A Burnt-Out Case

The fiction of Graham Greene is filled with protagonists who are deposited in exotic locations and confronted by an external evil that puts those men to a test of faith and hope, one that requires them to compare what they have inside to see if they have what is needed to pass from that void of spiritual inertia. Greene also adds religious crisis to his heroes' brew of troubles. The usual result is that his protagonists fail to achieve their desired state of an ordered mind. They tend to remain in a static limbo of paralyzed hope. In A BURNT OUT CASE, Querry is the prototypical hero who suffers from a crisis of lost hope. Querry is a famed architect who suffers from an unnamed crisis that probably has something to do with excessive relations with loose women and a lack of connection to God. We never learn all the details of his life before he shows up unannounced at a leper colony in Africa nor do we need to. Greene inserts bits and pieces of Querry's background, the totality of which paints a more detailed portrait than if he had more fully fleshed out Querry's past. Querry simply shows up at that leper colony, asking to stay, and is willing to perform any menial task that he is given. The doctors in charge quickly figure out who he is and marvel at his apparent readiness to shed his famed background and assume the non-identity of a nomad. Querry is indeed a hurt man, but not the type that usually shows up to be cured, most of whom are called "burnt out cases," because they have endured both physical and psychic mutilation. In Querry's case, the mutilation, though internal, is no less real than that of the other sufferers. The doctors realize this and let him stay. They see in Querry less a mutilated man in need of help than an architect whose skills can help them rebuild their dilapidated buildings. Querry tries to blend in, but in his interactions with both staff and patients, it becomes clear that not only can he not shed his earlier emotional baggage but he is forced to assume some new baggage as well. Querry is accused by a woman of getting her pregnant. She admits to him privately that she did indeed lie but in her own mind the lie was justified. To complicate this charge is Querry's ongoing need to debate whether he needs God to be happy. He decides that happiness or its opposite need have nothing to do with the intervention of either God or the church. The church fathers quickly decide that the paternity charge is reason enough to ostracize him. A subtle irony is that the church fathers and doctors were more than willing to believe the best of Querry without substantiation and were just as willing to believe the worst with an equal lack. The ending, which I shall not reveal here, is one that we have seen before in Greene's other novels. His heroes enter the book as hurt, confused, and seeking inner peace. In the world of Graham Greene, they sadly all too often exit the same way. Sort of like in real life.

I've been a fan of Greene's for a while now, and so far, I haven't read a bad book. This may be one of his better ones, and that's saying a lot. He is, perhaps, the best and most consistent novelist of the twentieth century. This is the story of Querry, a famous architect, who realizes he has lost (or never) had the ability to love. He feels nothing but indifference. That is when he embarks into the African jungle looking for escape (or redemption). He lives at a leproserie run by priests, becomes friends with Dr. Colin, and becomes something of a burnt-out case. Greene is just a superb writer. He has so many sentences and passages, that had he written just that one, someone would have remembered him. His characters are complex and honest depictions. Lastly, his themes of love, faith, redemption, pain, and truth are the great ones. A lot of authors are scared to tackle them or knowingly cannot tackle them. Greene can and does.

Although set in a Catholic Mission, it would be a mistake to pigeon-hole this as a Catholic novel by a Catholic author. We struggle today with the same questions Querry did ~ vocation vs. job, identity, image, purpose and faith. Like Querry, it is only by a journey to the seemingly inaccessible darkness will we find the people and the challenges that allow access to redemption and transformation. This would be a rewarding choice for your book club's next selection as it invites the reader to take a hard look at their expectations of themselves, society and God.

Greene employs themes of faith and unbelief of all kinds in this novel. As with most of Greene's serious works, it's not easily read; if you want to be comfortable, try his "entertainments", and yet I wouldn't even guarantee that those novels wouldn't leave you feeling unease.Essentially, this is the story of a famous architect who runs away from civilization to a leper colony in Africa. He wants the world to forget him entirely, but the world will not leave him to anonymity. Even in the leper colony his deeds are misinterpreted to be perhaps greater--or at least other--than what they actually were. A doubting priest siezes on Querry's kindness to an injured man as proof of Querry's saintliness; a venal yellow journalist broadcasts Querry's run from the world as the selfless work of another Schweitzer. Just about everything Querry does, whether purposely or inadvertently, is misconstrued by those around him who somehow need to elevate him above themselves as proof that God or good exists. In the end, in true Greene fashion, this situation is ironically reversed; those who at first would believe only in Querry's sainthood come to believe an outright lie about him, much to their disappointment and outrage and Querry's own end.What did I take away from this? Good literature remains relevant throughout the years; what was true in 1961 is true in 2000 and was true a millenium ago. We build up our saints and heroes (and politicians) often with our own desires, whether they have done anything good or not and tear them down just as arbitrarily. More than that: truth exists, goodness exists, but we in our human weakness (and often unwittingly) find ways to distort that truth and goodness to our own purposes.Gloopygirls assessment? I liked the book. I'm not about to canonize Green--or gleefully tear him down. I'm not qualified either way--but I know what I like...

This was the first book I ever read from Greene. I loved it so much that I did read many more, all of which unfortunately paled in comparison. It is very intensely written, and can be read on many levels and interpreted from many different angles. It talks of faith and redemption, vanity and envy, joy and despair. Highly reccomended.