edition
4.0
I had to read this book for my Film and Lit of the Vietnam War class, and I would recommend this book to others. I ma not a big fan of war novels, but this book is less about the actions taking place during the war and more about the fate of the war.
The story centers around a journalist, Fowler, who is in Vietnam to report on the war. The book tells of a love triangle, where Fowler is infatuated with Phong, who is his mistress while he is in Vietnam. An American missionary, Pyle, falls in love with Phong and tries to honorable win her hand in marriage. Although Pyle seems like he has good intentions of trying to marrying a girl, and help the Vietnamese people, he isn't as honorable. The book successfully foreshadows America's involvement of the war.
The story centers around a journalist, Fowler, who is in Vietnam to report on the war. The book tells of a love triangle, where Fowler is infatuated with Phong, who is his mistress while he is in Vietnam. An American missionary, Pyle, falls in love with Phong and tries to honorable win her hand in marriage. Although Pyle seems like he has good intentions of trying to marrying a girl, and help the Vietnamese people, he isn't as honorable. The book successfully foreshadows America's involvement of the war.
samyukta_24's review against another edition
4.0
That was a whirlwind of a read! Going into this, I would never in a million years have expected it to have revolved around a love triangle. I thought it would be more of a mystery and historical kind of fiction, but it was quite a different kind of book.
I loved the writing. It was really atmospheric and the various themes of war, love, revenge, politics played nicely with each other and the back and forth of the past and present were also done seamlessly.
I loved the writing. It was really atmospheric and the various themes of war, love, revenge, politics played nicely with each other and the back and forth of the past and present were also done seamlessly.
schwarmgiven's review against another edition
5.0
21st century requires communication. Oprah is the great communicator. Anthony Bourdain was the second great communicator. Anthony taught americans how to talk to the world after 9/11. This is Anthony's favorite book. Anthony died of alcoholism on national television. Reading this book explains most of that....I would argue that the wife in England does not exist and is actually M responding to coded letters...
jimbus's review against another edition
5.0
I like novels that play with your sympathies. That is why I’ve always loved Lolita, a novel that brings you oh so close to sympathising with the monster. The Quiet American goes a step further. You do sympathise with the monster. This sympathy leads to the saddest happy ending I think I’ve ever come across.
It was very, very clever to have Pyle be dead to begin with. It quickly becomes clear that Pyle was very dangerous in life, not just to Fowler or Phuong but also to the civilian population. He has a head full of ideas about love and war and is very willing to apply them. I suppose it is quite a simple matter to believe that one has everything worked out and just wade in, but this is a perfect example of the kind of damage that can be done by getting too easily engaged.
Not that inaction has everything going for it. For a start, it’s not too hard to fool yourself in to thinking you’ve done nothing when you have, in fact, very much made your choices. The main conceit appears to be Fowler’s ignorance of his own motives, and indeed his actions. He knows full well that in this war, no one is fucking around. Various groups are playing for keeps. Fowler knows full well he is condemning Pyle to his death. As innocuous as his own meetings with one of the local insurgent groups are, he can’t seriously believe that they only want a quiet chat. Of course this conveniently removes Pyle’s efforts to gain the affections of Phuong, and engages the readers sympathies for both a sad old man fallen from what he thinks is grace, and a young man who appeared to not know better, but the whole denouement is something of a trick by Greene. The simple fact of the matter is, Fowler has always been engaged. His relationship with Phuong is predicated on his continued presence, and his continued presence is predicated on the continuation of the war.
I can only imagine how difficult it is being legally married to someone you no longer love. We are as sad for Fowler’s wife as we are for him, still married by conviction to a man who was not faithful to her. Our sympathies for Fowler are tempered by his actions, but he does have the privilege of perspective. I’d talk about Phuong, who as Zadie Smith mentions in the introduction, is far more than just a representative of Vietnam as a whole, but it is difficult to imagine how she feels considering that she is given barely any dialogue and most of our descriptions of her are of her performing domestic duties. This is definitely not a novel that passes the Bechdel test, and it is somewhat weak for it. Yes, it is somewhat singular in its focus, which is understandable, but other people may have more difficulty empathising with Fowler than I did. Not that I still didn’t realise he was a monster. The final telegraph from his wife, assenting to a divorce, is a final twist of the knife. He has become engaged, he has made his choices, and it tends to be more fun to want something than to get it. That our feelings are so much changed by the end, despite the novel essentially arriving back at where it began, is a testament to Greene’s mastery. I look forward to reading more.
It was very, very clever to have Pyle be dead to begin with. It quickly becomes clear that Pyle was very dangerous in life, not just to Fowler or Phuong but also to the civilian population. He has a head full of ideas about love and war and is very willing to apply them. I suppose it is quite a simple matter to believe that one has everything worked out and just wade in, but this is a perfect example of the kind of damage that can be done by getting too easily engaged.
Not that inaction has everything going for it. For a start, it’s not too hard to fool yourself in to thinking you’ve done nothing when you have, in fact, very much made your choices. The main conceit appears to be Fowler’s ignorance of his own motives, and indeed his actions. He knows full well that in this war, no one is fucking around. Various groups are playing for keeps. Fowler knows full well he is condemning Pyle to his death. As innocuous as his own meetings with one of the local insurgent groups are, he can’t seriously believe that they only want a quiet chat. Of course this conveniently removes Pyle’s efforts to gain the affections of Phuong, and engages the readers sympathies for both a sad old man fallen from what he thinks is grace, and a young man who appeared to not know better, but the whole denouement is something of a trick by Greene. The simple fact of the matter is, Fowler has always been engaged. His relationship with Phuong is predicated on his continued presence, and his continued presence is predicated on the continuation of the war.
I can only imagine how difficult it is being legally married to someone you no longer love. We are as sad for Fowler’s wife as we are for him, still married by conviction to a man who was not faithful to her. Our sympathies for Fowler are tempered by his actions, but he does have the privilege of perspective. I’d talk about Phuong, who as Zadie Smith mentions in the introduction, is far more than just a representative of Vietnam as a whole, but it is difficult to imagine how she feels considering that she is given barely any dialogue and most of our descriptions of her are of her performing domestic duties. This is definitely not a novel that passes the Bechdel test, and it is somewhat weak for it. Yes, it is somewhat singular in its focus, which is understandable, but other people may have more difficulty empathising with Fowler than I did. Not that I still didn’t realise he was a monster. The final telegraph from his wife, assenting to a divorce, is a final twist of the knife. He has become engaged, he has made his choices, and it tends to be more fun to want something than to get it. That our feelings are so much changed by the end, despite the novel essentially arriving back at where it began, is a testament to Greene’s mastery. I look forward to reading more.