A review by msand3
A Gun for Sale: An Entertainment by Graham Greene

5.0

4.5 stars. I don’t know how Greene manages to do it. He gives us another dark, violent, highly entertaining crime tale that also provides the reader with much to ponder: can one have empathy for a murderer even while abhorring his actions? Is there a difference between killing for passion and murdering for hire? (And, by extension, a soldier blindly following orders by refusing to think about the personal act of killing or the political implications of the action?) What are the societal restraints (social, economic, familial, and even physical) that entrap certain people in their lives to the point where it impacts their psychological state and leads to criminal behavior? What exactly are the psychological underpinnings of criminality? Can psychoanalysis really be a salve, or at the very least a possible point of entry to begin healing, or is this just metaphorically bailing out the Titanic with a bucket? How are white collar criminals shielded by their class status and wealth, and in what way are the police and the entire justice system blinded to the inequality of the system and their place within it (at best) or complicit and bought off by the upper classes (at worst)?

In the end, this is a novel of failure. Anne’s failure, Mather’s failure, and society’s failure: they all fail Raven because they go about their business as if these questions don’t exist, or as if men like Raven are only minor hiccups in an otherwise lawful existence. Their failure is a reflection of our own.