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A review by cozyandfluffy
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
5.0
Before reading this book, I experimented with Graham Greene with another novel "The End of the Affair". The latter was a good book, very easy to go through and I quite liked it. However, "The Heart of the Matter" is absolutely fantastic!
It is a possibility that I loved the book mainly because I was going through something similar at the time, concerning faith. It was a refreshing approach to a problem that I think, everyone had at one point or another. Graham Greene is great in what he does in this book and it almost feels like he gives his characters the freedom to do whatever they might like with their fictional lives.
The character of Scobie is someone I geniuenly cared about. He is a generous, introvert man, who survives to make the other person happy. As long as someone in his life is happy, he is happy. This is basically the theme of the whole book: How can one be happy? He embarks on a journey he wasn't supposed to take and he ultimately reaches sadness, depression, desperation and he refuses to forgive himself for what he may have done, has done and is about to do.
The key word can be "love". Graham Greene talks a lot about the difference between the love of people and the love of God. The great monologue near the end, when Scobie is in church, can be considered the most powerful and heart-breaking moment in the novel.
My advice is to pay attention to the word "love". It will show you a lot in the end.
It is a possibility that I loved the book mainly because I was going through something similar at the time, concerning faith. It was a refreshing approach to a problem that I think, everyone had at one point or another. Graham Greene is great in what he does in this book and it almost feels like he gives his characters the freedom to do whatever they might like with their fictional lives.
The character of Scobie is someone I geniuenly cared about. He is a generous, introvert man, who survives to make the other person happy. As long as someone in his life is happy, he is happy. This is basically the theme of the whole book: How can one be happy? He embarks on a journey he wasn't supposed to take and he ultimately reaches sadness, depression, desperation and he refuses to forgive himself for what he may have done, has done and is about to do.
The key word can be "love". Graham Greene talks a lot about the difference between the love of people and the love of God. The great monologue near the end, when Scobie is in church, can be considered the most powerful and heart-breaking moment in the novel.
My advice is to pay attention to the word "love". It will show you a lot in the end.