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The Human Factor

Graham Greene

3.92 · Rating details · 7,286 ratings · 442 reviews

Maurice Castle is a high-level operative in the British secret service during the Cold War. He is deeply in love with his African wife, who escaped apartheid South Africa with the help of his communist friend. Despite his misgivings, Castle decides to act as a double agent, passing information to the Soviets to help his in-laws in South Africa. In order to evade detection, ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, 265 pages

Published 1979 by Penguin Books (first published 1978)

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Dec 08, 2017 Adam Dalva rated it liked it · review of another edition

More than his superior novels, THE HUMAN FACTOR demonstrates Greene's confounding ability to compel readers to turn pages. Though nothing much was going on and the plot was nearly entirely predictable, I flew through. It shares more with John Le Carre than other Greenes that I've read, save for a few flourishes at the edges (when our lead, Castle, enters a Catholic Church toward the end of the novel it was a bit like McCartney playing the opening of Hey Jude).

What we have: a spycraft novel with ...more

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Jul 16, 2018 Luís C. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: casa-das-letras, reading-the-world, 20th-century, thriller-crime, on-my-own, uk-and-related

Diving into the occult and ruthless world of secret agents ... sometimes also double agents.

Solitary in the heart of the Organization, the secret agent evolves in troubled water, in an opaque universe, heavy with mistrust and suspicion: the colleague who seems the most harmless and inspires you the most sympathy will not prove he's not the traitor or your worst enemy?

"The Human Factor" is a real novel of atmosphere but, for me, a reading a little laborious due to the bitterness of the subject. ...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Teresa rated it really liked it

It took me about 80 pages to realize I was right to continue to read this. If I wasn't already familiar with Greene, I probably would've put it down at some point before those 80 pages, thinking this book was not my thing. But it deserves patience, as Greene is setting you up (necessary for the story) and by the time you're set up, you're hooked.

This novel is a mastery of dialogue. I can't remember the last time a book told me so much, and did it so well, with dialogue, not just in advancing the ...more

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Apr 28, 2018 James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Human Factor (1978) – by Graham Greene is set in the British secret service, but…this is certainly no James Bond 007 story; there is no glamour to be found here; this is all about a bleak troubled life of keeping secrets, a life of internalised silence and deception. But – above all else and as the title would suggest, it’s about the Human Factor, the human element and side to an individual living a life, a domestic life in tandem with the secret life of an agent – it’s about the secrecy and ...more

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Nov 24, 2010 mark monday rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: blood-and-danger, mind-the-gap, world-of-insects

a novel of spies and of pawns and of the interchangeability of those roles. the tale is deceptively simple and straightforward; the mixed loyalties of the protagonist and the portrait of his relationship with his african wife are sweetly affecting and pleasingly non-dramatic....but all of this is, in a way, a cover for the bleakly mordant commentary on betrayal that lies at the novel's heart. reading Human Factor made me understand how the works of le carre will always be superior to the works ...more

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Sep 20, 2016 Smiley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: spy-fiction, favorites

Surprisingly this espionage fiction set presumably amid the Cold War has proved itself as one of Mr Greene's enjoyable works, it was my misunderstanding with insufficient motive and information that kept me stay put for years till a few months ago when I decided to resume reading his "The Confidential Agent" as well as "Our Man in Havana" in which his writing style, tragedy episodes, sense of humor, etc. have since served me as some essential backgrounds before premature decidedly plunging in to Surprisingly this espionage fiction set presumably amid the Cold War has proved itself as one of Mr Greene's enjoyable works, it was my misunderstanding with insufficient motive and information that kept me stay put for years till a few months ago when I decided to resume reading his "The Confidential Agent" as well as "Our Man in Havana" in which his writing style, tragedy episodes, sense of humor, etc. have since served me as some essential backgrounds before premature decidedly plunging in to enjoy reading him. One of the reasons is that in the 'Forward' the author said, "My ambition after the war was to write a novel of espionage free from the conventional violence, which has not, in spite of James Bond, been a feature of the British Secret Service. I wanted to present the Service unromantically as a way of life, men going daily to their office to earn their pensions, the background much like that of any other profession -- whether the bank clerk or the business director -- an undangerous routine, and within each character the more important private life." (p. 7); therefore, some might be disappointed in the protagonist, Muarice Castle, whose action is not thrillingly hero-like as compared to James Bond by Ian Fleming or Jason Bourne by Robert Ludlum.

I particularly admired this bookshop scene:
It was an unusual respectable bookshop for this area of Soho, quite unlike the bookshop which faced it across the street and bore the simple sign 'Books' in scarlet letters. The window below the scarlet sign displayed girlie magazines which nobody was ever seen to buy -- they were like a signal in an easy code long broken; they indicated the nature of private wares and interests inside. But the shop of Halliday & Son confronted the scarlet 'Books' with a window full of Penguins and Everyman and second-hand copies of World's Classics. The son was never seen there, only old Mr Halliday himself, bent and white-haired, wearing an air of courtesy like an old suit in which he would probably like to be buried. He wrote all his business letters in long-hand: he was busy on one of them now.
'A fine autumn morning, Mr Castle,' Mr Halliday remarked, as he traced with great care the phrase 'Your obedient servant'.
'There was a touch of frost this morning in the country.'
'A bit early yet,' Mr Halliday said.
'I wonder if you've got a copy of War and Peace? I've never read it. It seems about time for me to begin.'
'Finished Clarissa already, sir?'
'No, but I'm afraid I'm stuck. The thought of all those volumes to come ... I need a change,'
... (pp. 55-56)

I mean whenever we read his seemingly typical narrative and dialogs in style of his own, we simply can't help vaguely recalling something familiar, the text rings a bell as remotely and secretly as we long to know where we've read or heard that before. For instance, the following few lines would illustrate the inevitably mysterious finale in the world of notorious espionage:

She said, 'Maurice, Maurice, please go on hoping,' but in the long unbroken silence which followed she realised that the line to Moscow was dead. (p. 335) ...more

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Mar 04, 2018 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

When writing this novel, Graham Greene wanted to write an espionage story free from the violence, and unreality, of the spy stories of the time. Indeed, this is not a James Bond adventure, but is espionage set very much in an unromantic and realistic world of desk jobs and paperwork – but with a threatening undercurrent of danger. Notably, Greene once worked with Philby and, although he insisted that Castle was not based on him, there is an attempt to explain why someone would be tempted into ...more

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Mar 18, 2018 Nigeyb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"A man in love walks through the world like an anarchist, carrying a time bomb"

What a read. Talk about bleak. I really loved it though. An extraordinary achievement. Both tense and exciting, but also an exploration of the dark arts of espionage, human psychology, and individual relationships. All the characters are credible, fully fleshed out, and fallible.

The issues Graham Greene raises in 'The Human Factor' (1978) are quite complex and perhaps, ultimately, it's most about individual ...more

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Mar 25, 2019 Jack rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Graham Greene's very last spy novel: A downbeat, talky, yet compelling Cold War story about the quest to track down an undercover double-agent in MI6, the British foreign intelligence service. Set against the backdrop of Soviet and Cuban penetration of Africa during the 1970s, Greene lays out a tale that spotlights the immorality of U.S. and U.K. support for South Africa's apartheid system.

Greene himself stated that he intended this book to be free of the "conventional violence" found in most ...more

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Apr 14, 2019 Geevee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I thoroughly enjoyed this; it was subtle and compelling without the spy chases, weapons and car chases.

Castle and Davis work in the African section of MI6 and life is rather pedestrian. And within this rather dead-end office at the "Foreign Office" we see the men's, and other characters, personalities unfold with their worries, doubts, wishes and paranoias coming to the fore in behaviour, thoughts and speech. The Human Factor does have a "love interest", but this is not the James Bond girl, but ...more

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Dec 02, 2010 Lorenzo Berardi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british, 2011, a-my-english-library

When Graham Greene wrote this book he was 74 years old and had published his first novel 49 years earlier. These are two facts that show how extraordinarily long-lived the literary career of this man has been.

But those who may look for decay or incipient senility in "The Human Factor" will be disappointed.
Among the 6 novels of Mr Greene I read so far, this is among the best ones even considering the usual high-quality standards of this author.

"The Human Factor" is a novel of apparent stillness When Graham Greene wrote this book he was 74 years old and had published his first novel 49 years earlier. These are two facts that show how extraordinarily long-lived the literary career of this man has been.

But those who may look for decay or incipient senility in "The Human Factor" will be disappointed.
Among the 6 novels of Mr Greene I read so far, this is among the best ones even considering the usual high-quality standards of this author.

"The Human Factor" is a novel of apparent stillness and the power of memories where not so much seems to happen in the present with the main characters constantly looking backwards. The daily life of middle-aged Mr Castle is spent between his desk in a tiny office in London and a detached house in the sleepy little town of Berkhamstead, where Graham Greene himself was born.

And yet, Mr Maurice Castle is no Bartleby.
He would not prefer to, but he got the habit of his dull office life spending his lunch breaks alone in the nearest pub far and chatting with his only colleague, whom he calls by his surname, Davis. Mr Castle may look like a common commuter trying to read heavy books on the train and then cycling back home being welcomed by his wife, his son and a glass of J&B, but he is and he was something and someone else. The memories of his very different past are not forgotten and soon enough will blow Castle's life to pieces.

What I liked here is that Graham Greene aged well and by all accounts. "The Human Factor" is not your usual spy story, but a book where cliff-hangers are hidden and the tension is subterranean and treacherous. There are masterfully drawn scenes with some of the best dialogues I've ever read and there is even humour every now and then.

All the references to Maltesers, whisky brands and some horrible artificial-palmed hotel on the way to Heathrow are carefully chosen with an accurate and sensitive attention to every minor detail which could become a key point in the development of the story.
How Greene fulfilled this technique without indulging in over-descriptions or wordy digressions is the best sign of a great novelist who once again managed to stay very focused on what was going on around him from history to politics to social trends.
...more

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Jul 07, 2018 booklady rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, adventure, political, classic, crime

Titles always intrigue me. In this case I couldn’t help wondering if The Human Factor might be an ironic reference to ‘disposable’ humanity in the espionage world or the incalculable response of unpredictably emotional humans which (can) cause the best of plans to go awry. Perhaps both?

Published in 1978, The Human Factor was immediately made into a movie the next year. Although I haven’t seen it, I would like to. It is a very hard book to review, to do justice to, without giving away too much. ...more

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Apr 28, 2010 Allie Larkin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I read this for a book club discussion, and was completely blown away. The story deals with MI5 and MI6 intelligence officials during the Cold War, and is more of a realistic look at life in secret intelligence than the action-packed spy books and movies we're used to. It's slow in starting, but really takes off halfway through. There is so much subtly building up as the story moves along. Once I saw where it was going, I really appreciated the pacing of the beginning and the way information was ...more

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Nov 01, 2015 Paul rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-read-2016

Castle is approaching retirement from MI6 where he has been an officer in the Africa section for a number of years following active service in the continent. He is married to a black South African lady who he helped escape from the apartheid regime. He is enjoying his quiet and uneventful life, when him and his assistant, Davis, are interviewed following the discovery of a leak in the service that has been traced back to his department. The investigation concludes that Davis is the source of the ...more

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Apr 30, 2011 David rated it liked it

Shelves: english-lit

Greene was a master of literature but I often found his spy novels were good, but not great. This is moreso because I am not a spy novel fan. Having said this, knowing his background in the British Service, he knows what he is doing.

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Apr 27, 2007 shubha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Love the way Graham Greene talks about human frailties without being preachy or overbearing... His writing tugs at your heart just that wee bit, but leaves you thinking long after you've finished reading...

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Apr 26, 2014 BrokenTune rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, greeneland-adventures

Review first posted on BookLikes:
http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/...

‘It’s possible, of course, just possible,’ C said, ‘that the leak came from abroad and that the evidence has been planted here. They would like to disrupt us, damage morale and hurt us with the Americans. The knowledge that there was a leak, if it became public, could be more damaging than the leak itself.’ ‘That’s what I was thinking,’ Percival said. ‘Questions in Parliament. All the old names thrown up – Vassall, the Review first posted on BookLikes:
http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/...

‘It’s possible, of course, just possible,’ C said, ‘that the leak came from abroad and that the evidence has been planted here. They would like to disrupt us, damage morale and hurt us with the Americans. The knowledge that there was a leak, if it became public, could be more damaging than the leak itself.’ ‘That’s what I was thinking,’ Percival said. ‘Questions in Parliament. All the old names thrown up – Vassall, the Portland affair, Philby. But if they’re after publicity, there’s little we can do.’

I read The Human Factor shortly after finishing Ben Macintyre's biography of Kim Philby - A Spy Among Friends. It is impossible to read a biography of Philby and not think of Graham Greene. Just as it is impossible to read The Human Factor and not wonder about the underlying motives that made people not only join the secret service but also made them defect from it and turn into double agents. With respect to Philby in particular, it still is a mystery to me how anyone could have regarded the Soviet Union as a place to aspire to live. Of course, as mentioned in my review of Macintyre's book, I can look at the Soviet Union from a perspective less tainted with either hope or propaganda whereas no-one at the time that The Human Factor was written had the privilege of hindsight.

It is all the more fascinating that Greene should pick up a story of defection and focus on the motivations of the spy and the efforts of counter-espionage to exercise damage control - the game which gives so little consideration to the human factor:

'I wish I were a chess player. Do you play chess, Daintry?’ ‘No, bridge is my game.’ ‘The Russians don’t play bridge, or so I understand.’ ‘Is that important?’ ‘We are playing games, Daintry, games, all of us. It’s important not to take a game too seriously or we may lose it. We have to keep flexible, but it’s important, naturally, to play the same game.’ ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ Daintry said, ‘I don’t understand what you are talking about.’

Greene's tale is full of gritty suspense as a leak is detected and a ruthless man-hunt for the informant takes its toll on the lives of the characters involved.

Daintry said, ‘Come away, Castle. I’ll buy you another owl, Sylvia.’
‘It’s irreplaceable, that one.’
‘A man’s dead,’ Daintry said. ‘He’s irreplaceable too.’

However, in his typical style Greene also pays tribute to human character being a complex and multi-layered beast - he accurately accurately observes that not all spies are committed to the cause, that not all agents completely subscribe to any ideology without deviation. He manages to portray the naivety of people and creates moving moments of conflict and hope and despair.

"People talked of courage as a primary virtue. What of the courage of a known swindler and bankrupt taking his place in the dining-room of the House of Commons? Is courage a justification? Is courage in whatever cause a virtue?" ...more

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Oct 07, 2008 Bettie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Another tale where Greene shows us his own pain.

and...

I won't be touching peanuts ever again!

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Aug 28, 2018 Zoeb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 'You know how it is in your own outfit. It's the same in ours. We live in boxes and it's they who choose the box'.

An unforgettable scene from John Le Carre's 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' sums up the sentiment that the above excerpt from Graham Greene's book conveys. The immortal George Smiley is alone with Peter Guillam and is brooding over his only memory of his arch nemesis across the Berlin Wall- the elusive Karla. The memory that surfaces is no action-packed duel between one cloaked dagger ...more

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Dec 20, 2017 Bob Newman rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Castle is only a pawn

I'm not a fan of spy novels. "Our Man in Havana" and a couple by Le Carré and you're already at the bottom of the list. Still, as a tersely-written thriller read on an interminable airplane flight, THE HUMAN FACTOR stands out. The characters Castle, Davis, Daintry, Percival, Hargreaves, and `Boris' are very well-drawn, their all-too-human motives revealed one by one as are their reactions to events. Sarah, the African wife of double agent Castle, remains something of a stick ...more

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Apr 21, 2017 Rob rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I've read two other Greene novels besides this one, The End of the Affair and The Captain and the Enemy , and I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to get when I pick up one of his books, but I know I love his writing. This is one of his later novels in an incredible career that began in the 20s and lasted until the late 80s. I always think of him as a classic author, but it seems odd to include anything written in my lifetime, so I tend to fall back on the arbitrary 'fifty year' rule I've read two other Greene novels besides this one, The End of the Affair and The Captain and the Enemy , and I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to get when I pick up one of his books, but I know I love his writing. This is one of his later novels in an incredible career that began in the 20s and lasted until the late 80s. I always think of him as a classic author, but it seems odd to include anything written in my lifetime, so I tend to fall back on the arbitrary 'fifty year' rule with him.

Anyway, this is a spy novel of a much more realistic fashion than what we typically see. The protagonist, Maurice Castle, is no James Bond. He's a middle-aged man who works at a desk and looks forward to retirement. He did have, what seems like, a more exciting position in South Africa during apartheid, where he had to flee the country with a black woman who later became his wife. They now live a quiet life with their child in London.

A piece of confidential information, under his small department's jurisdiction, made its way into Communist hands. There are three main suspects, of which Castle is one, and his calm life starts to become much more tense. It's a slow build throughout the novel, and while it certainly isn't action-packed, it was an exciting read. In his autobiography, Greene wrote that he wanted "to write a novel of espionage free from the conventional violence, which has not, in spite of James Bond, been a feature of the British Secret Service", and I would say he pulled it off exceptionally well.

Hate is an automatic response to fear, for fear humiliates.

The relationships in this felt very real to me, and I just loved the dialogue. He got across a lot in a few words, and he was surprisingly funny at times, which I appreciate. There are small moments of humour in even the most tragic of times, and I think a lot of authors can forget that.

I can definitely say I'm a fan, at this point. The only other unread Greene novel on my shelf is The Tenth Man, which I'll likely get to later this year.

Book Blog | Twitter | Instagram ...more

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Mar 11, 2008 Will Jeffrey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Some years ago I read
the Tenth Man, and I enjoyed it for its irony. The plot was remarkable to me because it diverged from the other British Spy novels I have read. Though I admit I've not read too many. It has been my impression the Brit spy novel was always centered around a mole embedded in a British intelligence agency. I happened to read somewhere about what a great spy novelist Graham Green was, and I decided I would give this one a try. The Human Factor does concern a mole, but I decided ...more

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Oct 17, 2017 Dillwynia Peter rated it liked it · review of another edition

Greene started writing this novel some time in the late 1960s, and unfortunately took too long. He was pipped at the post by someone who wrote a much better traitorous espionage novel – namely Le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It’s a shame because this is a great Greeneland novel with all the usual themes splashed around: fidelity, temptation, redemption, betrayal and more.

It is interesting to see that Greene’s experiences in the secret service mirrors those of LeCarre in the grey, grimy ...more

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Mar 15, 2018 Pamela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: group-rttc, favorites

Castle is working in a desk job in the African section of MI6. He is nearing retirement, but previously he was active in the field and had to escape from Africa with Sarah, who is now his wife. The anxiety from those times has never quite left them, but now they live a quiet life in suburbia with their son Sam, and occasionally meet up with Castle's work colleague, Davis. Then a leak is suspected in their section, and both Castle and Davis are investigated, with tragic and far reaching ...more

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Jul 02, 2019 Pamela Shropshire rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-my-library, mystery-detective, brit-lit, spies, set-in-the-uk

This is one of those books that has been on my bookshelf for donkey’s years, but I had never got around to reading it until now.

Maurice Castle has been working for “the firm,” i.e. the British intelligence service, for many years. His first wife was killed in the Blitz. He met Sarah, his current wife, when he was assigned in South Africa during the apartheid era. She is black, and she has a young son. Because of the racial laws in South Africa, they had to escape back to England. All this ...more

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Nov 28, 2008 Nancy Oakes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spy-fiction, favorite

The Human Factor highlights a man, Maurice Castle, who is driven at times to make choices based on love and an often-misplaced sense of moral duty that have some pretty serious consequences for himself and others.

Castle is an agent in MI6, and as the book opens, a leak has been discovered in his division. Suspicion falls on his partner, Davis, who seems to have a lot more money than an agent in his position should -- he bets,he drives a Jag -- and he's also a pretty heavy drinker. Castle is The Human Factor highlights a man, Maurice Castle, who is driven at times to make choices based on love and an often-misplaced sense of moral duty that have some pretty serious consequences for himself and others.

Castle is an agent in MI6, and as the book opens, a leak has been discovered in his division. Suspicion falls on his partner, Davis, who seems to have a lot more money than an agent in his position should -- he bets,he drives a Jag -- and he's also a pretty heavy drinker. Castle is older, near retirement, and leads a pretty quiet life, seemingly beyond reproach. But mild-mannered Castle is the one with the secret life. It started during his time in South Africa -- his black, African wife Sarah, was smuggled out of the apartheid-ruled country by a communist agent; and Castle long ago decided that he owed a debt of gratitude to the communists and started providing them with information from British intelligence, thinking that in some way he is helping Sarah's people. However, when his bosses decided that Castle will be the one who will provide their South African counterparts with information about an American operation in Africa, and he is forced to work with the very man who had held him on breaking race relations laws in South Africa vis-a-vis his relationship with Sarah there, a chain of events occurs which unravels his quiet and ordered life in England with his family.

However, this book really is NOT a story about espionage or the cold-war intelligence game. Castle marches to his own inner sense of personal morality, as noted by his mother at one point, where she says:

"You always had an exaggerated sense of gratitude for the least kindness. It was a sort of insecurity ....You once gave away a good fountain pen to someone at school who had offered you a bun with a piece of chocolate inside."

It hit me while reading that this "sense of gratitude" is the key to understanding Maurice Castle -- and it offers an insight into the reasons behind Castle's actions. Loyalty, for Castle, begets loyalty, but the reader may make judgments based on his or her own understanding of patriotism or morality that misconstrue Castle's actions completely, so understanding Castle as a human being rather than as a spy or as a British citizen is key to understanding this story.

The Human Factor is truly an awesome novel, one of the best I've read this year. It starts out very slow, but the tension builds as the book progresses until you're so caught up in it that you can't look away. I'd definitely recommend it to people who enjoy British literature, and to those who enjoy reading about the grayness of human morality. It's also pretty decent as a novel of espionage if you don't want to get into the deeper aspects of the novel. Very highly recommended. ...more

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Sep 07, 2015 Kimmo Sinivuori rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

During the darkest days of Apartheid in South Africa, the protagonist, a British intelligence officer called Maurice Castle, received help from an anti-apartheid lawyer and a communist operative to have his black wife and child escape the secret police. Some years later, close to retirement, Castle has settled in England with his family and is working in White Hall analyzing intelligence from Africa. To pay back his debt of honor to the communists, he has been leaking classified information to ...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Tara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Read for the first time almost 6 years ago and gave 4 stars. It remained in my mind as an excellent work, and after a re-read the rating has been switched to 5. It's Greene with his most compelling manifestation of "Catholic-atheism": he lacks the near-certainty of his earlier works, and into the space which faith has vacated steps the person. If one thing is objectively precious in the universe, it is the person, never the system.

"Heroism began where politics stopped," a character reflects. Is ...more

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Dec 28, 2016 Captain Sir Roddy, R.N. (Ret.) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, british-literature, my-western-canon, read-in-2016, british-authors-translators, everymans-library-editions, modern-literature, author-graham-greene

This was an okay novel, but not up to Graham Greene's best, in my humble opinion. Honestly, I never really got fully engaged in the plot or its characters. It has been my experience that early Greene novels are such a deep psychological tour de force, and I never felt that this connected with me like that.

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Mar 10, 2019 Chandar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wonderful to read an old world, cold-war era spy novel that deals with human emotions and not James Bond style fantasy action. Greene's novel is beautifully paced, and deeply insightful about the human condition. Warm, compassionate and funny...thoroughly enjoyable read!

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About Graham Greene

Graham Greene

3,870 followers

Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenplay writer, travel writer and critic whose works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world. Greene combined serious literary acclaim with wide popularity.

Although Greene objected strongly to being described as a “Catholic novelist” rather than as a “novelist who happened to be ...more