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Third Man: AND "The Fallen Idol" (Vintage Classics)
 
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Third Man: AND "The Fallen Idol" (Vintage Classics) (Paperback)

by Graham Greene (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New Ed edition (1 Nov 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099286238
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099286233
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,333 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #4 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Greene, Graham

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Product Description

Newsweek
A master storyteller, one of the first to write in cinematic style with razor-sharp images moving with kinetic force

Product Description
With an introduction by Ian Thompson, "The Third Man" is Graham Greene's brilliant recreation of post-war Vienna, a 'smashed dreary city' occupied by the four Allied powers. Rollo Martins, a second-rate novelist, arrives penniless to visit his friend and hero, Harry Lime. But Harry has died in suspicious circumstances, and the police are closing in on his associates..."The Fallen Idol" is the chilling story of a small boy caught up in the games that adults play. Left in the care of the butler and his wife whilst his parents go on a fortnight's holiday, Philip realises too late the danger of lies and deceit. But the truth is even deadlier.

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Customer Reviews

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Two dark, ironic stories which lead to early noir films., 24 Jun 2005
By Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: "The Third Man" and "The Fallen Idol" (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) (Paperback)
The Third Man, written originally as the outline for the screenplay of Carol Reed's famous 1949 film of the same name, is set in occupied Vienna just after World War II. The sectors established by the conquering British, Americans, French, and Russians contribute to an atmosphere of tension and mystery, and an almost palpable aura of menace as residents and visitors alike must deal with four different governments, four sets of officials, and four collections of laws as they move throughout the city.

Rollo Martins, an author of cowboy novels, arrives in Vienna to visit an old school friend, Harry Lime, only to find that he has arrived on the day of Lime's funeral. Investigating Lime's death, Martins learns that a neighbor saw the traffic accident that killed Lime and observed three men carrying Lime's body from the scene. Only two of those men have been identified--the third man has vanished.

As Martins investigates Lime's death, the novel is by turns exciting and darkly humorous, intensely visual in its descriptions and action, but lacking the characterization and thematic focus which one associates with most of Greene's work. The novella is full of wit and dark theatrics, and includes everything from a chase through the sewers to a love story.

The Fallen Idol, sometimes known as "The Basement Room," is, by contrast, a psychological, rather than plot-based story. Nine-year-old Philip, who idolizes the family's butler Baines, since his parents pay little attention to him, is left with Baines and his wife while the parents go on vacation. Baines is having an affair, and Philip innocently discloses this to his wife.

The resulting confrontation results in an accident in which the wife ends up dead, and Philip, panicked, runs out, only to be picked up by a policeman, to whom another naive remark conveys the idea that Baines has murdered her. Irony and a delightfully drawn child's point of view (unusual for Greene) make The Fallen Idol one of Greene's more interesting and twisted stories.

Both The Third Man and The Fallen Idol led to film collaborations between Greene and director Carol Reed--The Fallen Idol in 1948, and Reed's more famous film of The Third Man in 1949. Dark humor, elaborate ironies, and surprising twists characterize both stories and show Greene to be a master manipulator of perceptions. Mary Whipple

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9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Classic espionage, 24 Mar 2004
By Philippe Horak (Zug, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Mr Graham Greene’s short novel is set in Vienna just before the end of the Second World War. The city is described as “smashed and dreary” and when the action starts, Vienna is still divided up in zones among the Four Powers: the Russian, the British, the American and the French zones. Rollo Martins’ line is the writing of cheap paperback Westerns under the penname of Buck Dexter. Martins received an invitation from Harry Lime of the International Refugee Office to join him in Vienna. When Martins arrives at the Hotel Asoria, there is no Lime expecting him, but only a cryptic message for Mr Dexter from a man called Crabbin. Martins then decides to look for Lime’s apartment, but once he arrives there, a neighbour, a Herr Kurz, informs him that Harry Lime is dead after having been run over by a car. The burial is to take place the same afternoon at Vienna’s Central Cemetery. Martins goes to the ceremony and immediately after that, he is accosted by a man called Calloway, a policeman from Scotland Yard, who asks him if he knew Harry Lime.
This is the beginning of Graham Greene’s classic espionage thriller, very well constructed with wonderfully drawn characters and a suspenseful plot.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A screenplay with no apologies, 30 Jun 2009
As Mr Greene said this was 'never written to be read but only to be seen' so for once no one has to apologise about having seen the classic film first!
Inevitably, the book is virtually a screenplay and other reviewers have covered the story excellently.

For interest, Martins and Lime are English in the book, Martins pretty much 'executes' Lime in the sewer and he also get's the girl. I also assume that Lime was the 'Third Man' at the scene of his own mock accidental death - unless someone knows differently.

When younger I always thought the sewer scene and the music were most memorable but on reading the novel the significance of Lime's prescient speech on the Ferris Wheel comes to the fore.

Only 98 pages, and hence sold with 'The Fallen Idol', the Third Man is a stunning, short, sharp, smack in the face of a read.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Perfection in a story
I don't like Graham Greene. All that Catholic guilt makes me depressed when I read most of his books. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Martin Turner

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