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The Quiet American
 
 
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The Quiet American (Paperback)

by Graham Greene (Author), Zadie Smith (Introduction)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £4.79 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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The Quiet American + Our Man in Havana (Vintage Classics) + Brighton Rock
Price For All Three: £14.97

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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Classics; centenary ed edition (1 Nov 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099478390
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099478393
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 5,017 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #2 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > S > Smith, Zadie
    #4 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Greene, Graham

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Product Description

Review
"'A great writer who spoke brilliantly to a whole generation. Prophet-like' Alec Guinness"

Product Description
Into the intrigue and violence of Indo-China comes Pyle, 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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The Quiet American
79% buy the item featured on this page:
The Quiet American 4.6 out of 5 stars (9)
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9% buy
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars gripping and illuminating, 6 Jul 2005
By A. A. M. Weyenbarg "T Adams" (Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This was my first Graham Greene novel, and it won't be my last. It's one of those cleverly constructed 'circular' novels that, after the initial scene, takes you right back to the beginning of the story which slowly unfolds to end with the same initial scene, but seen in a totally different light.

I picked up this novel because I imagined it to be full of the atmosphere of war-torn Vietnam in the 1950s, a historical portrait of the end of colonial Indo-China. And that is indeed one feature of the book, but it is more involving still: realistic characters, consistent only in their complexity, a moving story of a triangular relationship between two men and a woman, a stand-off between the opposing ideologies of cynicism and idealism. I was left wondering: was this a happy ending or not?

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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Faultless, 30 Sep 2006
By Vicarious (Surrey, UK) - See all my reviews
Along with Waugh's "Decline & Fall" I read this book every year & never fail to get something new from it. Not one word is out of place, not one scene mis-judged. Greene's characters inhabit a world unfamiliar to all 21st century Western wage-slaves; a world of physical danger, intellectual doubts & moral crises. But yet their paranoias & motives render every one of them as believable as ourselves & make their world as real as our own. The hero of this book in particular fills us with the uncomfortable realisation that even despicable acts born of unashamed selfishness can sometimes not only strike a chord within ourselves, but make us favour the perpetrators of such behaviour over other more innocent players. If you find nothing in this book for you stop reading.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A fine novel of political scope about Vietnam, 30 Sep 2006
By Philippe Horak (Zug, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Into the intrigue and violence of Indo-China comes a young, idealistic and quiet American called Pyle who is employed in the Economic Aid Mission. He is sent there to promote democracy through a mysterious Third Force. But his naïve optimism about democracy starts to cause deaths and his friend the cynical British foreign correspondent Thomas Fowler finds it hard to stand aside and watch. As Fowler intervenes, he wonders whether it is for the sake of politics or for his love for the young Phuong.
Commissioned during the 1950s to write an article on guerrilla warfare in Malaya, Graham Greene stopped off in Vietnam to visit a friend, and soon fell under the spell of Indo-China. This novel is a result of his love for the country, inspired by his experiences there. Although the political situation has changed dramatically, The Quiet American continues to reflect accurately and powerfully the problems of war and the people involved in it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Relevant then and now
As The Quiet American was the first Greene novel that I read, I had to accustom myself to Greene's style - it's clean and can stab you suddenly with a particularly deft or... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. SD Halliday

4.0 out of 5 stars Relevant and thought provoking
Incredibly relevant in today's debates about liberal interventionism. It's amazing how little we have moved on since the 50s. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Damian Patrick Kelly

4.0 out of 5 stars Another piece of modern history
Despite the death and destruction depicted in this book, like the character of the title, this was a "quiet book". Read more
Published 16 months ago by Margaret York

4.0 out of 5 stars Short but perfectly formed
'The Quiet American' is a fairly short, but perfectly formed, novel. Set in the Vietnam war, the narrator is Fowler, a cynical British journalist who forms an unlikely friendship... Read more
Published 18 months ago by BookWorm

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, just perfect
A quick note. This is one of the most perfectly written and complete stories I have ever read. It is full of thought provoking characters and behaviours finding both beauty,... Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2006 by Ms. Bethan Kitchen

5.0 out of 5 stars Us, warts 'n all
Taut and economical in his prose, Greene delivers a story of real human tragedy. Against the bitter, on-going war between the Vietnamese and their French colonial rulers, the... Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2005 by Charles Trayle

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