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The Quiet American Paperback – 1 Oct 2004

by Graham Greene (Author)

7 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0099478393 ISBN-10: 9780099478393 Edition: 1^st

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Pyle is a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious 'Third Force'. As his naive optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch. But even as he intervenes he wonders why: for the sake of politics, or for love?

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Product details

Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Vintage Publishing; 1 edition (1 October 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780099478393
ISBN-13: 978-0099478393
ASIN: 0099478390
Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.3 x 19.8 cm
Boxed-product Weight: 159 g
Average Customer Review: 7 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 42,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3417 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War
- #5982 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics
- #8135 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

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Review

"A master of storytelling" The Times "One of the finest writers of any language" Washington Post "A superb storyteller - he had a talent for depicting local colour, a keen sense of the dramatic, an eye for dialogue, and skill in pacing his prose" New York Times "There has been no novel of any political scope about Vietnam since Graham Greene wrote The Quiet American" Harper's "It might be nearly 60 years since The Quiet American was first published, but it still evokes the exotic promise of the Orient, and the troubled relationship Vietnam has with the West" Wanderlust

Book Description

CENTENARY EDITION WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ZADIE SMITH'A great writer who spoke brilliantly to a whole generation. Prophet-like' Alec Guinness

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QUIETLY STUNNING...

8 March 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book is quietly stunning. Littered with glimpses and literary visions of beauty and thoughts of powerful effect, this work of written art will move and entertain the reader in ways unseen for generations.

By the end of chapter one, we learn that the American in question (Mr Pyle) is found dead with mud in his lungs under the bridge to Dakow. The one true friend of the deceased - who is also the tale's narrator - is questioned by the local police who speak in an almost incomprehensible combination of French / Vietnamese. He is soon released after identifying the body but even that scene, despite its macabre overtones was hugely entertaining and had strong elements of suspense. Pyle's local girlfriend is compelling in her silence. I look forward to learning more of her (as do the local police, I imagine).

So, is the book a whodunit, then? You will have to read it yourself to find out. But is certainly a classic. It is a book for the ages. It is populated by truth, love, vulgarity and brings home the horrors of war and the effect it has on the human condition. I was going to borrow this book from my local library. I weakened at the last minute and purchased it for my e-reader.

It has turned out to be the best eleven dollars I have spent for ages.

Graham Greene was a genius and has demonstrated his full understanding of what it means to be human.

BFN Greggorio!

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The Phoenix

11 August 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Set in Vietnam during the 1950's where the author mixes a murder mystery with a cautionary tale of involvement in Vietnam and peppers it with precise and discrete character observations. Fowler, a seasoned and cynical British reporter with a beautiful Vietnamese mistress. Fowler hits opium four times each night in order to face the future. He knows himself and the depth of his own selfishness. “I don’t take sides. I’m not engaged”.
Pyle is the brash young idealist sent out by Washington on a mysterious aids mission to Saigon, where the French Army struggles against the Vietminh guerrillas. Pyle wants so desperately to be liked, so “he was very meticulous about small courtesies.” Phuong, the “love-interest” over whom Pyle and Fowler contend, her name means “Phoenix,” but her delicate body is framed as fragile as a birds.
I have travel Saigon’s sun-splintered streets in a trishaw and in the country, I squint at golden rice fields set against a lush riot of green. I have had drinks at the bar of the Hotel Continental and Nursed those who came back from the horror of war there. Nowhere is one safe. One minute, they ate ice cream in a parlour; the next, they scrape brain matter from there shoes. The phrase "Do you think the peasant sits and thinks of God and Democracy when he gets inside his mud hut at night?” sums it up for me. This is a fiercely politically engaging work.

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Murray Shaw

Vietnam between its wars

4 May 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A forceful and intelligent summary of the situation in Vietnam at a time when the French colonial forces were on the brink of defeat by the Vietnamese. At this same time, Graham Greene also intuitively examines the first tentative moves of the United States to exert their control over that poor but heroic nation in what became known to the latter as 'The American War'. The most powerful nation in the world pitted against one of the poorest. But America, with 500,000 of its superbly equipped troops (at its peak) on the ground, complete air mastery including helicopter gunships raining napalm bombs on villages, B52s carpet bombing the cities and countryside as well as spraying the deforestation Agent Orange over the jungles(with its horrific mutilating side-effects) was also defeated by the Vietnamese people fighting for their independence from foreign domination. Casualties included 50,000 Americans and 500 Australians (among others of its allies) killed - but some 3 million Vietnamese died.
Readers would do well to ponder upon the worth of this nation in Graham Greene's excellent book.

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Steve Sherry

Classic Greene

4 February 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

As a fan of the author, I have an expectation of what to expect from his writing. He is one of the best of the 20th century and this book is a great read. If you enjoy Greene, or just love engaging literature, this book will not disappoint you.

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Good Vietnam Primer

4 October 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Read while holidaying in Vietnam, so very appropriate. Godd story, well written, was interesting being in some of the spots mentioned, and seeing others in the museum. Reccomended as primer or reading material when visiting in Vietnam,

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cranky

Five Stars

5 August 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Greene's grasp of the human condition is evident throughout this book.What else need be said about this classic.

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Derek Wagner

Three Stars

17 November 2014