Identify Books As The Heart of the Matter
| Original Title: | The Heart of the Matter |
| ISBN: | 0099478420 (ISBN13: 9780099478423) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Major Scobie, inspector Wilson, Pemberton, Yusef |
| Literary Awards: | James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction (1948) |
Graham Greene
Paperback | Pages: 272 pages Rating: 3.99 | 24965 Users | 1304 Reviews
Commentary During Books The Heart of the Matter
In a British colony in West Africa, Henry Scobie is a pious and righteous man of modest means enlisted with securing borders. But when he’s passed over for a promotion as commissioner of police, the humiliation hits hardest for his wife, Louise. Already oppressed by the appalling climate, frustrated in a loveless marriage, and belittled by the wives of more privileged officers, Louise wants out.Feeling responsible for her unhappiness, Henry decides against his better judgment to accept a loan from a black marketeer to secure Louise’s passage. It’s just a single indiscretion, yet for Henry it precipitates a rapid fall from grace as one moral compromise after another leads him into a web of blackmail, adultery, and murder. And for a devout man like Henry, there may be nothing left but damnation.
Details About Books The Heart of the Matter
| Title | : | The Heart of the Matter |
| Author | : | Graham Greene |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 272 pages |
| Published | : | October 7th 2004 by Vintage Classics (first published 1948) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Cultural. Africa. Literature. Novels |
Rating About Books The Heart of the Matter
Ratings: 3.99 From 24965 Users | 1304 ReviewsPiece About Books The Heart of the Matter
If one knew, he wondered, the facts, would one have to pity even the planets? If one reached what they called the heart of the matter? Graham GreeneI was raised, as they say in the church, and even taught English in parochial (religious) schools for several years, as faith drained from me, inch by inch, year by year. I think of myself as an agnostic now, though I sometimes do pray, just in case, I say jokingly. Though I am not and never have been a Roman Catholic, I am quite familiar with theThis book is a classic "colonial novel." We are immediately immersed in the British colonial tropics - an unnamed British colony in West Africa during World War II. Cockroaches, rats and diseases abound. The British colony shares a border with a Vichy French (German-allied) colonial country so there is much intrigue about industrial diamond smuggling and the sinking of ships off the coast. This capital city is a melting pot with Africans and British of course (and the n-word is frequently tossed
I read this- the bulk of this- in one sitting. I don't know what it is, other than remnants of Catholic guilt which moves me still even as I grew up American Protestant rather than Greene's devoutly tormented English Catholicism but this book really caught fire for me about a hundred pages from the end. The bells are ringing, Scobie's freaking out, and I'm losing my shit.I actually read- no joke- about 20 pages of the last act of the thing aloud in a superpompous British accent in order to laugh
551. The Heart of The Matter, Graham GreeneThe Heart of the Matter (1948) is a novel by English author Graham Greene. The book details a life-changing moral crisis for Henry Scobie. Wilson sat on the balcony of the Bedford Hotel with his bald pink knees thrust against the ironwork..." Graham Greene's masterpiece, The Heart of the Matter, tells the story of a good man enmeshed in love, intrigue, and evil in a West African coastal town. Scobie is bound by strict integrity to his role as
Background:This is my 4th novel by Graham Greene I've recently decided to resume reading his works as many as I can. I first knew him from reading an excerpt from his The Power and the Glory (traditionally typed and roneoed sheets) in one of our English literature courses 40+ years ago. I found reading him simply perplexing to me then, I couldn't help wondering how he wrote superbly and why, his narratives were so powerful that I had to go out at Asia Bookstore in Bangkok on Sukhumvit Road in
The Heart of the Matter, although considered by many one of the best novels ever written, is thought by others a depressing, unhappy story. Certainly, the characters in Greenes book bump and bang into each other, literally bumping off themselves and those in their way, for what they believe is love.Of course, it is about love. Real love. Not Romance, nor what most people think is love. Love isnt sex, nor is it a feeling, nor is it liking someone. Reviewers and readers over the years have
"The truth, he thought, has never been of any real value to any human being--it is a symbol for mathematicians and philosophers to pursue. In human relations kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths. He involved himself in what he always knew was a vain struggle to retain the lies."There are a lot of quotable lines in Greene.He's very good at mapping the territory of despair. His characters are very real, as is the setting. The novel is both cinematic and introspective. I've read only one
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