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Articles of Faith: The Collected Tablet Journalism of Graham Greene 1936-87
When Graham Greene died in 1991, at the age of 86, his reputation as a great Catholic writer was assured. His books reflected an awareness of sin and confronted discomfiting themes with a sombre eye. The British Catholic journal The Tablet provided Greene with a forum for both his works-in-progress and his sometimes unorthodox religious views. Greene was always drawn to tales of martyrdom, and in 1930s Mexico he found the most pitiless clamp-down on Roman Catholicism anywhere since the Reformation. Greene's Mexico reportage was first published in The Tablet. The scrupulous, unsparing lucidity of Greene's journalism is still impressive, and included here are four Mexico despatches, "Mexican Sunday", "A Catholic Adventurer and his Mexican Journal", "In Search of a Miracle" and "The Dark Virgin". Articles of Faith also includes a long essay on the Assumption, "Our Lady and Her The Only Figure of Perfect Love", written for The Tablet in 1951. Also included are 26 book reviews which the novelist wrote for The Tablet's "Fiction Chronicle" column. Always broad-minded, Greene praised the work of the anti-Fascist Italian novelist Ignazio Silone and a science fiction by the Czech author Karel "I have no room to do more than warmly recommend Mr Capek's fantasy of a world conquered by newts." Among the other authors whom Greene reviewed are Thomas Mann, John Dos Passos, Stevie Smith and Somerset Maugham. For the first time, Graham Greene's Tablet contributions are collected in one volume. Much of the journalism has not been seen for fifty years. The book includes an essay, "Two Friends", documenting the story of Greene's friendship with a Catholic diplomat and fellow devotee of Henry James, Peter Leslie. The Greene-Leslie correspondence has not been seen before.
- GenresNonfictionCatholic
Hardcover
First published October 9, 2006
38 people want to read
About the author
Graham Greene
813 books6,179 followersHenry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. The Power and the Glory won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and The Heart of the Matter won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed on The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivienne Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland. William Golding called Greene "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety".
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. The Power and the Glory won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and The Heart of the Matter won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed on The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivienne Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland. William Golding called Greene "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety".
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 7, 2022
This late volume (2006), collects the "journalism" of Graham Greene that was published in the Catholic journal, Tablet. It is edited by Ian Thomson and published by Oxford University Press (but printed in India). Thomson also provides an introduction about the literary life of Greene related to the journal as well as a fascinating (and new) story titled "Our Man in Talinn" (Estonia) which I had not seen before. In between, there is an odd assortment of Greene items, some of which are early and quite religious ("Our Lady and Her Assumption"), a large chunk of "How Father Quixote Became a Monsignor" as well as two more stories from the book that ultimately became Monsignor Quixote, and twenty-six book reviews, some of which are new. Of most importance probably is Greene's 23 September 1989 interview with John Cornwell titled "Why I am Still a Catholic."
July 22, 2016
"Articles of Faith" is divided into five sections: reportage and commentary, fiction, poetry, reviews, and interviews and tributes. Of all the selections provided I found the essay "Our Lady and Her Assumption" and the selections from "Monsignor Quixote" to be most profitable.
"Our Lady and Her Assumption" is a wonderful defense of the Catholic dogma and would alone be worth the price of the book. Not only are the apologetics very sound, but it's fascinating for those fans of Greene when you contrast his convictions for this doctrine with the very skeptical views (accounted for in this book) of Church teachings he held later in his life.
The selections from "Monsignor Quixote" make for hilarious reading and have encouraged me to pick up the novel. They are printed in this volume as they originally appeared in short story form in "The Tablet."
The rest of the book is mostly uninteresting. Greene's talents as a writer, his ability to very articulately express himself are on display, but unfortunately he never utilizes this pedagogically so that much of it reads as polished drab.
The biographical portions might be interesting-enough for those particularly interested in Greene. It's now clear to me why his Catholicism was such an enigma: his love of the Church and desire to be close to it is very clear, but so too are his heretical positions on very key Catholic doctrines. But these positions are probably more clearly and exhaustively accounted for in other books, though the strength of this portion may be its brevity, though it is unfortunately a bit repetitive.
Whatever one might say of his wishy-washy fidelity to the magisterium in his later years, it is clear that, what I have thus far observed to be, a reoccurring them of his novels finally came true of his own life, "Greene died with his good friend Fr. Duran present...For Fr. Duran, a priest of many years, this was to be his first administration of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, the Church's anointing for someone near death...It was the end of a Catholic life passionately lived, and surrendered generously to a forgiving and merciful God"- the hound of heaven caught his man.
Because "Monsignor Quixote" in its fullest form and the essay "Our Lady and Her Assumption" can be found elsewhere, unless you are a Graham Greene devote, I think this a book to skip.
"Our Lady and Her Assumption" is a wonderful defense of the Catholic dogma and would alone be worth the price of the book. Not only are the apologetics very sound, but it's fascinating for those fans of Greene when you contrast his convictions for this doctrine with the very skeptical views (accounted for in this book) of Church teachings he held later in his life.
The selections from "Monsignor Quixote" make for hilarious reading and have encouraged me to pick up the novel. They are printed in this volume as they originally appeared in short story form in "The Tablet."
The rest of the book is mostly uninteresting. Greene's talents as a writer, his ability to very articulately express himself are on display, but unfortunately he never utilizes this pedagogically so that much of it reads as polished drab.
The biographical portions might be interesting-enough for those particularly interested in Greene. It's now clear to me why his Catholicism was such an enigma: his love of the Church and desire to be close to it is very clear, but so too are his heretical positions on very key Catholic doctrines. But these positions are probably more clearly and exhaustively accounted for in other books, though the strength of this portion may be its brevity, though it is unfortunately a bit repetitive.
Whatever one might say of his wishy-washy fidelity to the magisterium in his later years, it is clear that, what I have thus far observed to be, a reoccurring them of his novels finally came true of his own life, "Greene died with his good friend Fr. Duran present...For Fr. Duran, a priest of many years, this was to be his first administration of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, the Church's anointing for someone near death...It was the end of a Catholic life passionately lived, and surrendered generously to a forgiving and merciful God"- the hound of heaven caught his man.
Because "Monsignor Quixote" in its fullest form and the essay "Our Lady and Her Assumption" can be found elsewhere, unless you are a Graham Greene devote, I think this a book to skip.
December 18, 2014
Articles of Faith: the collected Tablet journalism of Graham Greene / Ian Thomson (ed.)
This collection of The Tablet journalism of Greene and reminiscences about him are interesting enough but on the whole his writing style struck me as rather dated. I haven't read any of Greene's novels and this hasn't particularly piqued my interest. To me, this volume is of historical interest more than anything else.
This collection of The Tablet journalism of Greene and reminiscences about him are interesting enough but on the whole his writing style struck me as rather dated. I haven't read any of Greene's novels and this hasn't particularly piqued my interest. To me, this volume is of historical interest more than anything else.
April 22, 2016
Parts of this book would be interesting to fans of Graham Greene but in general it was a very dry read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews