The Life of Graham Greene: Volume II: 1939-1955 (Vol 2)

Author - Norman Sherry ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Penguin (Non-Classics) was reviewed on 25-Oct-2008.

Search ISBN:014024526X offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The Life of Graham Greene: Volume II: 1939-1955 (Vol 2) Reference Book. Classifications : Authors Arts & Literature Biographies & Memoirs Subjects Books General Biographies & Memoirs Subjects Books General AAS Biographies & Memoirs Subjects Books 20th Century British World Literature Liter . Click the following link to view the cover of The Life of Graham Greene: Volume II: 1939-1955 (Vol 2).

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1) Paperback Book The Life of Graham Greene: Volume II: 1939-1955 (Vol 2) by Penguin (Non-Classics). Norman Sherry did an excellent job of chronicling some of the most facinating phases of Graham Greene´s personal and professional life. While I found vol. 1 to be a bit slow and often uninteresting at times, vol. 2 really gives great insight into the period of Greene´s most productive and important years.

I´m eagerly awaiting vol. 3 to see how well Sherry tells the life of one of the more important authors of the Twentieth Century.¤

2) Paperback Book The Life of Graham Greene: Volume II: 1939-1955 (Vol 2) by Penguin (Non-Classics). Sherry´s "biography" is saved only by its topic: Graham Greene, a man whose life was so interesting that even Sherry´s ineptitude can´t quite get in the way.

The flaws in this work abound but of import are the consistent failures by Sherry to dive into anything that would or could possibly reveal "too much" about a man that even Sherry admits, was notorious for not revealing much of anyhting to anyone.

Dreams that beg to be discussed are described and then abandoned as topics, health concerns (Green´s hemorage surely deserves some comment, doesn´t it? - or have I missed it amid the insesent repetions by Sherry that The Power and the Glory was Grenne´s "best work" - understood that the first three times Sherry said it)and refrences to one of Green´s acknowledged "masters" (Conrad) are offered up, and then, dropped like hot rocks.

To make matters worse, one is treated to such sparkling gems of "thought" as (to paraphrase) that the insurgents in malaya were fighting against the "benificent" British and their colonial puppets - surely, greene, a man on the side of the "underdog" (regardless of said dog´s politics)had something else in mind? Or is this more of the ex-spys double-talk? Using Sherry as a source, one will never know.

Given Greene´s penchent for opacity, it should come as no suprise to anyone who knows anything about the man, that having chosen his own "man in biography" that Greene should have played Sherry for his own purposes.

As a source-work for Greene´s own material, and as an illsutration of what can happen to an author upon achieving "success" the book is useful.

Beyond that, stick to Greene´s own work. You´ll be far better served.

Sincerely,

A Reader¤

3) Paperback Book The Life of Graham Greene: Volume II: 1939-1955 (Vol 2) by Penguin (Non-Classics). I have read very little of Graham Greene and I have not read Vol 1 of this biography. However I found this Vol 2 (1939-55) an enthralling read. It covers his life during the second world war and then later in Vietnam and Africa. There is a bit too much about his lovesick affair with Mrs Walston (a peculiar arrangment and a bit uninteresting at times) The record of his war service and his time in publishing is fascinating.I guess if you have read the books and are already a fan then this biography is even more valuable. The life of G.G. is a novel in itself,full of colour,sadness and bravery.These biographies can be turgid in the wrong hands but Sherry only uses the details necessary to tell a vivid story.His prose is excellent and flows along. A very enjoyable read and it made want to get reading the novels-and Vol3 which is due in 2000 I believe.¤

4) Paperback Book The Life of Graham Greene: Volume II: 1939-1955 (Vol 2) by Penguin (Non-Classics). The years from 1939-1955 proved to be the most prolific of Graham Greene´s life. This volume presents a portrait of the author at the height of both his spying and literary careers. Greene produced some of his best novels during this time - "The Heart of the Matter", "The End of the Affair", "The Quiet American" - and saw the filming of "The Fallen Idol" and "The Third Man". The same period encompasses his passionate affair with the beautiful American, Catherine Walston, who was married to a British peer, the disintegration of his marriage to Vivien and his long relationship with Dorothy Glover, his activities as a secret agent, and his forays into the conflicts in Kenya, Malaya, and French Indo-China.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 22-Nov-2008, 014024526X9780140245264, 6X0-060-750-760-OSB-QYB-8

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