The quiet American

Description

One of Graham Greene's best works. The story is set at the time of the French war against the Viet Cong and tells the story of liberal British journalist Thomas Fowler, his mistress Phuong, and their relationship with American idealist Pyle. The latter is an earnest young man indocrinated with geo-political theory and whose attempts to shape the world to American ideals ends in his own personal tragedy and drastically alters the lives of the other two participants. Written before the US involvement in Vietnam this is a strangely prophetic work and seriously encapsulates the British viewpoint towards that conflict. A beautifully written book and highly recommended.

Description

This novel is a study of New World hope and innocence set in an Old World of violence. The scene is Saigon in the violent years when the French were desperately trying to hold their footing in the Far East. The principal characters are a skeptical British journalist, his attractive Vietnamese mistress, and an eager young American sent out by Washington on a mysterious mission.

Subjects

Genres

• Fiction

Other Editions

• The quiet AmericanPenguin Books2004-01-01
• Quiet AmericanHardcoverAmereon Limited1940-06-01
• The quiet American.Heinemann1955-01-01
• Un Americain bien tranquilleRobert Lafont1957-01-01
• The quiet AmericanPenguin in association with William Heinemann1962-01-01
• The Quiet AmericanPenguin (Non-Classics)1977-08-25