The Quiet American (Critical Library, Viking)

The Viking Critical Library's version of Graham Greene's "The Quiet American" is an indispensible text for full appreciation of Greene's perceptions of Indochina, France's war there, and America's budding involvement. The editor, John C. Pratt carefully selects criticism of Greene's TQA that creates a complete and rich discourse on Greene's life and writings that serves as a backdrop to his novel. Added to that backdrop are histories, such as Frank Futrell's thirteen-page explanation of how the United States became involved in Vietnam, and official documents from the State Department, to interviews with former South Vietnamese generals and Ho Chi Minh.

TQA itself a wonderful book that,to an American, probes at our treasured notion high-minded idealism and our "can-do" spirit that has served us well at times and not so well at others. Greene's symbolism is telling and insightful, given that it was published well before the United States' full-blown involvement in that region of the world. While Greene relates many things that he experienced or felt in Indochina as a journalist, the book is not solely a "war novel". TQA, like many of Greene's books, takes the readers on the author's journey of personal morality and matters religious.

Graham Greene spent four springs of his life as a journalist in Indochina and this fine, intelligent novel is an account of his experiences there. It's also a disturbing prophecy of the awful mess that was to be American involvement in Vietnam. It's also a study of friendship and betrayal, of youthful American idealism and mature British jadedness,of indifference and commitment. It is written in spare, elegant prose and the gaunt style has a journalistic immediacy that perfectly fits the subject and the characters without diminishing the emotional complexity.It is a major novel by one of the century's major writers and it hasn't dated; on the contrary,it has a disturbing contemporary feel.

(This review refers to the Viking Critical Library edition, edited by John Clark Pratt)

Graham Greene's novel of Pyle, the "quiet American", employed by a barely-disguised fronting organisation of the CIA, narrated by Fowler, a British journalist who comes across by turns as weary and worldly, is immensely interesting. In it, Greene offers up perhaps his most incisive and insightful political commentary, treating the danger of allowing people guided solely by ideology and schools of academic thought to be responsible for intelligence fieldwork. Pyle, a graduate of Harvard, goes into Indochina, believing intensely in the necessity of enabling a "third column", General The's men, and employing them as an American proxy force.

Whether or not Pyle himself sees the implicit incompatibility of this abstract idea and reality is never quite clear: certainly Pyle plays witness to the destruction that his attempts to mobilise a third column bring about. He is not subject, though, to the gross revulsion at the wanton destruction of life that Fowler is. Equally certainly, Pyle's political views cost him his life: open to question, still, is whether or not Pyle himself was ever conscious of his fallacies, or if he remains blinded throughout. Rather than being a novel of a man's moral revelations, or telling of his relationship with the Divine, "The Quiet American" is far more a parable.

Greene's structure, his combined simplicity and complexity, and the thematic relevance of this novel, render it a deserving read. Additionally, the chronologies and commentaries upon foreign involvement in Indochina/Vietnam are both valuable and blessedly concise, and the collected reviews and critcal commentaries upon the novel serve as valuable tool for understanding.

In preparing for my summer trip to Vietnam a number of people suggested reading The Quiet American. The story also caught my interest when I heard film crews are currently in Vietnam shooting a remake of the film. A remake which will hopefully be more loyal to the book and its message unlike the earlier version.

Talk about foreshadowing. Greene writes and makes a strong case against American involvement in Vietnam. And he makes this case back in the 1950's towards the end of French involvement in Indochina.

The book is well written and easy to read. The story is not dated at all. I only wish President Kennedy and LBJ and their advisors had looked at this book... the books message was all too true.

The Viking critical edition comes with some awesome extra stuff including works about and by Greene, great primary sources on Vietnam, and some great background info.

As a movie buff, I enjoyed some of the writings that compared the book and the movie.

This is a book that deserves the title of classic.

In what is really the grandfather to all noir, foreign intrigue novels, Graham Greene produces not only one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, but also provides a scathing look at American and French policy in Vietnam. It is strange to read The Quiet American now, so long after the disastrous wars that killed millions of people and tore American apart. I would call it an almost tragic read, for in the pages of this provocative novel, Greene provides the roadmap for future disasters. The story is so scathing, so insightful, that one cannot help but to be forever affected. Greene?s tale is made even more effective in this wonderful volume, which provides the reader with numerous criticisms, defenses, and background documents.

Greene?s main character in the epic tale is Fowler, an amazingly interesting and complex British journalist covering the endless civil war in French Indochina. Fowler is one of the most engrossing literary characters I have ever read, as he is both worldly and horribly cynical. As if his own inner politics and views were not enough, his personal life also provides intriguing details. His wife back home in England is distant, foreign to him. In the meantime, Fowler has fallen in love with Phuong, a young Vietnamese woman. He finally feels some degree of happiness, of stability, even as the world rages on around him. The inquisitive Fowler is our eyes and ears as we watch a decrepit and corrupt colonialist system fight a hopeless war against ruthless insurgents. All the intricacies of French life in Indochina are described in picturesque detail, giving the book a beautiful travel book element to it.

The wartime peace Fowler has found is shattered with the arrival of Pyle, an American consulate official. Pyle is young, Ivy League, and idealistic to a dangerous degree. He is way over his head, as he knows little of the country or of its politics. The ?Quiet American?, as he is known, is a timid young man looking for the ?third way?, a way out of the civil war between communism and colonialism. Although known for his good heart and his boyish enthusiasm, Pyle hides a much darker side, revealed in a shocking way later on in the book. He strikes up a kind of friendship with Fowler, and, to Fowler?s dismay, falls in love Phuong. The book progresses, weaving the amazing story lines of war and love together in an unbelievably interesting book. The message Pyle gives us is a haunting reminder of American innocence about to be eaten alive in the confusing and shadowy jungles of Southeast Asia. The conclusion is just stunning, and it really stays with you.

Not only does this version include the wonderful novel, it also contains other samples of Greene?s writing concerning Indochina. The editor, Mr. Pratt, did a really marvelous job compiling a lot of disparate documents into a really effective overview of the war and the story itself. This edition should be the first and last volume any Greene fans need, as it amazingly thorough and respectful of Greene?s brilliant work.