Green(e) River
I’ve had a book by Graham Greene, Orient Express (1932), sitting on my shelf for a long time. I’ve never read anything by Greene, but see him mentioned everywhere, and knew I needed to remedy my ignorance. Overcoming my habitual laziness toward starting a new writer, I finally delved into the book yesterday. I was quite surprised, in three ways.
The first surprise was Greene’s treatment of a Jewish character as a human being who was aware of the societal prejudice against him, who hated it (yet his self-image was affected by it), and who hated being affected by it. Sadly, I have become resigned to reading casual offensive remarks about Jewish people in the novels of the period, and this level of sensitivity was quite pleasing and unexpected.
The second surprise was the frank, though not prurient, discussion of sex. In the first third of the book, Greene mentions or discusses at length prostitution, pedophilia, lesbian desire, and various permutations (some comic) of heterosexual lust and affection. Sounds tawdry, but Greene manages not to come across that way. I think it’s because he grounds the talk of sex in context of character. Greene does not seem like he’s setting out to titillate his readers with sex-talk, but rather to develop character or move the plot along. Greene is honest about the emotions the characters are experiencing in relation to sex. Perhaps my modern eyes are jaded (or curiously innocent, depending on your point of view), but Greene seems matter-of-fact and realistic about sex. Sex is part of life, and that’s that.
Emotional honesty, as I alluded to a few sentences ago, was the third surprise. There were several times that I had to put the book down and mentally catch my breath—his emotional arrows had hit home. While not being deliberately brutal, Greene seems to have no scruples about laying bare the deepest human vulnerabilities. The only thing I’ve read recently that is so unflinchingly emotionally honest is Alexander McCall Smith’s Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations (odd comparison, but there it is).
Of course, this is the only Graham Greene book I’ve ever read, and I’m only halfway through. His oeuvre is large and ranges wide, I know, so perhaps I’m way off the mark. But still, for a first dip in the Greene river, it’s impressive. I’ll be coming back for more.
The first surprise was Greene’s treatment of a Jewish character as a human being who was aware of the societal prejudice against him, who hated it (yet his self-image was affected by it), and who hated being affected by it. Sadly, I have become resigned to reading casual offensive remarks about Jewish people in the novels of the period, and this level of sensitivity was quite pleasing and unexpected.
The second surprise was the frank, though not prurient, discussion of sex. In the first third of the book, Greene mentions or discusses at length prostitution, pedophilia, lesbian desire, and various permutations (some comic) of heterosexual lust and affection. Sounds tawdry, but Greene manages not to come across that way. I think it’s because he grounds the talk of sex in context of character. Greene does not seem like he’s setting out to titillate his readers with sex-talk, but rather to develop character or move the plot along. Greene is honest about the emotions the characters are experiencing in relation to sex. Perhaps my modern eyes are jaded (or curiously innocent, depending on your point of view), but Greene seems matter-of-fact and realistic about sex. Sex is part of life, and that’s that.
Emotional honesty, as I alluded to a few sentences ago, was the third surprise. There were several times that I had to put the book down and mentally catch my breath—his emotional arrows had hit home. While not being deliberately brutal, Greene seems to have no scruples about laying bare the deepest human vulnerabilities. The only thing I’ve read recently that is so unflinchingly emotionally honest is Alexander McCall Smith’s Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations (odd comparison, but there it is).
Of course, this is the only Graham Greene book I’ve ever read, and I’m only halfway through. His oeuvre is large and ranges wide, I know, so perhaps I’m way off the mark. But still, for a first dip in the Greene river, it’s impressive. I’ll be coming back for more.
posted by Violet at 9:34 PM
1 Comments:
Nice critique. But the book sounds like too much literary-ness for moi...
I do like that he treats the Jewish with respect. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (I tried looking it up under "grey" but that was incorrect--what is THAT all about? Certainly "flannel" would only go with "grey," wouldn't you think?)--book was 1955, movie 1956. I don't know how big the stereotypes still were. Of course, they still "exist" today, in places.
Enjoying your writing!
G.L.H.
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