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Brighton Rock (Vintage Classics)
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Product Description
Review
'The most ingenious, inventive and exciting of our novelists, rich in exactly etched and moving portraits of real human beings' V. S. Pritchett, The Times 'A superb storyteller with a gift for provoking controversy' New York Times 'Graham Greene had wit and grace and character and story and a transcendent universal compassion that places him for all time in the ranks of world literature' John le Carre
Book Description
Gripping, terrifying, an unputdownable read - Greene's iconic tale of the razor-wielding Pinkie
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
A fan of Graham Greene, I consider this the best of his books I have read so far. Quite long for a Graham Greene book, I found this book literally impossible to put down and finished it in one sitting.
In Pinkie, Greene has created a character repulsive in his seeming amorality and ruthlessness, and yet one that you cannot help sympathising with. Considered one of the greatest villians in fiction, Pinkie's character slowly comes into focus as a victim too - and someone for whom redemption is visible on the horizon but always out of reach.
I have always found Greene a master at handling moral ambiguity, and Brighton Rock is an example of Greene at the height of his powers. Read this book for a well-crafted story, and one that makes serious points about the weaknesses of moral absolutism. Personally I think the ending is sheer genius.
40 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It begins with one of the best opening lines in fiction, and ends with one of the best closing lines. In between, Greene reveals a seamy, dark underside to 1930s Brighton, where behind the facade seen by holidaymakers and racegoers the bookmakers are in thrall to razor gangs offering protection. Hale, the seedy journalist who dominates the early pages, soon emerges as merely incidental; Pinkie, a seventeen year old gang leader, is the central character, leading those around him deeper into his own downward spiral of evil. Greene never reveals how Pinkie knows Hale; but Hale's fear of the boy is clearly drawn, and like Hale himself, you realise the inevitability of his murder, and of the consequences that unfold thereafter.
Tremendous charcterisation of most of the main players - Pinkie is frighteningly nasty, the more so for his total lack of conscience; Rose, his weak-minded girl, is also entirely convincing, as is Hale, the catalyst for the story as it unfolds. I would have wished Greene could have done more with Spicer particularly, perhaps also Dallow and Colleoni, and I'm a little less convinced by Ida Arnold and her motivation for getting involved to the point of being Pinkie's nemesis.
Pinkie himself, though, is one of fiction's great characters, and perhaps merits a better demise than Greene gives him here. But in spite of these minor reservations, this is a tremendous book, still relevant now even after the slums that gave birth to these characters have been taken off the Brighton landscape, and still able to disturb the reader by picturing what humanity is capable of becoming in the absence of conscience.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love Greene generally but I have to say that this my favourite - not just my favourite Graham Greene but my favourite book. So tawdry, so sad - it is a bitter and nasty world painted delicately. I reread it once a year!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brighton Rock
This is a fantastic book. It is an absolute classic. It recreates the era of the mobs and makes you empathise with the characters because it is so well written
Published 16 hours ago by Snoopy
After a 3rd read it grows on you
I've read this book about four times now (Thank you English A-Levels) at first I hated it, I hated the characters, although to be fair even on the fourth read through I still found... Read more
Published 9 days ago by Ed Jones
Cruel, intense classic
In the 1930's Brighton, Kite is leader of the mob which dominates the gambling scene in the underbelly of the city. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Book 1981
Excellent
This is the classic book by Graham Greene brought to life by the faultless Samuel West. An ideal accompament to a long car journey.
Published 2 months ago by fivestarfrankie
Well read, but the plot soon starts to drag. Tepid at best.
Sam West's voice was a pleasure to listen to throughout, although in an ideal world he would have been able to give the characters' dialogue more distinctive voices. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Prof TBun
Cheap as chips
Can't see how the price even covers the cost of Amazon's postage. Great value for a classic read by a great author.
Published 3 months ago by FixIT
Full of dark themes but has flaws
"Hale knew they meant to murder him before he had been in Brighton three hours."
Bright Rock begins with one of the best opening lines (and has one of the best finishing... Read more
Bright Rock begins with one of the best opening lines (and has one of the best finishing... Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Willis
Suspense!
It is a vey interesting novel from 40s and the story hold our attention all the time. It is a real page turning novel about the mobs and murders in Brighton and a kind of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Alci Young
An absolute classic unabridged
Graham Greene's fictional output was so varied in terms of theme that it's almost impossible to state "this is his best book" with any real assertion, if only because each title is... Read more
Published 7 months ago by rp
How to write your essay on this book (spoilers!)
This is a long book to write about at GCSE or A-Level - I recommend universalteacher's website for a very helpful guide to the novel. Read more
Published 7 months ago by John Bookman
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