The Quiet American, by Graham Greene. Pub 1955
I heard an episode of Backlisted (the show that gives new life to old books) discussing various books of Graham Greene, and The Quiet American was the only one I happened to already own and had never read. Greene’s story and the story of his many novels was very interesting and well-told (it is a favourite podcast because of their terrific discussions and voices), so I hunted up my oldish copy and read it over the past few days. It is not a long novel, but the story is gripping and fascinating.
Briefly, Fowler is a jaded English reporter in Saigon in the early 1950s, during the time of war between the French colonials and the Vietnamese. He lives with his girlfriend, Phuong, a Vietnamese woman whom he loves in his own way, but whom he cannot marry (he’s already married). Enter the quiet American, Alden Pyle, who oozes American charm, idealism and naïveté in equal measure – come to save democracy by trading one colonial power for another in the name of stopping Communism. He immediately falls in love with Phuong, thus creating several dimensions of conflict with Fowler, whose experience in country gives him a greater understanding of and respect for the Vietnamese. As the story resolves, each character has a fall and a reckoning. The ending is very surprising (I gasped out loud near the last page).
I loved this book. I had no idea what the story was about, other than vaguely about the love triangle and (after the podcast) that it was set in Vietnam in the mid-1950s, post Korean war, before the US officially involved itself in Vietnam. Each of the main characters in many ways represent their countries. Phuong, as Vietnam, is inscrutable, compliant but secretive, opportunistic, and resigned to being owned or governed by one of the other major players. She has very little to say or do (emblematic of her country’s situation) but is still empowered to make her own choices and have her own motives, however secretive. One gets the sense that she is more calculating than she appears, thinking a few moves ahead of the others. Fowler is English but also represents the status quo, seeing that Vietnam (and also Phuong) is not something that needs saving or fixing, least of all by the Americans, and he is the most selfish of the three, conniving always for what is best for himself. He is not a defender of colonialism, but still objects to the wholesale “burn it all down” mentality that drives much of the political and military conflict he lives within. Pyle is America, here to save the day that doesn’t know or want saving. He is both folksy and fervent, oozing the American way and brandishing his “third force” doctrine to anyone who will listen. Pyle is best described by Fowler/Greene’s own words: “He was impregnably armoured by his good intentions and his ignorance.” and “I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused.” Marvellous phrases like these occur throughout the book, and are a treat to read and savour. They don’t write ’em like that anymore.
Fate: with classic literature, I’m now loathe to dispense with unadulterated copies, lest they be subject to some sanitization in the future, so I’ll probably hang on to this one.
1 – a book with a murder
9 – been made into a film
13 – set somewhere I’ve never been
25 – a new author to me
rclr 