With a new introduction by J.M. Coetzee
A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a m... read full description
reviews
Feb 22, 2011
Alan
rated it: 
ordered this from the library so's I can read it for the Greene group thingie, but have read it back in the 60s (as a teenager). Wonder if my star count will go down (it can't go up)?
...finished this on Saturday and went straight out to watch the film. Won't file my review until what is it - Feb 20th, but just to say
a) my star count has not gone down
b) the new film is worth watching but seek out the original, it's better. Rose is very good in the new film however...
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...finished this on Saturday and went straight out to watch the film. Won't file my review until what is it - Feb 20th, but just to say
a) my star count has not gone down
b) the new film is worth watching but seek out the original, it's better. Rose is very good in the new film however...
More...
24 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Apr 23, 2008
Dfordoom
rated it:
Graham Greene's Brighton Rock tells the story of a young leader of one of the infamous razor gangs in 1930s Brighton who murders a journalist and then finds that his attempts to avoid any possibility of arrest lead him into ever-increasing complications and violence. A woman who had befriended the journalist sets out to bring his killer to justice. This is a remarkably dark and pessimistic novel. It’s a crime novel, but Greene has other agendas as well in this book. Greene was a Catholic, bu
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(8 people liked it)
Dec 23, 2007
Tosh
rated it:
Pinky is one of the great literary characters in British literature. I even own an imported DVD film version of this novel. It's good! But back to the book, it really captures that depressed England cold weather thing that is slightly 'under' and in many ways it has a slight ring to "A Clockwork Orange." Pinky just reacts to his world by instinct, and it's a fascinating relationship he has with his much older gang.
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Jan 09, 2009
Kelly
rated it: 
"I know one thing you don't. I know the difference between Right and Wrong. They didn't teach you that at school."
Rose didn't answer; the woman was quite right: the two words meant nothing to her. Their taste was extinguished by stronger foods- Good and Evil. The woman could tell her nothing she didn't know about these- she knew by tests as clear as mathematics that Pinkie was evil- what did it matter in that case whether he was right or wrong?
That's pretty much the b More...
Rose didn't answer; the woman was quite right: the two words meant nothing to her. Their taste was extinguished by stronger foods- Good and Evil. The woman could tell her nothing she didn't know about these- she knew by tests as clear as mathematics that Pinkie was evil- what did it matter in that case whether he was right or wrong?
That's pretty much the b More...
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(8 people liked it)
May 14, 2007
Jared
rated it:
This is perhaps my favorite Graham Greene novel, and Graham Greene is one of my favorite writers. One thing I love about this book is its dynamic, multi-layered quality. One can read this book as a pulp, gangster novel that simply relates the struggle of a small time crook, Pinkie, facing the threat of being taken over by the infamous mob boss, Colleoni. Or one can read it as something much more complex - a story making sense of a new stage of capitalist, industrial experience where the urban
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(3 people liked it)
May 09, 2010
A gangster struggling with his Edge lifestyle must match wits with a Dickensian teenage girl that's in love with him (he buys her from her parents) and a big-chested, big-hearted floozie that is prone to belching after imbibing (he loses) and the results are amongst the author's most ridiculous put to paper. (Keep in mind this is a man that once wrote a novel where a woman prays to god to save her paramour while naked after a V rocket blows him to smithereens and it actually works.)
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May 17, 2008
Logan
rated it: 
After reading several absolutely fantastic books by Graham Greene, The Power & The Glory, The Quiet American, The Honorary Consul, this book was a bit of a letdown. I like books about organized crime, I like mysteries, I like whodunits- but I didn't love this book.
I think a lot of this had to do with the ham-fisted way in which Greene went about portraying the characters and their internal conflicts. It was all very melodramatic and smacked of daytime television. The characters we More...
I think a lot of this had to do with the ham-fisted way in which Greene went about portraying the characters and their internal conflicts. It was all very melodramatic and smacked of daytime television. The characters we More...
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(4 people liked it)
Oct 12, 2011
Rating: 4.25* of five
The Book Report: Charles "Fred" Hale, aka newspaper columnist "Kolley Kibber," is in Brighton to hand out paper-chase prizes to loyal readers of his paper. He's also running as fast as he can from someone who means to kill him. Why? We aren't told. Who? That's made very plain within the first thirty pages. Well, there goes the suspense, right? Not right.
In a vain effort to live to fight another day, Hale hooks up with Ida, a blowsy More...
The Book Report: Charles "Fred" Hale, aka newspaper columnist "Kolley Kibber," is in Brighton to hand out paper-chase prizes to loyal readers of his paper. He's also running as fast as he can from someone who means to kill him. Why? We aren't told. Who? That's made very plain within the first thirty pages. Well, there goes the suspense, right? Not right.
In a vain effort to live to fight another day, Hale hooks up with Ida, a blowsy More...
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 20, 2011
Bill
rated it:
I read this book after listening to a review by the presenter of a BBC book club. It works on 2 levels which is presumably why it is regarded by some as a 'modern classic', written in the 1930's. One level is simply as a thriller following the actions of a small time gang leader, Pinkie, in his native Brighton. The other level is much deeper using the trials and tribulations of Pinkie and the wife he took on to prevent her from giving evidence against him to explore notions of good and evil in t
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Nov 29, 2011
Maduck831
rated it:
“He stamped his words like little pats of butter with his personal mark. ‘He has attained unity. We do not know what that One is with whom (or with which) he is now at one. We do not retain the old medieval beliefs in glassy seas and golden crowns. Truth is beauty and there is more beauty for us, a truth-loving generation, in the certainty that our brother is at this moment reabsorbed in the universal spirit.’” (35) “Death shocked her, life was so important. She wasn’t religious. She didn’t
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Nov 07, 2011
notyourmonkey
rated it:
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Aug 15, 2011
Fiona
rated it:
I read this years ago around the same time I read The Comedians, so probably in my late teens. I've just re-read the first 100 odd pages of Brighton Rock and it's extremely bleak, violent and Pinky or "the boy" is one of the most odious and violent literary characters I've ever encountered. Extremely well developed major and minor characters, a very evocative setting in Brighton and such an interesting historical picture of Brighton pre-WW2. It's seedy, full of fly-by-nighters, all man
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Aug 08, 2011
SwensonBooks
rated it:
In the day when authors complain editors and publishers don't read beyond the first page, Greene gives them plenty of reason why it isn't necessary to finish a story before judging the potential. The first sentence, the first page, the first chapter are omens of all that follows. If you can't captivate your reader immediately, they won't get any further.
"Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him." What an opening sentence. The reade More...
"Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him." What an opening sentence. The reade More...
Jan 28, 2011
Joselito
rated it:
There are only human beings here. No ghosts, demons, haunted houses, strange creatures, aliens or mysterious apparitions. Just human beings. But I've never read any novel more horrifying than this.
Here's a frail-looking boy with a feminine name: Pinkie. He doesn't drink, smoke or gamble. Just seventeen years old and still a virgin. But he is the leader of a small gang and he kills.
Then here's a sixteen-year-old, equally frail, waitress, Rose. She loves Pinkie. She knows s More...
Here's a frail-looking boy with a feminine name: Pinkie. He doesn't drink, smoke or gamble. Just seventeen years old and still a virgin. But he is the leader of a small gang and he kills.
Then here's a sixteen-year-old, equally frail, waitress, Rose. She loves Pinkie. She knows s More...
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Jan 23, 2011
Natalie
rated it:
Thinking it'd be absolute shit I started to read this novel for my British Novel class, and I LOVED it. I couldn't put it down - well, when I had to I'd pick it right back up whenever I had the slightest chance. The characters are complex as hell especially the main character Pinkie - is he a sociopath, psychopath, or just really confused? Later you find out he's just evil but has some flashes of goodness in him which come as a surprise and make him more human. The girl who loves him (whom he de
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 03, 2010
Caitlin
rated it:
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Aug 14, 2010
John
rated it:
Another of Greene's so-called "Catholic novels," Brighton Rock explores the uneasy gray areas surrounding mortal sins--the idea that someone can be beyond the mercy of God. Green accomplishes this through a sustained examination of his moderately Catholic characters, Pinkie and Rose.
Both believe in the proclamations of the Church, but where he has cast it off and sees himself beyond redemption, Rose still longs for something better, still clings to hope--even as she joins her More...
Both believe in the proclamations of the Church, but where he has cast it off and sees himself beyond redemption, Rose still longs for something better, still clings to hope--even as she joins her More...
Aug 10, 2010
William
rated it:
I read this book because when I read King Dork, the main character said it was the best book ever written. I disagree. I went back and forth while reading this, loving it half the time, and gritting my teeth to get through the rest of the time.
Pinkie, a young gangster, raised catholic, horrified by sex and embracing evil, tries to take charge of his gang and cover up a murder is driven deeper and deeper into a world of sin and murder. Ida, a busty, life-loving woman attempting to More...
Pinkie, a young gangster, raised catholic, horrified by sex and embracing evil, tries to take charge of his gang and cover up a murder is driven deeper and deeper into a world of sin and murder. Ida, a busty, life-loving woman attempting to More...
Jul 26, 2010
dennis
rated it:
They can't all be home runs, I s'pose. This one has a great noir-ish beginning that turns into an exercise of Catholic anguish. I think perhaps that's something that draws me to Greene, in general. He's very much a moral writer, one concerned with as much the psychology behind a character's actions as its consequences; one who bares his doubts about the terms Right and Wrong. Somehow, though, I think Greene falls a little flat here, perhaps because he pulls it off so seamlessly in so many of his
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Feb 06, 2010
Steve
rated it:
This is a gripping 'book noir' of the seamy underside of Brighton in the 30s with the memorable creation of evil personified in the character of the heartless unscrupulous teenager Pinkie. The juxtaposition of goodness is embodied in Ida, determined to uncover the murderers of Hale, someone with whom she has only had a chance encounter. Pinkie never comes to terms with her unstinting pursuit of justice and Ida as the novel progresses takes on the mantle of avenging angel. The plot centres on the
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Nov 12, 2009
Rick
rated it:
A sequel to A Gun for Sale, a Greene crime entertainment, Brighton Rock succeeds in defying genre. The novel’s protagonist is an 18-year-old gang leader, a killer both naïve and ambitious, aptly named Pinkie. Brighton Rock begins with a memorable first sentence, “Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him.” And they do, the first murder that Pinkie accomplishes and one that leads him to delusions of decisiveness and power he doesn’t have and to contempl
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Nov 24, 2009
Suzy
rated it:
This book is unrelentingly grim, with only the faintest rays of hope that you dare not cling to as you read. With its religious backdrop, it reminds me in tone of James Baldwin's Go Tell it on the Mountain, with the main character, Pinkie, having the same maniacal, religion based rage as Baldwin's father. Greene does a very good job of capturing the feel of the gritty British seaside holiday ambiance from the homies' pont of view. What fascinated me is that I think that in a more modern novel
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Sep 25, 2010
Frederick
rated it:
Before reading this I'd only read a very late and humorous Graham Greene novel called DOCTOR FISCHER OF GENEVA, OR THE BOMB PARTY, and a few of the stories ("May We Borrow Your Husband?" and "The Destructors" among them.) Of course, escaping the sheer fact of Greene has been impossible. I daresay I've read, in my fifty years, a dozen or so essays about him, flipped through various biographies and run across references to him frequently. I can swear I read some reviews he hims
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Dec 07, 2011
Mike
rated it:
Graham Greene's "Brighton Rock" is classified as one of his entertainments as opposed to his more serious works. But make no mistake about it, "Brighton Rock" gives the reader plenty to ponder, if you consider it more than the thriller as many have treated it.
Brighton Rock is that stick candy embedded with the letters "Brighton." As the confection diminishes, the letters remain clearly legible. Although the book may bear the name of a popular confecti More...
Brighton Rock is that stick candy embedded with the letters "Brighton." As the confection diminishes, the letters remain clearly legible. Although the book may bear the name of a popular confecti More...
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(6 people liked it)
Sep 27, 2011
Nicholas
rated it:
I have to admit, when I started reading this book I was shocked at how badly written it was. Look at the first few paragraphs and tell me if I'm wrong. Pretty bad, right?
However, I got into it as it went along. Definitely the dialogue is pretty good, very believable and I loved the old English slang. Greene is obviously not one of 'The Angry Young Men', and this is pre-WWII, but I do wonder if he, or at least this book, was an influence on them. The working class characters were bett More...
However, I got into it as it went along. Definitely the dialogue is pretty good, very believable and I loved the old English slang. Greene is obviously not one of 'The Angry Young Men', and this is pre-WWII, but I do wonder if he, or at least this book, was an influence on them. The working class characters were bett More...
Aug 04, 2011
Matthew
rated it:
Let's get my gripe out of the way first (and this has nothing to do with the story). I ordered this book and it turned up with Helen Mirren and Sam Riley on the cover and 'Now a Major Motion Picture' emblazoned across the top. It then has an intro by the Director of the recent remake blabbing on about him making the film. This is a classic novel by one of our greatest novelists, I could care less about some toss remake of an infinitely superior original film. None of this relates to the book
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Jul 18, 2010
J.R.
rated it:
“Hale knew they meant to murder him before he had been in Brighton three hours.”
Who would not be intrigued to read more of a novel with a first line like that? It’s a tale of two opposite natures in conflict. There is Pinkie, the young thug, a Catholic fatalist seeking to retain a hold on his gang as the stronger party of Colleoni sweeps up the territory. But it is not Colleoni the boy has to fear most. His real opposition is Ida Arnold, a pragmatic woman who is not religious but is More...
Who would not be intrigued to read more of a novel with a first line like that? It’s a tale of two opposite natures in conflict. There is Pinkie, the young thug, a Catholic fatalist seeking to retain a hold on his gang as the stronger party of Colleoni sweeps up the territory. But it is not Colleoni the boy has to fear most. His real opposition is Ida Arnold, a pragmatic woman who is not religious but is More...
Sep 02, 2011
Lynn
rated it:
I really did like this book, but I guess I'm not sure what to make of the "Roman"/Catholic tones, the whole Good/Evil thing. That aside, it was an interesting exploration of the mind/thinking of a rather messed up character who is somewhat sympathetic. I know it is one of his Catholic novels, but the whole theme of Fate and Mercy felt somewhat heavy handed.
So that probably makes it sound like I didn't like it, but I did. I enjoyed the crime aspects and also the exploration of the More...
So that probably makes it sound like I didn't like it, but I did. I enjoyed the crime aspects and also the exploration of the More...
Jan 08, 2010
Simon
rated it:
I think this is my favourite Graham Greene novel. The Brighton setting is fun, of course, but what I particularly like is the plot spring, the set up. Pinky the gang leader must marry the mousy waitress Rose because she knows something about him: if he marries her, she can't be forced to testify. The relationship between these two is the heart of the book. The wedding itself is memorably grim: both Pinky and Rose are (surprise surprise) Romans (Catholics) and so the civil ceremony is dismissed b
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Feb 11, 2010
Ruth
rated it:
Great writing by an iconic author. I will definitely read more of his stuff. This is one of my favorite kinds of books as far as gangster stories go. It is suspenseful, full of surprizes and colorful characters and any violence is not gratuitous. The story revolves around the mobster scene in England in the '30s and the mob leader is a 17 year old boy, only known as "The Boy". He is vicious and very innocent at the same time. He is a virgin and very tightly wrapped. His childhood is al
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