August 2021: The Third Man by Graham Greene

[Christine PNW]

Our August book is a piece of classic spy fiction. I read it earlier this year and really enjoyed it!

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

The Third Man was not the first screenplay Graham Greene ever wrote, but it was the first one not based on preexisting material.
Graham Greene, the author commented: “To me it is almost impossible to write a film play without first writing a story. One can reproduce an effect caught in another medium, but one cannot make the first act of creation in script form.” The Third Man “had to start as a story before those apparently interminable transformations from one treatment to another.”

Holly Martins, an American author of western fiction, arrives in post–Second World War Vienna seeking his childhood friend, Harry Lime, who has offered him a job. Martins is told that Lime was killed by a car while crossing the street.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

I am looking forward to reading this.
I work all weekend but hoping to get started this evening.

Any one else in on this one with me?

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I read this a couple of years ago and found that it helped me to understand the movie better. The movie is visually so appealing, that I didn't always pay attention to the dialogue.

[Kathy]

I’ve begun reading this.

[John Dishwasher]

This is a weird interpretation that I'm marking as a spoiler so it doesn't corrupt other people's enjoyment of the book. (view spoiler)[ This is maybe a little out there but I felt like there was some criticism of religion here. I go on about this in my review but basically Greene emphasizes Martin's immaturity. Then we watch Martins ‘grow up,’ or get over his hero worship of Lime due to what is revealed by the police. Because of some subtle religious parallels, and Greene’s frank references to Catholicism, I thought Greene was intimating that God is the ultimate hero for a lot of people, and in order for them to mature fully as adults they would have to get over their ‘hero’ worship. I knew nothing of Greene’s backstory before this but a quick google search suggested his relationship with religion was ambivalent. So this interpretation may be plausible. (hide spoiler)]

[Christine PNW]

I'm not going to be reading it again, since I read it for the first time earlier this year, but I am still trying to get to the movie, which I've never seen.

I really enjoyed the grim, gritty post-war Vienna setting. It was so different from my usual impression of Vienna, which I have mostly gleaned from reading books set in the pre-war, fin de siecle Vienna of Freud and cafe society (such as Max Liebermann series that was adapted by BBC in 2019, which I also still haven't watched).

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

The movie is visually stunning- in black and white. Then there's the sound track-once you've heard the Third Man theme played on the zither, you never forget it. It's amazing.

[John]

Its many years since I read this one, so I've just re-read it for this month's challenge - and it was every bit as good as I remembered. Its not my favourite Greene book - but still well worth reading. His ability to immerse you in the atmosphere of time and place is amazing.
Like Christine, I've never seen the movie but I'm going to try to see it now, since its apparently a rare instance of the movie being better than the book.
Re-reading this one has also re-kindled my enjoyment of Green, and I've also just re-read The Quiet American.

[Kathy]

This was a very enjoyable book. It was easy to read but I had to concentrate on who was doing the "talking." I felt immersed in the post-World War II atmosphere of Vienna.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

I think Rollo is a very interesting character along with Calloway.

The plot is suspensful and has a bit of tension to make one want to continue.

I think I would like to explore the movie as well.

[Marie]

I read this earlier this year but I agree with others that I really enjoyed the post-war Vienna setting. I think it would be great to re-read at some point, I just don't have the time this month.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Thank you for sharing Marie!