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The Third Man

Graham Greene

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Sep 11, 2020 Scott Head rated it really liked it

I'd give it 3.5 stars, but that's not an option. This quick thriller has some nice ups and downs, but its origin as a screenplay is clear in its brevity. That brevity did not allow for the wonderful character insights and deeply moving prose Greene is best at. It was a good tale, and the film is supposed to be just as good or better. But it's another Greene novella accomplished, and more insight into the author. Check. ...more

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Jul 29, 2020 P.J. Anderson rated it really liked it

The Third Man, by Graham Greene - review.

I’ve come to this late given its reputation as the mere servant to the film, one of the all-time movie greats. That ‘secondary’ status probably explains why Greene is not quite as meticulous as usual stylistically and with regard to some of the detail of the plot. However, these are small weaknesses. What struck me most after reading the novella is its timelessness, something that is a little harder for the film to achieve, given its black and white forma The Third Man, by Graham Greene - review.

I’ve come to this late given its reputation as the mere servant to the film, one of the all-time movie greats. That ‘secondary’ status probably explains why Greene is not quite as meticulous as usual stylistically and with regard to some of the detail of the plot. However, these are small weaknesses. What struck me most after reading the novella is its timelessness, something that is a little harder for the film to achieve, given its black and white format and other clear markers of its belonging to a particular period. War-torn cities are a constant of the human experience, as are the ruthless and cynical criminal operations that the book highlights. But most consistent are the flaws and strengths of human nature as embodied within the key characters. It is those key characters that are the gold centrepiece of the novella, in particular Rollo (as opposed to Holly in the subsequent film) Martins, Anna Schmidt, Calloway the policeman in military uniform and of course, Harry Lime. Martins is a skilfully drawn flawed hero, Calloway a humble and humane policeman on a quiet, determined mission to secure justice rather than simply enforce the law, and Lime an elusive, chilling, but ultimately pathetic monster of a villain. The character of Anna Schmidt is a little less fully developed in the novella than in the film, which benefits also from director Carol Reed’s famous tweaking of the end, which made a significant contribution to the movie’s status as a masterpiece. The book’s ending is satisfactory but conventional. In a play on Martins’ ‘day job’ as a writer of pulp fiction set in the Wild West, the story effectively climaxes with two Sheriffs, with Calloway being upstaged by Martins in the final showdown. It’s easy to underestimate the book in relation to the film, not least because of Greene’s own judgment that the film was better. However, the two should be judged more in their own right than through comparing related but distinct treatments whose content and form is determined by the different imperatives of film and print media. The novella is well worth retrieving from the shadow of the film. It is both tragic and witty, an involving character study, and a simple but powerful story that is tempered by subtle undercurrents of irony. Overall, this is a fast moving, engrossing and deeply atmospheric tale that succeeds in casting a light on some of the more intricate complexities of human nature. The print format provides an opportunity to dig a little deeper into these in places than the film has time for.
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Jul 25, 2021 Richard Newquist rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction-classics

Now I know what the Graham Greene hubbub is all about. It is well-founded. I listened to the audiobook version with Martin Jarvis's exceptional voice acting. ...more

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Oct 27, 2019 Tony Cardinale marked it as to-read

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