The Quiet American

A classic whose truth seems not to fade: "I hope to God you know what you are doing here. Oh, I know your motives are good, they always are... I wish sometimes you had a few bad motives, you might understand a little more about human beings. And that applies to your country too, Pyle." This Vintage edition has an introduction by Zadie Smith: "There is no real way to be good in Greene, there are simply a million ways to be... Read Full Review

I'd heard of this book for years just as "Greene's Vietnam novel," without knowing when it was written or anything else about it. So when I saw it in a bookstore in Saigon at the conclusion of a three-week tour of Vietnam in 1997, it seemed appropriate to snap it up, and I started reading it in a cafe not too far from the street where Fowler had his flat (now renamed, of course, but I don't remember what the new name is)... Read Full Review

Only the great Graham Greene could have written a story that is as wry and understated as it is prophetic. "The Quiet American" captures several different attitudes during Vietnam's transition from French colonial occupation to American "involvement". In this novel the French do what they do best, namely they undertake a hopeless struggle and experience painful defeat. The Americans enter the scene with grandiose plans,... Read Full Review

The Viking Critical Library's version of Graham Greene's "The Quiet American" is an indispensible text for full appreciation of Greene's perceptions of Indochina, France's war there, and America's budding involvement. The editor, John C. Pratt carefully selects criticism of Greene's TQA that creates a complete and rich discourse on Greene's life and writings that serves as a backdrop to his novel. Added to that backdrop... Read Full Review

Graham Greene spent four springs of his life as a journalist in Indochina and this fine, intelligent novel is an account of his experiences there. It's also a disturbing prophecy of the awful mess that was to be American involvement in Vietnam. It's also a study of friendship and betrayal, of youthful American idealism and mature British jadedness,of indifference and commitment. It is written in spare, elegant... Read Full Review