Graham
Greene: spy, traveler, Nobel Peace Prize runner-up, chronicler, lover,
inadvertent cinematographer, playwright, author. Whenever Mr. Kiczek brought up
something else that Graham Greene accomplished in his illustrious lifetime, I
immediately thought back to our first day of class. Mr. Kiczek described Greene
as the most interesting man in the world, and I internally scoffed at the
comparison to the Dos Equis guy. The Dos Equis actor is most notable for
founding a charity aimed at preserving Siberian Tigers. Graham Greene has a
three-volume, 2,251 page biography. I’m sorry I scoffed.
In
all seriousness, Greene is by far the best author I’ve read. I know this
because I strongly disliked the plots
of “The Power and the Glory” and “The Heart of the Matter,” yet still marveled
at Greene’s writing after finishing them. Greene develops his characters in a
fashion that is both subtle and powerful, a contradictory structure that
mirrors his characters’ personalities. Indeed, Greene is the only author I have
ever read who transcribes the complexities of humans onto his characters. Many
authors use characters as representatives of an abstract theme, which
unfortunately often leads to one-dimensional characters that can be fully
figured out by the end of the book. Greene wrote in the Quiet American that one
human being can never fully know another. Greene applies this concept to his
characters, who, as Kyle noted, are contradictory and unpredictable.
Hilarious music and old school Green Day (y)
To reiterate what Andrew, Josh, and
Dan said: thank you for offering this elective and sharing your knowledge of Graham Greene with us, Mr. Kiczek.
3 comments:
Mr. Dimichele has two predictions about Regis alumni. I don’t know what the first one is, but the second one is that by the time they are freshmen in college, every Regian will think that Kurt Vonnegut is the greatest author in the world. I can’t claim to be an expert on either Graham Greene or Kurt Vonnegut, but I have read both of them. Here’s the thing about Vonnegut – great writer, but if I don’t like what he’s writing, I can’t get through it. I remember trying to read Breakfast of Champions and Slapstick, and I couldn’t do it. Not to take anything away from the novels or Vonnegut, but I didn’t like them and I couldn’t get through them. My experience with Greene was different. I think Tom hit the nail on the head when he said that he wasn’t a huge fan of The Power and the Glory or The Heart of the Matter but still loved Greene’s writing and characterization. In my opinion, even though I too was not crazy about The Heart of the Matter, it’s a novel worth reading. I think that I would have finished it had I been reading for pleasure.
Forgot to say: hope we can prove Mr. Dimichele wrong. We can't let him win.
I have to say, I agree with Tom that plot is not Graham Greene's strong point. The "entertainments" are largely more entertaining plot-wise, but Greene's true literary works don't focus on action. Instead, to use overly-complicated language, each of Greene's works is a sort of commentary on the human condition. Take The Power and the Glory, for example: a story about a priest wandering around communist Mexico might not sound very exciting. However, the real aim of the book was an exploration of the role of the Church, the meaning of sin, and the prerequisites for redemption. In short, Greene is focusing his efforts not on plot and action, but on theme and philosophy. And while this might not make for the most exciting story, for me it always leads to a greater understanding of the character that Greene works so hard to bring to life, as well as an understanding of the broader themes that he covers in each of his works.
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