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One of Greene's "entertainments," which I actually think is better than some of his "novels." Basically, it's a crime story -- but also so much more.
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Greene's Brighton isn't a light atmosphered tourist summer destination, where children are building sand castles and eating rock candy, but it's a place where gangs are hiding in dark street corners and killing each other. The mood of the bok is quite unusual. Brighton is shown as rainy, chilly and bleak, but Greene's way of writing is light and picturesque. Therefore it wasn't oppressive despite also the great themes of good and evil, and was quite a quick read during plane and train rides (on
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I read once that Graham Greene didn't like the fact that he was always referred to as a Catholic novelist, but you can see why people pegged him that way when you have all the characters going around gloomily asking each other if they are Roman (or whatever phrase it was he used to identify what religion they were) and obsessing over damnation, all of which had me not caring one bit for any of the characters, or, for that matter, the plot.
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This 1930s murky tale of mob culture centres on Pinkie, a truly despicable character, and his desperate actions to save his mob from being caught for a murder.
Despite being so dark, Green does write with a lot of poetic imagery. However, it is always serious, dark and sad.
Despite being so dark, Green does write with a lot of poetic imagery. However, it is always serious, dark and sad.
This is my first Graham Greene book--and I really didn't enjoy it. Greene's writing style seemed disjointed and obtuse at times, while at other times just plain boring. I got the basic story and the conflict, but I wasn't drawn into the characters' lives or their supposed dilemmas or quandaries. It just seemed pretty pointless overall. Maybe there's a better Graham Greene novel I need to check out one day. We'll see--there's so much other excellent reading to still do.
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