Rachel Hajar's Blog: My Life in Doha - Posts Tagged "graham-greene"

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Go Home Young Man



Set in French colonial Vietnam in the 1950s on the eve of the French overthrow, the book portrays the evolution of a love triangle: a jaded, cynical, opium addict British journalist (Thomas Fowler), the soft-spoken, intellectual, and idealistic quiet American (Alden Pyle), and a young Vietnamese girl (Phoung). Fowler and Phoung are lovers but Pyle steals the girl away from Fowler but winds up dead in the river. Fowler is suspected of the murder. He recalls memories of Pyle, narrating past events involving himself, Pyle, and Phoung. Phoung is highly desired by Fowler even though he takes her for granted whereas Pyle views her as a delicate flower to be protected. But the character of Phoung is weakly developed in the book and she comes around as an opportunist.



Running parallel to the plot are political themes: communism, colonianism, and American foreign policies in the region. The novel touches on the horrors of war in a third world country: the class distinctions of colonianism, opium addiction, brothels, death, and destruction.



It is clear throughout the book that Fowler dislikes Pyle and makes sweeping statements such as, “The only quiet American is a dead American”; "I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused." There are numerous instances where Fowler makes disparaging statements about Americans in a third world country so that the novel became widely known for its anti-American sentiment.



The book is good and skillfully written, as befits a work by a famous author like Greene. I highly recommend this book.







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The Quiet AmericanGraham Greene