The Quest for Graham Greene

by W.J. West

Greene reads like a character from his own fiction in this revelatory account of his links with MI6 and the Hollwood mafia. West exposes the reasons Greene's sudden self-imposed exile, his fascination with the mafia, his loathing of America, the origins of his obsessions with Catholicism, espionage and his own involvement in MI6. As riveting as any Greene novel, this is the book which gets to the heart of one of this century's most important - and elusive - writers.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[BrokenTune · Rating 2 out of 5]

Out of all the books I have had standing by as reference while reading Greene's novels, this one was decidedly "meh".

West tries to give a lot of background and connect Greene's books and characters to real-life events and people in Greene's life, but somehow this neither makes a captivating read nor a convincing analysis of Greene's work.

The writing seems rather disjointed at times, and at other times the analysis comes across as a best guess.

Maybe this book makes for better reading for someone who has more of an in-depth knowledge of Greene's biography, but as a stand-by reference to accompany my Greene-land adventures The Quest for Graham Greene raised more questions than it answered.

[Mark Archer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took a week out of my reading of Graham Greene's superb stories to find out a little more of the man himself. I was still reeling from The Heart of the Matter, a tale of interplay between the bottomless guilt seemingly engendered by Catholic teachings and the pride taken by an Englishman in dutifully doing 'the decent thing.'
W.J.West's book is not a comprehensive life-story, but more of a supplemental account to existing biographies. It throws light on a great deal of Greene's past, most interestingly perhaps on that time of his youth when, in order to heal a wayward personality, he was farmed out by his parents to a quack psychologist and his wife, with whom he may have fallen in love.
Greene's several partners in life from whom he drifted away but never fully left behind, his disastrous financial dealings later in life and his lifelong tussle with Catholicism, are all set in context for the interested reader, adding considerably to a fuller appreciation of his writings. Recommended.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of Graham Greene in the style of The Search for Corvo, recounting as much of the biographer's search as Greene's life.