Often talking about a good spy novel, most people think about Ian Fleming, John Le Carre and more recently Tom Clancy. However, Graham Greene is an often-forgotten master of the genre. Obviously, Greene isn’t going unnoticed as a literary figure in the 20^th Century. He is well known and respected but not necessarily in terms of his work in specific genres. It might just be lack of Hollywood attention these days or the fact that many of his best works including “The Power and The Glory” don’t fit into this genre but he really should be considered alongside Fleming and Le Carre as a pioneer. After all the three writers all share an ability to take readers into the unseen world of espionage with its unique trade crafts and coded messages, but Greene has an ability to skillfully explore a variety of political contexts and educate his audience. Yet, the backdrop rarely takes centre stage as is key with an espionage novel the focus remains on the characters and their relationships which are often to further their own ends.

The Quiet American

My first experience with Graham Greene was in year 12 studying “The Quiet American” which might have been enough for some to avoid an author out of emotional scaring, yet Greene’s style drew me in. It is a perfect example of Greene’s ability to blend a personal story, in this case a love triangle, with the larger context of the French conflict in Vietnam and growing American involvement. Told through the perspective of Thomas Fowler a 50-year-old correspondent that obviously voices many of Greene’s own thoughts towards the idealistic American Alden Pyle, a CIA operative looking to become involved in the escalating situation. As the tension of Pyles growing involvement in the situation in Vietnam builds and disgusts Fowler forcing him to act so does the complexities of the love triangle with Phuong which raises doubt about his own motivations. Overall Greene’s novel intertwines the personal relationships with a central narrative of CIA espionage, assassination, and international politics. As a result, ‘The Quiet American’ is an engaging read but the strength of Greene’s writing here is his description of Vietnam during this period, through Fowler’s experience in a war zone to the streets of Saigon it is a vivid account that not only transports the audience but helps to educate about the political environment and the ideals that contributed to American Involvement. Compared to other espionage novels ‘The Quite American’ goes less into trade craft but focus more on this larger political context however there is still more than enough there to get an understanding of how Pyle operates as part of the CIA. Regardless it is a rich novel and was one of the more engaging works I studied at school, enough so that I continued to read Graham Greene.

The Human Factor

Something similar but at the same time completely different is ‘The Human Factor’ which is the more traditional espionage novel set in the cold war. Here Greene provides readers with an aging MI6 bureaucrat who becomes involved in tracing a leak from the African Station. These events put an end to his hopes for a quiet retirement and he becomes embroiled in the search which quickly escalates. The hunt for the traitor is again interwoven with the personal relationship between Castle, his South African wife, and their escape from the Apartheid regime. This slowly reveals Castle’s personal motives for his actions rather than as he is desperate to protect his family, which creates in his mind a debt. As the circumstances playout there are clandestine meetings, plots, codes, and secret messages to fill any espionage fans desire for trade craft. This is a marked difference with ‘The Quite American’ as is the setting in suburban London with its easy going almost boring banality which reinforces the notion of a hidden world. However, in a vastly different way ‘The Human Factor’ continues to build and draw on a rich political context with the Apartheid in South Africa and the Cold War as a whole. In addition, like Greene’s other novels the focus remains the on personal story and the human relationship rather than the political conflict which remains the context for the narrative. This method makes the novels more relatable and meaningful as the characters are not hero’s expecting to save democracy.

Of course, these two examples are not all that Greene has to offer in the espionage genre, however, demonstrate his approach and his skill at creating character driven narrative that simultaneously deals with a backdrop of big picture historical events.  They are a must for anyone that enjoys a good spy thriller.