The Quiet American

Or perhaps it's that the 1950s lasted 30 years in England. It was plainly still 1955 in England when i spent some months there in 1979, and indeed I suspect that it was 1955 for Graham Greene from the end of World War 2 until the catastrophe of Margaret Thatcher. Greene wrote six books in the '50s or thereabouts: The Third Man (1949), The End of the Affair, Loser Takes All, The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, and A Burnt-Out Case (1960). In none of them was the awkward Quietist Catholicism of his earlier novels sustained; instead both his 'novels' and his 'entertainments' became increasingly anti-colonial in content and critical of both Catholic and Anglo-American values. Throughout his long career, nonetheless, Greene was the most ineffably British of novelists, at least as we readers perceive him through his literary personae, in whom diffidence and arrogance are two faces of the same shilling. The 'narrator' of The Quiet American, the aging British journalist Thomas Fowler, on assignment in French Vietnam, is the epitome of that blend of diffidence and arrogance, the latter politely sheathed by the former. Fowler has a cosy live-in lover, Phuong, a moderate opium dependency, and no desire to return to the UK, to his bitter Anglican wife who refuses him a divorce. At a club with Phuong, he meets Alden Pyle, the "quiet American" of the title, a young, handsome Harvard-grad supposedly in Vietnam on a non-military mission. In fact, Pyle is an OSS agent provocateur, a liaison to the rogue general Trinh Minh The, whom Pyle's superiors perceive as an effective "Third Force" in the war between the French colonialists and the 'communist' Viet Minh. Fowler and Pyle become rivals for 'possession' of Phuong. And that's all I mean to reveal of the plot! This 'triangle of passion' is the skeleton of the novel, but it's Greene's depiction of Alden Pyle that sustains the exceptional interest of the book. Pyle is seemingly a naive idealist, innocent, brash, firmly convinced of the good intentions of his country, committed to the political philosophy of York Harding (an imaginary scholar). There are rumors that Pyle's persona was based on the real-life American Edward Lansdale, a CIA 'counter-insurgency expert' whose interventions in Vietnam, Cuba, and elsewhere qualify him as one of the colorful scoundrels of the 20th C. In any case, Pyle's idealism is of the sort that accommodates slaughter of innocents. To put it bluntly, he's a terrorist, but "our" terrorist. The gauze that separates "idealism" from ideological fanaticism is very thin in Pyle. But Graham Greene is not merely depicting one plausible malefactor -- one who can smile and smile and yet be a villain. Pyle is not only a 'quiet' American; he's an archetypal American, a synecdoche of America as Greene perceived it. "I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused," Fowler says about Pyle; Greene is saying the same about America: "I never knew a People who had better motives for all the catastrophes they caused." Remember that Greene wrote this book before 1955, when it was published, and therefore before the French debacle at Dien Biên Phu. But it reveals what everybody except the American public knew: that America was waiting in the wings to take over the anti-communist crusade in 'Indochina'. Pyle describes explicitly to Fowler what later would be called the "Domino Theory". Pyle's utter inability to grasp the mentality of the Vietnamese would become exactly what led to the inability of Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon to comprehend why America could only 'win' a war in Vietnam by "turning it into a parking lot". In effect, Graham Greene was the most prescient writer since Nostradamus! This little novel is such an accurate prophecy of the American calamity in Vietnam a decade later that, if it had been read carefully in Washington, it might have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Greene's writing is lyrical, the story is perfectly plotted, well-placed. We don't read Graham Greene much in the states anymore, at least that's the way it seems to me. I'd hardly heard of him until a year or so ago. I'm not sure why I picked this up when I did, but I'm glad I did. If he's not read much anymore he should be. In the character Pyle he captures perfectly the naive American brand of globalism and ethnocentric egotism which has gotten us in so much trouble. My one criticism is that the story falls off a little too quickly at the end, but I prefer that to the problem with most novels which seem to go on a little too long chasing their own tails before lying down. All in all, a very worthwhile book, exciting enough to engage, enough characterization to involve you with the characters, and enough history to be good food for thought. And, once again, beautifully constructed prose.

"The Quiet American" is a really interesting and well written novel. It was authored in the 1950s. It is set in Vietnam in the 1950s during fighting that includes the French and predates official American military involvement. The author, Graham Greene is an iconic British author. The protagonist is a British Journalist. The story involves political intrigue, romance, and some adventure. It is not necessarily a fast pacd novel. It is a very well written story that allows for a lot of contemplation. In retrospect it looks like a warning to America about what the future in Vietnam holds. I took my time reading this novel and found it fascinating. This story is the type of novel that is not always a "light read". It is a thinking person's novel. There is some symbolism. I accessed a copy of Spark Notes on line for free and studied the novel as I read. I read chapters and then studied Spark Notes for that chapter. I am glad that I did so. It added to the experience. However the novel is comprehensible without the additional study. I really liked this novel and am quite glad that i read it. In case it matters I also listened on audiobook and read simultaneously. I am glad that I did both. There were times I re read certain episodes that seemed intellectually deep. This is the kind of novel I read when I have time to concentrate. It was both enjoyable and really worth the effort. Thank You...

I read this novel on a cross-country (U.S) flight. It is fast paced and evocative of a time now lost. The book is remarkably prescient, not so much in predicting subsequent events, but more in characterizing the forces that would play a decisive role in the later twentieth century evolution of Vietnam. Fowler, a cynical journalist in French-occupied Vietnam, has his life disrupted when Pyle, and idealistic, impractical American comes on the scene and not only steals his girlfriend, but, fronting for the CIA, backs a Vietnamese general to establish a third force, democracy, to counter the communists and the French colonials, with terrible results. A key subplot involves Fowler's loss and subsequent recovery of his mistress, Phuong. To some degree, the characters and their relationships to one another mirror the stances and actions of their respective countries. One of the book's interesting dynamics is Fowler's introspective dialogue. He views Pyle with cynical disdain. Pyle, on the other hand, wants Fowler to accept him as a friend (he continually presses Fowler to call him by his first name; Fowler resists) and understand and respect his motives. With the Vietnam/French conflict as background environment, the novel seeks to explore the conflict between Fowler and Pyle. Greene provides a realistic description of Vietnam in the early fifties: of Saigon, Haiphong, the villages, the Viet Minh and so forth. The book also contains several descriptions of the casualties of war. The Quiet American is set at a time when revolutionary forces were adopting a Marxist model based on China's successful Communist revolution. The French and British were both trying to maintain a grasp on crumbling empires by resisting revolutionary forces. The Americans opposed the Soviet Union, and the spread of communism throughout the world. The Americans viewed communism as monolithic at the time, and believed in the "Domino Theory," which stated that once Vietnam became communist, the other nations of Southeast Asia would also do so, like a line of falling dominos, each one tipping another. Subsequent events would disprove that theory and prove nationalism to be the more relevant factor. Robert Stone provides an insightful introduction to the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition.

The edges of the book pages are not evenly cut. Binding is tight. overall the quality of the book is ok.

After William Boyd mentioned that Bond wished he had his Graham Greene novel with him in Solo, I was keen to read some of his work. After a quick search on Amazon, the Quiet American came up as a popular novel, so I ordered a copy right away I was excited to start the book, but soon found myself struggling with the writing. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t get into it. This book was written in 1955, so some of the dialogue and vocabulary is not often used in modern day and I think this was where I was struggling. I persevered on and by about page 50, I was totally hooked. I wanted to understand more about Aiden Pyle, his infatuation for Phuong and what he was really doing in Vietnam. The story is great and I can understand why this potentially would be one of the novels read by Ian Flemming’s Bond. I sailed through the pages and needed a few days afterwards to reflect on it all, which to me is a sign of a great read. The story telling, coupled with the whitty dialogue and a great non predictable plot was like nothing I’ve read in a long time. I wholeheartedly recommend reading this book, just be prepared for a slightly tough read at first and you will be rewarded for sticking it out.

Published in 1955, this book by acclaimed author Graham Greene is remarkably prescient. In this account, a jaded British newspaperman has spent years covering the resistance to French colonization in Vietnam. While he has a wife back in England, he has been in a long term relationship with a local Vietnamese woman for years. Then one day a seemingly bright though innocent American shows up, saying he's there to help the Vietnamese people. It soon becomes clear that though this American Pyle had presented himself as a humanitarian, in actuality, he is with American intelligence (it's unclear if the initials CIA were well known in 1955 as they are today; they are never mentioned here). The journalist, Fowler, comes across evidence that Pyle is equipping Vietnamese rebels with material to construct bombs. Fowler confronts him about this, and Pyle's true feelings about the people he is there to "help" become clear. He sees them as children who need the helping hand of the white man to make sure they don't go down wayward paths, for example, by choosing Communism. Things eventually come to a head in dramatic fashion, and one can see how many already thought that Western meddling in these locals was a path to hell. This book is justifiably a classic, and the trope about the "Quiet American" who arrives with the best of intentions and little else is brilliantly introduced by Greene in this book. This book will appeal to fans of classic literature, the Cold War era, or traditional spy fiction.

The same mistakes and bad assumptions that marked our first forays into Vietnam are eerily prescient of the blunder of going to war in Iran

Good sense of humour. The book transports you back in time to the 1950s Saigon under French control. He writes about things that give you clues of what really happened there.

This book is quietly stunning. Littered with glimpses and literary visions of beauty and thoughts of powerful effect, this work of written art will move and entertain the reader in ways unseen for generations. By the end of chapter one, we learn that the American in question (Mr Pyle) is found dead with mud in his lungs under the bridge to Dakow. The one true friend of the deceased - who is also the tale's narrator - is questioned by the local police who speak in an almost incomprehensible combination of French / Vietnamese. He is soon released after identifying the body but even that scene, despite its macabre overtones was hugely entertaining and had strong elements of suspense. Pyle's local girlfriend is compelling in her silence. I look forward to learning more of her (as do the local police, I imagine). So, is the book a whodunit, then? You will have to read it yourself to find out. But is certainly a classic. It is a book for the ages. It is populated by truth, love, vulgarity and brings home the horrors of war and the effect it has on the human condition. I was going to borrow this book from my local library. I weakened at the last minute and purchased it for my e-reader. It has turned out to be the best eleven dollars I have spent for ages. Graham Greene was a genius and has demonstrated his full understanding of what it means to be human. BFN Greggorio!

早川書房から翻訳が出ていますが、原文を（Kindleの力を借りて）読むほうがはるかに堪能できます。単なるアメリカ批判でなく英国の病いも織り込み、深みのある重層的な構造を持った物語になっています。この主人公を「おれ」と訳すのはどうでしょう。「私」としたほうがグリーンの文体に忠実なように思われます。東南アジアの戦乱と、深く入り込んだ欧米との抜き差しならない関係を背景に、ぬぐいきれない白人の病理も、アジア理解の限界も、様々含めての秀作と評価します。

This book has the flavor of slow cooking. Immensely readable and page turningly good. Greene is the master of the understatement and has a gift for observation leaving the enthralled reader comment after savorful comment. The book, unintentionally, helps make sense of geo politics in the modern age. The more things change the more they remain the same.

Historically interesting, but novelistically poor.