The Quiet American (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140185003/
by Graham Greene
"I don't like Ike.", July 22, 2003
Reviewer: Andrew McCaffrey "Big McLargeHuge" (Maryland, USA) - See all
my reviews
I can honestly say that I've spent more time thinking about the events
of Graham Greene's THE QUIET AMERICAN than of any other book I've read
in months. In short, this is the story of America's involvement in
Vietnam, full stop. Astounding is the fact that this was written
between 1952 and 1955, yet can serve as a metaphor for almost two
further decades of US involvement in that region.
This is no simple tale, although it can be read as one. It works on
many different levels. In its simplest form, this is a story about two
foreigners in Indo-China: a middle-aged British reporter, and a young
idealistic American. They involve themselves in two main plots: one
concerning the French Army's battle with the Vietminh, and the second,
concerning the two men's relationship with a native woman and the
subsequent fight for her affections. On this level, THE QUIET AMERICAN
works as an effective thriller. Who is the mysterious "third force"
that Pyle, the American, is aiding? Why is he even there, and why is he
providing aid to this group? Will Fowler, the British journalist,
abandon his policy of neutrality and enter into the conflict? Who will
end up with the girl at the end?
But there are all sorts of other subtexts and subtleties going on here.
Pyle isn't just "the quiet American"; he is America -- at least as far
as the US's involvement in Vietnam is concerned. And the difference in
age between Pyle and Fowler is no random chance. Fowler is the older
man; his country has already had its expansionist, colonial period.
Fowler already knows what it's like to get one's fingers burnt
interfering in other people's conflicts. But Pyle won't be told. He's
the young inexperienced man who has to find out for himself -- to the
detriment of everyone.
This isn't just a simplistic "America = idealistic, good-hearted, but
naive" or "England = experienced, weary, and impotent" view of the
world. While Greene builds on several stereotypes of the Old and the
New Worlds, he goes much farther beyond that. Both men desire Phuong
(the Vietnamese woman), but for starkly different reasons. The woman's
own interests are kept to herself deliberately. We learn far more about
Pyle and Fowler simply by the way in which they view the woman. On a
purely personal level, the characterization is heart-wrenching. When
looked at on a national level as far as what the two men represent, it
is amazingly thought provoking.
After reading THE QUIET AMERICAN, I kept replaying and rethinking a
number of its scenes and breaking down the characters as much as I
could. There is a lot going on here, and much of what Greene wrote
about wouldn't fully come into being for a number of years after the
book's publication. There are many layers of subtleties occurring in
this book's pages, and while I'm certain that I have not yet caught
them all, it is not through a lack of interest. This is a very powerful
book, and should be on everyone's "To Read" list.
Quiet American
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