And it begins: The Quiet American by Graham Greene

"sooner or later...one has to take sides. If one is to remain human." The Quiet American is the story of Fowler, a bitter English reporter, Pyle an idealistic American working with the 'third force' in Vietnam their friendship and competition over a Vietnamese woman and Vietnam itself.

Readability: Highly readable. The writing is brisk with plenty of dialogue (something I always enjoy) and my edition of the book was only 180 pages long. This is a one-week-in-your-spare-time type book.

Enjoyability (is that a word?): While the subject matter is a bit of a downer (what, you don't like reading about the horrible deaths of civilians in Vietnam?) I still found it a pretty enjoyable read. Course, I'm a nerd for history but even if you're not there's still a love story, mystery, thriller, espionage, and war story thrown in.

Favorite quote(s):

"Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it."

"You and your like are trying to make a war with the help of people who just aren't interested."

"In the moment of shock there is little pain; pain began about three A.M. when I began to plan the life I had still somehow to live and to remember memories in order somehow to eliminate them. Happy memories are the worst, and I tried to remember the unhappy. I was practiced. I had lived all this before."

Favorite character: Thomas Fowler. Fowler is the narrator of The Quiet American. While he certainly has his faults (self-pity, the ever common issues with women, refusal 'to get involved') but his heart is in the right place and I enjoyed his viewpoint and cynicism.

Least favorite character: Phuong--the Vietnamese woman involved with both Fowler and Pyle. It's not really her fault that she's my least favorite character, I simply had problems because we do not get to know her. She is shown simply through the lens of Fowler or Pyle and is not a well developed character of her own right. Maybe Greene wanted to maintain her level of foreign-ness, or maybe he just didn't know how to write about women, but it bothered me.

Social impact: The social impact of this book is incredible and, frankly, a bit creepy. The book was written between 1952 and 1955 during the First Indochina War in Vietnam. It takes place during the transition from French colonialism in the region to the American intervention that led to the Vietnam war. What's creepy about it is the foreshadowing that exists in it for the next two decades of American involvement in Vietnam and the death of European-style colonialism. Also, the two men serve as stand-ins for their countries. Fowler is aging colonial power that doesn't have much power anymore but who doesn't want to see idealistic, powerful and mislead America take their place because, while they may not be perfect, America has no idea what they're doing.
Apparently when this book was originally released in 1955 it was viewed as UnAmerican for its portrayal of Americans, as personified by Pyle.

Greatest impact: I keep thinking of a scene where Fowler is flying with a bomber above north Vietnam. Actually all of the scenes involving war were very well done. Also, the ending is a bit of a shocker.

Recommended for: People interested in the history of conflict in Vietnam, affects of colonialism and American policies in Asia. People who like stogy Englishmen as narrators. Kinda reminded me of a cross between Hemingway and W. Somerset Maughm. Like Hemingway but if he wrote about Asia, or something.


Overall: Great, I'll be checking out other novels by Graham Greene in the future!

Movie Adaptations: This adaptation was made in 2002. I just watched the preview and, while it looks a little corn-tastic and I feel like Brendan Fraser is pretty much never a good choice, it looks to have followed the book reasonably well. Maybe it's worth watching?