“Sooner or later…one has to take sides. If one is to remain human.”
― The Quiet American
Brighton Rock was my first exposure to Graham Greene, and it wasn’t pleasant. I found it quite morbid, but the writing appealed to me. I chanced upon ‘The Quiet American’ while staying at a friend’s place and picked it up because it was a slim book and I could get through it in a few days.
The Quiet American is the story of two men in love with one woman, set against the background of the Franco-Vietminh war.
War hardens Fowler, a British Journalist, and he believes the only way to be sane is not to take sides – just watch and report. He does not aspire to ambition or fame, his only fear is being left alone.
The other man is Alden Pyle, a fresh-faced American , young and idealistic. He is filled with bookish ideas about bringing about a new revolution. He does not see the reality of war and is absorbed with his own agenda. His distance from reality is chilling; his innocence is a danger to himself and others.
The story starts with the discovery of Pyle’s body, dumped in the river, leading to Fowler’s interrogation. We go back to the time they first met and their growing friendship, more situational than voluntary. Fowler does not have any genuine affection for Pyle and resents him both for stealing his mistress and being involved in underhand terrorist activities.
“Time has its revenges, but revenge seems so often sour. Wouldn’t we all do better not trying to understand, accepting the fact that no human being will ever understand another, not a wife with a husband, nor a parent a child? Perhaps that’s why men have invented God – a being capable of understanding. ”
― The Quiet American
The dark humor employed in the book is reminiscent of Catch 22. One of the most moving section of the book is when Pyle & Fowler as stranded on a check post in the middle of the night with two teenage soldiers of the Vietnam National Army expecting the Vietminh attack. Like many other books written on wartime, this scene reinforces the wastefulness of war.
Greene creates an engaging and exotic picture of Vietnam. As you read along, you realize the futility of the war, how it’s about basic personal agendas and how civilians are caught in the crossfire. And how getting involved is about getting your hands red.
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I love Graham Greene but haven’t read this. Thanks for the prompt.
Thanks for dropping by. Yes do read this – its engaging and very well written. The characters are well defined and thats one of the things I always like in a book.