Graham Greene blurred the lines between literary and genre fiction. He was fascinated with the criminal element and spies but had an elegant prose style. He was quite simply one of the best writers of the mid-20th Century.
Here’s a selection of some of Greene’s pulpier book covers:
Greene’s fertile brain also came up with the story and screenplay of The Third Man, which is one of the greatest films ever made.
About 1972, I had the attention of a beautiful young woman, who used to read me Graham Greene, up until a week before she left to marry someone else. Can’t not think of her, whenever I hear his name.
Ouch. Still a great story.
Abouut 1970, my high school World Lit teacher decided that my counterculture leanings amounted to a descent into being a cheap hoodlum, and assigned me, personally, to read Brighton Rock, as a warning to me and a prediction of how I’d end up if I didn’t mend my ways, young man.
He was mistaken about many things.
In the years since I have greatly enjoyed reading The Third Man, but I still detest the characters in Brighton Rock.