Norman Sherry's biography,
1996
Greene hated Berkhamsted Boarding School and ran away, leaving a letter for his parents. Eventually they had to send him to intense therapy for 6 months in London. Greene actually found psychoanalysis to be very helpful with his depression, and remained fascinated by dreams for ever. So it was appropriate that the psychoanalyst encouraged Greene to write, introducing him to his own literary friends. Greene began to write poetry, mentored by Ezra Pound (1885–1972) and Gertrude Stein (1874–1946).
He studied at Balliol College Oxford where he published stories, articles, reviews & poems in the student magazine, Oxford Outlook. Greene spent a short time in the University Communist Party and though he abandoned the tougher Communist beliefs, Greene later wrote sympathetic profiles of Communist leaders.
After he graduated from Oxford in 1925, Greene worked as a journalist in Nottingham and in 1926, he converted to Catholicism. While working there, he received a letter from Vivien Dayrell-Browning who had written to him and corrected him about Catholic doctrine. Greene was intrigued and they began corresponding. He moved to London that same year, working as a film critic and a literary editor in both The London Times and The Spectator.
After he graduated from Oxford in 1925, Greene worked as a journalist in Nottingham and in 1926, he converted to Catholicism. While working there, he received a letter from Vivien Dayrell-Browning who had written to him and corrected him about Catholic doctrine. Greene was intrigued and they began corresponding. He moved to London that same year, working as a film critic and a literary editor in both The London Times and The Spectator.
In 1927, Greene and Vivien were both married but Greene always acknowledged that he was not a family man. Nonetheless the couple had Lucy (1933) and Francis (1936). Greene continued having affairs for the rest of his life, with married women in different countries. The couple separated in 1948 but never divorced.
Greene’s experience on newspapers was successful, and he held his position as an assistant editor until the publication of his first novel, The Man Within (1929). Only then did he begin to devote more time to his own writing, and did freelance jobs on the side.
Greene then wrote the first book he classed as “entertainment”. Stamboul Train (1932) was a thrilling and popular spy novel that examined travellers on a train, a mysterious setting that allowed the author to develop his characters with suspense. Although somewhat dismissed by critics, the book’s real success was seen when it was adapted into the film, Orient Express, in 1934.
Green travelled to Liberia in 1935, which had a large impact on his worldview and inspired him to write his famous travelogues. On going home again in 1936, Greene returned to the Spectator as a film critic. His characters faced rampant cynicism, tackling harsh and squalid lives in hot, humid countries eg Vietnam, Haiti.
In 1938 Brighton Rock was published, becoming one of Greene's best loved murder thrillers. Long after Greene converted to Catholicism, this novel was a suspenseful plot full of sexual and violent imagery that explored the morality-immorality connection.
In 1938 the Catholic Church funded Greene's trip to Mexico, asking him to record the effects of a forced anti-Catholic campaign against secularisation. The author documented widespread persecution of Catholic priests in his journal, including a priest's execution. The incident made such an impression on Greene that the victim became the hero of The Power and the Glory (1940), his best novel, yet condemned by the Vatican.
In 1939 Greene wanted to enlist in WW2 but was too old. So he went to West Africa as a secret British intelligence officer instead. Double agent Kim Philby recruited Greene to work for MI6; he joined the Secret Service and worked for the Ministry of Information. This stint in espionage fueled Greene's desire to travel again to the wild, remote places of the world, and provided him with memorable characters. Post-war, he continued to travel as a free-lance journalist, spending a long period on the French Riviera.
1939
1940
1950
Biographer Norman Sherry discovered Greene had continued to submit reports to British intelligence for decades. When Philby defected to Moscow, Greene supported him. He wrote an introduction to Philby’s memoirs in which he depicted Philby’s treason with sympathy, suggesting that his devotion to Communism showed a higher morality than loyalty to his country. This led Greene's close friend, Evelyn Waugh, to write a letter supporting Greene as a secret agent for Britain! And it led scholars to ask: Was Greene a novelist who was also a spy, or was his lifelong literary career the perfect cover? Did Greene have the evidence he needed to make a solid judgment? Or was Greene being played by Philby? Read Sherry’s The Life of Graham Greene.
Greene travelled to Sierra Leone which inspired The Power and the Glory. Along with The Heart of the Matter (1948) and The End of the Affair (1951), Power and Glory comprised Greene's Catholic Trilogy.
Next he became director at Eyre and Spottiswoode Publishing House. During his time there, he wrote several screenplays, the most famous being The Third Man (1949). In the early 1950s, Greene took long trips to Malaya and Vietnam, setting perhaps his most notable work, The Quiet American (1955), in Vietnam.
Greene's political views were different from other Catholic writers eg Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Burgess. While they maintained a very right-winged agenda, Greene was always leftish and moral. Greene pursued anti-American analyses during his travels, opening doors to Communist leaders like Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh. Moral issues, politics and religion, suspense and adventure, became his trademark eg Our Man in Havana (1960)
In 1990 Greene was weakened by a blood disease so he moved from the South of France, to Vevey in Switzerland, near his daughter. In Apr 1991 he passed away, at 86, and was buried at in Corseaux.
Greene travelled to Sierra Leone which inspired The Power and the Glory. Along with The Heart of the Matter (1948) and The End of the Affair (1951), Power and Glory comprised Greene's Catholic Trilogy.
Next he became director at Eyre and Spottiswoode Publishing House. During his time there, he wrote several screenplays, the most famous being The Third Man (1949). In the early 1950s, Greene took long trips to Malaya and Vietnam, setting perhaps his most notable work, The Quiet American (1955), in Vietnam.
Greene's political views were different from other Catholic writers eg Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Burgess. While they maintained a very right-winged agenda, Greene was always leftish and moral. Greene pursued anti-American analyses during his travels, opening doors to Communist leaders like Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh. Moral issues, politics and religion, suspense and adventure, became his trademark eg Our Man in Havana (1960)
In 1990 Greene was weakened by a blood disease so he moved from the South of France, to Vevey in Switzerland, near his daughter. In Apr 1991 he passed away, at 86, and was buried at in Corseaux.
What a talented family! Graham was a thrilling English novelist and literary critic. Brother Hugh was Director-General of the BBC, brother Raymond was an eminent physician and his cousin was author Robert Louis Stevenson.
31 comments:
I am fortunate to learn this character. He has achieved so much in his life time. These book covers look very special too!
Graham Green sounds like a very versatile person: novelist, film critic, leftist, catholic, spy, traveller.
I find it interesting that psychoanalysis helped him with his depression.Considering that he had suicide attempts in his past, he nevertheless died at an advanced age.
I saw Orient Express, Power and the Glory, and The Third Man, great films. But I didn't know they were based on Graham Greene books.
I need to read more of his books. My partner took a short adult education course where the class studied The Honorary Consul and liked the book and I read it some time later. It was one of the best books I think I have read. I also read The Quiet American, another amazingly good read. I need to read Our Man in Havana.
interesting synopsis of Greene's mostly literary life with little or no mention of his darker side which I have taken a decision not to go into here and have in fact just deleted a much longer comment as you may possibly not want that side of his life acknowledged here.
roentare
I am so pleased you noted the book covers.. nobody ever mentions covers in the blogs I read. Now have a look at "Our Man in Havana", "Brighton Rock" and "The Quiet American"... the designers must have had a great time finding exotic covers.
DUTA
some people find psychoanalysis tedious and repetitive, but Graham Greene found it liberating.
He said his therapy sessions worked like his dreams, providing inspiration and helping him tackle writer’s block. Whenever an idea popped into his head, he made a quick note of it on paper.
I am certain Greene's inner turmoil made him a problematic medical patient, relative and colleague, but as he saw psychoanalysis as his happiest period, everyone else was delighted.
Deb
I tried never to see films _before_ the books they were based on, just in case the film director changed and ruined the author's original thinking. If a book was great, then I was very pleased to see the film version.
Orient Express, Power and the Glory and The Third Man were terrific books, and luckily the film versions were also terrific.
Andrew
I was worried about the breakdown of French colonialism in Vietnam and its replacement by Americans in the Vietnam War. It was too close to home to be not impacted. And although The Honorary Consul was still rugged, Graham Greene wrote about Argentina's Dirty War very sensitively. Our Man in Havana was also rugged.
The Power and the Glory was my favourite, but I wonder if Christians approved of his moral questions as much as I did.
Rachel
Greene understood that he had wasted tons of time and money on booze and drugs - opium, amphetamines, sleeping drugs and constant gin. But in any case, people forgive creative, artistic people who drank and drugged endlessly.
But he dumped his wife for affairs all over the place, and didn't take responsibility for his two children. No-one forgives neglect of the children.
M16
thank you for a detailed comment, especially because I haven't read The Comedians myself.
Since you warn of nightmares, I am assuming the book's title is ironic.
Despite the drugs, booze and sex, surely Greene should have won at least one Nobel Prize for Literature.
Joe
since the short listed novelists were/are chosen by individual human beings (and not by sales or some objective measure), the final Nobel choice was always subjective. Graham Greene was even more at risk of subjective judgements because his novels often focused on controversial political and religious themes. Possibly the most influential book re NOT granting Greene the Nobel was The End of the Affair, which analysed faith and faithlessness in war. Very controversial!!
Yes - The Comedians may have been an ironic name for the book but it not only means funny entertainers but also those who are a joke per se.
M16
I can see a new book coming up in my reading list :) Thank you.
No problem - and of course Graham Greene knew Pemberton's People who feature throughout The Burlington Files - https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2022.10.31.php - best wishes for the season
Bom dia minha querida amiga. Infelizmente não conheço esse livro. Através do seu maravilhoso trabalho aprendo cada vez mais. Bom início de semana.
Luiz
our reading in the earlier years very often depended on what books our school literature teachers selected. Graham Greene books and films might still be worth you following up now.
mem
Graham Greene apparently didn't ever try to hide his passions. In fact one of his excellent novels was The End of the Affair (1951) which examined the obsessions, jealousy and sex within the relationships between the main characters.
It didn't surprise me that an author would draw on his own passions for his fiction. But it did surprise me that Greene openly dedicated the book to his lover at the time he was writing the book.
Seems odd not to hide his feelings for an MI6 officer!
M16
I suspect readers had little idea about Greene's espionage work as a double agent for Britain. Was he recruited to the Secret Intelligence Service/M16 and sent off to West Africa? What did he do when he returned to work at M16 headquarters in London?
Did he use the experiences to make his fiction fascinating?
or to fulfil his political beliefs?
or to chase women?
or to receive a decent income?
Best see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Greene or I'll be tempted to write a book in answer to your questions!
I don't know if I've read any Graham Greene. It sounds like he had an interesting life, especially once he got through childhood. I need to read one of his books, so thanks for sharing this story of him.
Not as interesting as this spook ! https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/bill-fairclough He has had over 50 lives.
Although primarily a 'comic' novel, Our Man in Havana has long been one of my favourite reads. I saw the film (again!) on TV recently and we also saw a version on stage last year by a local high-quality reparatory company.
Greene was an excellent story-teller and, like Ian Fleming, must have used some of his own experience of the world of espionage in his work.
CLICK HERE for Bazza’s acerbically adscititious Blog ‘To Discover Ice’
PS: He was probably a member of the Greene King brewing family, which has been around for at least a couple of hundred years.
PS A brilliant educated guess or did you read it! "His parents, Charles Henry Greene and Marion Raymond Greene, were first cousins, both members of a large, influential family that included the owners of Greene King Brewery ... "
Erika
I thank the blogger world regularly... it is totally wonderful to find referrals to books, history, music, travel etc. that we would never have known about from any other source. Start with one Graham Greene novel, and see what you think.
bazza
Our Man in Havana came out in 1958, when the British Secret Service was apparently recruiting a network of agents in Cuba. What perfect timing for examining spying paranoia, during the horrid Batista regime, when Cuba was soon aligning itself with the Soviets. UNDOUBTEDLY Greene used some of his own spying experience in his writing.
Castro and Cuba are still dirty words in the U.S today.
bazza and M16
you clever sods :) The Greenes showed the upward mobility of countless families engaged in industry and commerce, establishing their families at the pinnacle of Victorian society. Plantations, sugar, banking and brewing, provided all the trappings of C19th social arrival—city and country houses, House of Commons membership and titles. No brewing dynasty had more celebrated literary connections since Graham Greene and Christopher Isherwood were both heirs of the founder of Greene King.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Bibliography.
Clever sods! Interesting too are the questions raised over the aborted activities of Bill Fairclough (aka Edward Burlington) to close down Baby Doc's Haiti in the early seventies as depicted in his Beyond Enkription. Some have asked, was that a CIA sponsored "grown up" Haitian equivalent to the Bay of Pigs? No idea if it was but there are some intriguing oddities like a plane full of supposed US veterans on the tarmac just when needed and more besides.
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