The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 1 July 2005
by Graham Greene
This book, first published in 1955, tells the story of a love triangle between Fowler, a dissipated British reporter, Phuong, a quiet Vietnamese woman, and Pyle, a naively patriotic young American. The story is more than that, though, as it is set against the Vietnamese insurgency against French colonial rule in Indo-China, the little-known, and even less-remembered background for America's Vietnam War. Indeed, this book is often cited as being a prophetic foretelling of the events that would follow in the next two decades. Here, the French are fighting Vietnamese fighters of many stripes, including Communists and Nationalists. The Vietnamese were originally emboldened by American support against the Japanese occupation in World War II, but that support evaporated with the return of the French. Then, the Americans, here signified by the naive good intentions of young Alden Pyle, turn against the Communists, quietly supporting a "Third Force" in the ongoing guerilla war.
Fowler and Phuong have a quiet life in Saigon, despite the war. Fowler likes his opium, prepared by the demure young woman. He is married, though, to a devout woman who won't give him a divorce. He is under pressure to return to England, as well. So, when Pyle arrives, freshly scrubbed, from America and falls in love with Phuong himself, Fowler is put in the position of jealous lover, but with the conflict of knowing he can't do anything for her. When the book opens, Pyle has turned up dead, and it is presumed that his CIA activities have turned on him. Along the way, Fowler has had to decide if he is merely a jealous lover, or a man about to take sides in the conflict. Greene here is using Pyle to demonstrate that America's good intentions are no substitute for a deeper knowledge of the peoples in other countries. And here, the book has a haunting relevance for America's actions in Vietnam, and even more so in America's actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pyle is convinced that the triumph of democracy is so purely good that almost any cost is acceptable. Fowler sees a more complex cultural landscape. He knows the cost of providing military support to what are basically gangs of bandits. The book is short and vivid. Phuong's character is pliable and thinly portrayed, heavy with the cultural prejudices Greene brings to a Vietnamese character. But Fowler's predicament is clear and provocative. Recommended.
See Also: [A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler]