17 used & new from £0.77
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
A Burnt Out Case
  
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

A Burnt Out Case (Hardcover)

by Graham Greene (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


14 used from £0.77 3 collectible from £1.00
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (Collected ed) Order it used
Paperback (centenary ed) £7.99 £4.98 28 used & new from £2.69

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   Cases opens new browser window
www.cebit.de  -  At CeBIT 2010 in Hannover, Germany. March 02 - 06. Check it out!
   B&B Radicondoli Siena opens new browser window
www.belcanto-beb.it  -  Il Bel Canto nella Campagna Senese Offerte Invernali in Villa del 600
   Plastic case and cases opens new browser window
www.caseline.co.uk  -  Protection cases, presentation case promotional casing, foam interiors.
  
 

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Honorary Consul

The Honorary Consul

by Graham Greene
4.4 out of 5 stars (5)  £4.97
The Heart of the Matter

The Heart of the Matter

by Graham Greene
4.4 out of 5 stars (13)  £4.98
The Human Factor (Vintage classics)

The Human Factor (Vintage classics)

by Graham Greene
4.5 out of 5 stars (11)  £5.22
Monsignor Quixote (Vintage Classics)

Monsignor Quixote (Vintage Classics)

by Graham Greene
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.38
A Gun for Sale: An Entertainment (Vintage classics)

A Gun for Sale: An Entertainment (Vintage classics)

by Graham Greene
4.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £5.23
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd (Dec 1961)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0434305405
  • ISBN-13: 978-0434305407
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,488,920 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

From the Publisher

'In a class by himself' William Golding
‘Mr Greene’s extraordinary power of plot-making, of suspense and of narration…moves continuously both in time and space and in emotion’ Angus Wilson, The Times

When Querry, a world-famous architect, finds he no longer enjoys life or takes pleasure in art he sets of an a voyage. Arriving anonymously at a leper colony in the Congo he is diagnosed as the mental equivalent of a ‘burnt-out case’, a leper mutilated by the disease and amputation. Querry slowly moves towards a cure, his mind getting clearer as he works for the colony. However, in the heat of the tropics, no relationship with a married woman, however blameless, will ever be taken as innocent…

‘In a class by himself.. the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man’s consciousness and anxiety’ William Golding --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Graham Greene was born in 1904. He was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. Graham Greene died in April 1991. Among the many people who paid tribute to him on his death was Kingsley Amis: 'He will be missed all over the world. Until today, he was our greatest living novelist.' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(4)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Burnt Out Case
81% buy the item featured on this page:
A Burnt Out Case 4.2 out of 5 stars (5)
The Human Factor (Vintage classics)
7% buy
The Human Factor (Vintage classics) 4.5 out of 5 stars (11)
£5.22
The Ministry of Fear: An Entertainment (Vintage Classics)
5% buy
The Ministry of Fear: An Entertainment (Vintage Classics) 4.3 out of 5 stars (6)
£4.98
The Comedians
4% buy
The Comedians 4.7 out of 5 stars (6)
£7.19
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Comparisons to Conrad Are Inevitable, 6 Sep 2003
By Bruce Kendall "BEK" (Southern Pines, NC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Burnt Out Case (Vintage classics) (Paperback)
There are many similarities between this novel and Conrad's masterly novella, Heart of Darkness. The protagonist, Querry, like Marlowe, is making a voyage of discovery into the deepest interior of the "Dark Continent." The voyage upriver is even described in much the same manner, as the missionary boat wends its way into an ever more torpid, oppresive atmosphere.

Green contrasts the colonial attitudes as represented by the figure of the greedy, exploitative Ryker, with the benevolent,if scattershod, efforts of Father Thomas and the priests and nuns of the leper colony. Though Ryker is far less megalomaniacal than Kurtz, and a lot less intelligent, he too is guided ny notions of entitlement and superiority. This mindset extends to his notions of marriage as well. His young wife has about as much status, in his eyes, as have the natives employed in the Palm Oil production plant he supervises.

Ryker also shares much in common with the hotel keeper, Schomberg, in Conrad's Victory. Both are of the "ugly European" variety, motivated by self interest and subject not to genuine passion, but to wounded vanity. Self pride and grandiose imaginings are all either man has. Querry, in A Burnt Out Case, and Heyst, in Victory, are precisely the opposite. These protagonists have essentially lost their identities. They travel to the ends of the earth in an attempt to discover what manner of men they actually are. Querry's end, like Heyst's is almost preordained, yet they do finally discover some semblance of truth about themselves.

Greene was not at all happy with the manner in which this book was interpreted by critics and by the public. He blames it and Heart of the Matter, for his having been subsequently labeled a "Catholic" writer. In Ways of Escape, he writes that the book's publication resulted in an outflow of enthusiastic responses: " There must have been something corrupt there, for the book appealed too often to weak elements in its readers. Never had I received so many letters from strangers -- perhaps the majority of them from women and priests. At a stroke I found myself regarded as a Catholic author in England, Europe and America -- the last title to which I had ever aspired." The novel continues, as does much of Greene's oevre, to attract criticism keyed into spiritual and religious themes. That obviously wasn't his intent, and I believe that he deserves a less "catholic" (in its dictionary and religious sense) reading by modern audiences. Though I prefer some of Greene's other works (personal favorites, The Comedians, The Power and the Glory), I recommend this as a highly readable, diverting novel, with enough psychological underpinnings to lend it depth.

BEK

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Case Study of a Tortured Soul, 26 May 2001
This review is from: A Burnt Out Case (Vintage classics) (Paperback)
A stranger arrives in an obscure leper colony, situated somewhere in the depths of the Congo. His name is Querry, and it seems that all he wants is to be left alone. He finds himself at the colony only because that was the last stop on the route of the little boat that took him there. He is reticent and obdurate, difficult and self-absorbed - a hard character to like, at first. As the novel progresses, however, we learn more about the mysterious Querry - he is slowly fleshed out in the masterful way that only Greene's sparse prose could accomplish. From the start he is obviously a troubled man - and as events progress you slowly realise just how messed up he is. And so slowly he gains your sympathy and respect. For it turns out he is "The Great" Querry, a famous architect who had it all - fame, money, sex, power - a man who reached the very pinnacle of success, and yet still found it wanting. A man who found that, in the end, even his greatest succeses were hollow, and yet he is still lauded with a genius he feels he does not posess. So he seeks to lose himself - to go to the very ends of the earth in order to find a place in which he can be what he is. He feels just as numbed as the lepers around which he lives. This is not a story of a man helping himself in helping others - Greene is more realistic, more penetrating than that. This is not a Disney book. There are no happy endings here. I've got a friend who is a Psychologist - I've always told him I've learnt more about the "Human Condition" through reading novels than he ever did through studying Psychology textbooks. Remind me to pass this book on to him...
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Saint or Sinner ?, 31 Jan 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Burnt Out Case (Twentieth Century Classics) (Paperback)
This is a wonderful story set in the sweaty Congo of 1960. The infamous Querry, womaniser, architect and saint ? mysteriously appears at leper colony run by a cynical doctor a pragmatic priest. The reader is left to discover why he is there and to understand the logic of his actions. This book is even more relevant now in the twenty first centaury then when it was originally written. An accurate study of the struggle of modern living. Are you a burnt out case ?
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars hard to put down
A novel set in a leprosarium in the heart of Africa? It doesn't sound all that interesting, even when you add a troubled protagonist, on the run from Europe. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2008 by a nice guy who likes reading

5.0 out of 5 stars The chronicle of a man's consciousness and anxiety
A remote leproserie in the Congo is the place where the protagonists meet in this novel by Graham Greene: Dr Colin, Querry, the Ryckers, Parkinson and Father Thomas. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2006 by Philippe Horak

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.