The Quiet American (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Given the history of Southeast Asia (the former "French Indochina"), it's interesting that Greene has chosen a Brit to square off against an idealistic American.

Is that because the British world view is Graham's professional voice? Is it because of the "Special Relationship" between the United Kingdom and the United States to which politicians on "both sides of the pond" constantly refer, making Fowler's reactions to Pyle and his ultimate decision all the more riveting? Is it due to the fact that, at the time Greene wrote this powerful novel, the sun was starting to set on the British Empire and Greene wanted to draw a contrast between his own country's slowly waning influence and America's post-war ascendancy?

Casting a Frenchman in place of Fowler's character certainly would have been more historically on-point and could have led to even more friction with Pyle, although readers in both Britain and America might have found that character less sympathetic, and might therefore have been less troubled by some of the final developments in the story.

But, regardless of the citizenship of Greene's colonialist, "The Quiet American" very artfully explores the important issue of the point at which an individual feels he is compelled to act on his core convictions, even in the face of strong indebtedness to another human being.

The Quiet American (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
"I'm too old to run with a rifle. And this isn't my war"

Graham Greene's exploration of the French Indochina Wars evokes memories for me of Saigon, the media's coverage of the war, and my own participation as a military journalist (now there's an oxymoron if there ever was one)
Written in 1955, "The Quiet American" precedes US involvement by ten years, but it accurately forecast the gradual insinuation of US influence through the CIA, for which Pyle presumably worked. The story works on several levels: as a romantic novel in which the older man, Fowler, duels with Pyle for the affection of the Vietnamese girl Phuong; as an indictment of French and British colonialism; and as an allegory of war.
Fowler is the British expatriate - middle aged, cynical, addicted to his opium pipe, and detached. Pyle is the young, college-educated American covert operative, ostensibly working for the Economic Attaché, but probably involved in arms deals. (One of his shipments, imported under the guise of economic aid, actually is plastics - probably explosives.)
In one pivotal scene, Fowler travels north to see the action with his own eyes, rather than through the prism of French public relations. Pyle hitches a ride and joins him - then, in a masterful dramatic scene, prevails on Fowler to let him, Pyle, take Phuong.
Unlike the American journalists, who spend their days listening to official explanations, and their nights drinking at the bar at the Continental Hotel (where I, too, drank in the evenings), Fowler wants to get out in the field. When he travels north, he finds evidence that things aren't going as well as the French High Command would have him believe:
"Now, after four days, with the help of parachutists, the enemy had been pushed back half a mile around the town. This was a defeat: no journalists were allowed, no cables could be sent, for the papers must carry only victories. "
Fowler perceived what few others did:
"We are the old colonial peoples, Pyle, but we've learned a bit of reality. We've learned not to play with matches. This Third Force - it comes out of a book, that's all. General The's only a bandit with a few thousand men; he's not a national democracy"
It was as if he had been staring at me through a letterbox to see who was there, and now, letting the flap fall, had shut out the unwelcome intruder. His eyes were out of sight." I don't know what you mean, Thomas."
"Those bicycle bombs. They were a good joke, even though one man did lose a foot. But Pyle, you can't trust men like The'. They aren't going to save the east from Communism. We know their kind."
"We?'
"The old colonialists."
"I thought you took no sides."
"I don't, Pyle, but if someone has got to make a mess of things in your outfit, leave it to Joe. Go home with Phuong. Forget the Third Force."

Pyle's naïve faith in the ability of the people to forge their own destiny echoes more recent American intervention in foreign affairs.

This novel describes the condescension and naivete held by Americans and Europeans to the ever evolving world of Vietnam in the 1950's.

In an American household of the 21st century, and after having lived a full decade of experiencing the wrath of our war in that terminable part of the world, Americans much better understand what makes and is employed by the people and leaders of that area than the characters of this novel.

Almost entirely written through the perspective of British journalist Thomas Fowler, we learn that his cynical eye and self-declared neutrality of the happenings in Vietnam's nascent hell are untrue. This novel delves most principally on a delicate and obscure relationship between Fowler and Alden Pyle, a Harvard educated young and modest Bostonian who is entering this land as a greenhorn who soberly encounters his "first job" with open eyes in regard to business, social circles as well as women. Fowler is almost the opposite, a has-been journalist whose basic aspiration is to write as little as possible to keep his meal ticket alive, and use as many wakening hours to smoking opium pipes filled and served by indigenous beauties who are half his age.

Fowler, full of vices and bad moral character, at least can perceive his own imperfections well - something that his counterpart cannot. And, this is where the book drifts to places which we do not think it will go.

The inexact temporal procession of this book takes us back in time and forward in time, sometimes by chapter (other times by clumps of chapters), between the defining moments of the novel: Before and after Pyle's death. Fowler is caught up in the investigation of the untimely death (murder) as the two very different men had one love - beautiful and abiding Phuong.

Not until one occasion arises does the ordinarily stupored Fowler awaken. People are dying all around him. But, that is not a problem. He awakens when one day he witnesses innocent women and children sacrificed. Bombs are being left in public places to kill others so as to infuriate the masses about Communists - only the delivery of the bombs is not by Communist plot. Instead, it is the foe of Communism, a wicked general, who sacrifices his own people so as to increase his personal value, make his cause more celebrated, and make him a personal leader in the otherwise fully doomed society which all involved people know will succumb to Communism.

This book is great in contrasting a young well-educated American idealist with a middle-aged street-smart cynical Brit. The dialogue is superb. And, the mystery-like following of Pyle's death is alluring.

Set during the French War in Vietnam, "The Quiet American" is a multifaceted story told in the words of Thomas Fowler, a cynical British correspondent and one of the novel's two main characters. The story involves a struggle between Fowler and Pyle, an American undercover operative and Fowler's romantic rival. Pyle and Fowler hold opposing views of the war, love, God and democracy. Whatever matters to man, they disagree about. Fowler, whose vision of reality stifles his belief in ideals, emerges as a romantic and ideological rival of Pyle, whose ideals blind him to reality. America's Cold War policy in Southeast Asia is critically presented in the person of Pyle. Masterfully written, Graham Greene confronts us with two flawed, stereotypical characters and leaves us to determine the hero and the villain. I still have not made up my mind. A work which can leave the reader in such a quandary is a great work of art. Read and form your own conclusions.

Into the intrigue and violence of Indo-China comes a young, idealistic and quiet American called Pyle who is employed in the Economic Aid Mission. He is sent there to promote democracy through a mysterious Third Force. But his naïve optimism about democracy starts to cause deaths and his friend the cynical British foreign correspondent Thomas Fowler finds it hard to stand aside and watch. As Fowler intervenes, he wonders whether it is for the sake of politics or for his love for the young Phuong.

Commissioned during the 1950s to write an article on guerrilla warfare in Malaya, Graham Greene stopped off in Vietnam to visit a friend, and soon fell under the spell of Indo-China. This novel is a result of his love for the country, inspired by his experiences there. Although the political situation has changed dramatically, The Quiet American continues to reflect accurately and powerfully the problems of war and the people involved in it.

While Graham Greene's writing is noticeably without flashiness, it is also without flaws. Always subtle and graceful, with each novel he wrote he quietly established himself as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. The Quiet American is no exception. It is a perfectly balanced novel. Greene expertly juxtaposes the character of Fowler, the British journalist, with Pyle, the American aid worker. Fowler is older, more reserved, more experienced. Pyle is young, more ambitious, and seemingly more naive. Fowler lives his life by the journalist's number one rule - stay impartial, don't take sides, just report what you see. Pyle, by contrast, is passionate about making a difference in the struggle against communism in Vietnam. They serve as beautiful foils for one another, and together they guide the reader through a profound exploration of the importance of being committed to a cause. As Greene writes, one must eventually take sides in order to truly live. This book is also an elegant comparison of two different cultures. One learns lots about Vietnam within minutes of arriving, Greene points out. And it is also a tender love story, though not a traditional one. Greene masterfully blends this love story with a powerful and morally complex political scenario in a way that few modern writers could pull off. As with all of Greene's work, this is excellent fiction.

This novel written between 1953 and 1955 has been made into a new film, which has been recently released by Miramax. This is the story about the early stages of the American involvement in Vietnam. Although simplistic, it captures the essence of the political turmoil of Vietnam in the fifties: the French trying to hang on to their colony, the Americans trying their hands in a new country, the "third force", the communists, the peasants, and so on.
It deals with an American idealist, Pyle, who without knowing its true colors tried to help the "third force" fight the communists in Vietnam. Fowler, a seasoned English reporter questioned Pyle's real motives. He suspected, like the British had done in Burma years earlier, the Americans would soon get tired of the involvement, leave the natives fight for themselves, and let them be slaughtered by their enemies. This was a fascinating prediction, which came to be true 30 years later. How Graham Greene could predict that event back then still puzzles me? The plot, however, thickened as Pyle tried to lure away Fowler's Vietnamese mistress.
I have to concede the novelist had more insight than many of our politicians. Since the novel raises important issues, it should be a "must read" book for many Americans.

'The Quiet American' is set in Vietnam in the early-mid 1950's. The French have just begun to realize the futility of trying to help the mass illiterate embrace democracy, all the while fighting an increasingly costly jungle styled war against insurgents.

This is the story of Fowler and Pyle (the quiet American ). Fowler is an English reporter and has been covering the war for some time, while Pyle is newly arrived and attached to the American diplomatic branch; a presence which is just starting to become involved in this area of south east Asia. Their paths cross, initially over a girl, and then later through a series of events, causing their destinies to become entwined in ways neither could foresee. Fowler is the main focus of the book, with Pyle dropping in and out just enough to add new twists and developments to the situations that arise.

It is a tale of love, lust, intrigue, espionage, and some misguided (misguided, depending on which side your on) ideological thinking. Throw in an occasional skirmish or two and you've got a tense, psychological thriller.

Conclusion:
I really enjoyed this book. It was in all honesty, a little slow to get into, but somehow, great stories are often like that. Hard to put down...very well done.
5 Stars.

Ray Nicholson

This book is one of the best examples of Graham Greene's gift of weaving a personal story, usually centered around a rather ordinary and unattractive character, into the events of a country in conflict. Resist the temptation to read too much about the U.S. effort in Vietnam (or, if you prefer, the current Iraq situation) into Greene's description of the French-Vietminh conflict; it's a great novel, not a prophetic political analysis. What does apply is Greene's scorching characterization of Alden Pyle, the title character, a young Foreign Service officer (or more likely an intelligence operative under diplomatic cover) who too enthusastically applies his classroom-only theories to a nation and culture he does not understand, with terrible consequences. As the protagonist/narrator, Fowler, remarks, in one of Greene's perfectly turned phrases, "I never knew a man with such good motives for all the harm he did." Working in Washington, I've met Alden Pyle's near-clones all too many times. So, apparently, did Robert McNamara, who said in his book, _In Retrospect_, that one of the biggest causes for the U.S. debacle in Vietnam was that the analysts who really knew Southeast Asia had too much trouble making their views heard at the decision level. Doctrine, often inapplicable, prevailed over knowledge. This book should be required reading for prospective diplomats, intelligence analysts and military officers about to be posted overseas. Ignorance and arrogance make a dangerous mixture, anywhere, any time. What makes this novel more than a political polemic or an ordinary love triangle story is Greene's deftly leading us into looking over Fowler's shoulder as he wrestles with a difficult moral judgment, confounded by his own admittedly selfish motives. In Greene's portayals of the world, nobody is perfect, but moral choices still get made, with real consequences. Those who think there are nice neat theories that explain everything should read Greene and learn. And, by the way, the story is entertaining, as well, and the descriptions of places most of us have never seen are riveting.

Greene's "The Quiet American" describes the brief, but astoundingly full relationship between Thomas Fowler, a British war correspondent-slash-expatriate, and Arden Pyle, an innocent and naive American desk soldier in 1950's Vietnam. The novel tells of how Pyle tries to usurp the affections of Phuong, a local woman from a tired, but comfortable relationship with Fowler.
Simultaneously, Pyle is engaged in secretive dealings with a local thug in an attempt to drive French and Vietminh forces out of power - in an effort to establish a puppet government friendly to American interests.
Graham Greene shows why he is one of the single greatest authors of the 20th century. His understanding of cultures and grasp of the current of his contemporary geopolitics is astounding from one novel to the next. In this light, "The Quiet American" is an interesting fictional look at Vietnam in the years preceding the Vietnam Conflict.
The book is yet another of Greene's profound first-person confessionals in the manner of "The End of the Affair" and is well worth a read.

This is THE story about the beginnings of America's involvement in the mess that became the Vietnam War. Graham Greene had future vision and even in 1955 knew what would happen. He both explains and predicts the future in The Quiet American, a beautiful book set in Vietnam in the 50s. The book is told from the point of view of Fowler, an aging British journalist. Fowler's beautiful but opportunistic Vietnamese mistress, Phuong (who is herself a metaphor for the country itself), is coveted and for a while, claimed by a seemingly innocuous American named Pyle. Slowly, Pyle's real purpose in the country is discovered, and Fowler's servant upsets his determinedly neutral, uninvolved stance by saying, "There comes a time when you must choose sides."
Absolutely wonderful, profoundly thought-provoking, multi-layered book.

It's repeated as though those who say it still believe it: "Americans are so naïve that they're amazed when they find out no one likes them." Were this true, one can only imagine the wicked jolt of pleasure it would give anyone who isn't fond America to remind you of it. For the record...and my, how I do hate to break it to you this way: there aren't anymore Americans who think everyone loves them. Keep saying it if it fits into whatever scheme you have in your head, but that creature no longer exists.

Graham Greene, who had a dislike of Americans himself, carries us back 50 years to Viet Nam and allows us an insight into the beginnings of what happens to be the definitive question of the day. Americans: should we love them, hate them, protect them or kill them? Choose #2 or #4, or a combination of the two, and you're in a club that is very nearly about to start turning away new recruits due to overcrowding. Greene apparently felt so deeply about it that he made the anti-American pilgrimage to tip his hat to El Caballo himself just 90 miles off of the coast of Florida. What I think of that doesn't matter.

This is a masterful tale of a British correspondent, Fowler, and his dealings with the American agent, Alden Pyle. If there is a failing in this story, it would be that the character Pyle is very nearly overloaded with a naivety that would simply be unbelievable in a real person carrying out his shady mission. I realize that he is a meant to represent the idealism of a nation not only an individual, but it's just a tad too much. The thing less mentioned, I think, is how we come to get so many insights into Pyle through the eyes of jaded Fowler. Could Greene have been, whatever his personal inclinations, acknowledging that while his view of America was tainted, that view wasn't coming from anything like a neutral source? England was watching a new kid come into the scene that was about to steal it's thunder and there wasn't much to do but grumble.

Whichever side you take on this question, you'll put this book down thinking "This is why I read."

Graham Greene spent four springs of his life as a journalist in Indochina and this fine, intelligent novel is an account of his experiences there. It's also a disturbing prophecy of the awful mess that was to be American involvement in Vietnam. It's also a study of friendship and betrayal, of youthful American idealism and mature British jadedness,of indifference and commitment. It is written in spare, elegant prose and the gaunt style has a journalistic immediacy that perfectly fits the subject and the characters without diminishing the emotional complexity.It is a major novel by one of the century's major writers and it hasn't dated; on the contrary,it has a disturbing contemporary feel.

The Quiet American is one of those books that entangles you from page 1, infuriates you at page 100, and leaves you enamored at its end. Graham Greene's is a spectacular tour of Vietnamese heritage, French imperialism, American espionage and borderless stories of lust, love, envy and idealism. The characters of Pyle and Fowler are so beautifully juxtaposed - and Phuong, a dependent between these men, emerges with the familiar power of women in this nation.

I am an avid traveler, and one that loves to devour a classic work of fiction whilst in the setting. I have spent a significant amount of time in Vietnam, reading this book on my first visit in part at the square cafe of the Continental Hotel in Saigon - the site that features so prominently as the social, commercial and political centre of Saigon during French rule - and in part at the Bamboo Bar of the Metropole - a space that is consumed with the architectural charm and elegance of that moment in history. For those of you going to the country, I cannot recommend it enough.

The Quiet American is my favorite Graham Greene novel, despite "The Power and the Glory" being widely held as his masterpiece. In typical Greene style, Vietnam of the mid 50's is painted vividly as seen through the eyes of Fowler, a British journalist covering the war when the only western power involved was a crumbling colonial France.

Fowler is a vestige of what our Rumsfield might have called "old Europe". He is old, tired, urbane but practical. His world weariness also makes him corruptible. He shares a flat with a Vietnamese national named Phuong, Vietnamese for Phoenix. He is good to her and she enables him, but to call what they share love would be rather too strong a word.

Enter Pyle, young healthy CIA buck from the States. Pyle is idealistic as he is naive. Like a baby gorilla, he seems to be wholly unaware of his strength. Acting on a wave of badly informed idealism, Pyle wreaks havoc on the tenuous equilibrium of those trapped in a war zone. The helpless Phuong is particularly vulnerable, but like her namesake, she and her country will rise again from the destruction ravaging the land.

At publication, this novel was perceived as anti-American and roundly criticized in this country. Like the Vatican's denouncement of the whisky priest in Greene's "The Power and the Glory", one tends to think that the offences were caused by Greene's rendering of a cowardly priest and naive American being dead-on. The irony is that the American backlash to the perceived slight did cause Greene to dislike Americans: a case of life imitating art imitating life.

This is an outstanding book, and the last 50 years has only made it more powerful. It is the drama of global policy played out by sympathetic and flawed humans.

The "Quiet American" is set in mid-1950s colonial Vietnam. The author, a Brit, does an excellent job in setting the scene and characters. Virtually everything is appropriate to what must have been the time and place. Therein lies the diffficulty with the novel. While very well written, with sharp, cynical dialog, it is all too easy to read too much into "QA". There are all kinds of opportunities to behold allegorical references in Alden Pyle (the namesake),Vigot(the French detective), Fowler(the cynical Brit journalist) and especially Phoung, the young Saigon woman. Poor Phoung!! She and that sister will outlive us all. Armed with 20/20 historical hindsight, how easy it is to proclaim that "QA" is prophetic and prescient! If only LBJ had read it! Or Nixon!! This reviewer (and Vietnam vet) is a bit more cynical.The devil's advocate in me might state that Greene merely wrote a superior novel, set in Vietnam, but with nothing more added. Pyle, Phoung and the whole crew represent no one other than themselves. The story can stand quite capably on its' own two feet. with no "historical perspectives" required. The conflict between these views is the essence of "QA". I have to mention a classic line from the plot: "The French Army controlled the highways until 7PM. After that, they controlled the watch towers".That was Vietnam in a sentance. Every night our unit went back to our base camp, closed the gates and posted guys in the guard towers. Vietnam is a scary place after sundown and Charley (the Viet Cong or "Victor Charley") ran the place after dark. The headline is borrowed from my buddy, Jim Lydlle, the chaplain's assistant. Of the 2 opinions above, I prefer the latter. "QA" is not prophecy. It takes an American or a Frenchman to capture the essence of Indochina, just as I believe only Brits and Irishmen can write about Ireland. Readers wishing to appreciate the fascinating French Vietnamese period should pounce on "Street Without Joy" by the late Bernard Fall. The reader able to ignore all these constraints will enjoy "The Quiet American" on its'own merits. Too many constraints?. Welcome to Vietnam!

This is a short book but to readers of Graham Greene, yet another star in his galaxy of literary output. It gave me a good historical perspective of the Vietnam war and filled in some blanks but it is still Graham Greene's writing and analysis of human nature and motives that rise above the setting of the book. This book does not particularly flatter American motives but does not denigrate them either. So, it is not 100% correct to say that this work does not flatter America. Greene has a remarkable talent to see good in the sordid and (seems to me, anyway) that he is forgiving of a lack of moral clarity not because as a Catholic one must but from an intellectual standpoint that even the best of us err all the time. Indeed, the very concept of moral right being the best is questioned sometimes, in this as well as several of his books. Teaches one a lot of humility when it comes to judging others.
Arun Mahajan, Palo Alto, California

Greene wrote so many good books it is hard to pick a "best". But, surely, if MORE Americans had read this book in the late 50s, maybe the Vietnam War mess could have been avoided. Such a tragic and nonsensical war.

Only the great Graham Greene could have written a story that is as wry and understated as it is prophetic. "The Quiet American" captures several different attitudes during Vietnam's transition from French colonial occupation to American "involvement". In this novel the French do what they do best, namely they undertake a hopeless struggle and experience painful defeat. The Americans enter the scene with grandiose plans, tons of money, and utterly no sense of reality. The Vietnamese are, of course, hard-edged and practical, while the lone Englishman-God bless him-is the epitome of dying yet dignified colonialism.
For those of you who haven't read the book, its both an odd love story and a metaphor for American involvement in Vietnam. The hero, Fowler is a washed up, middle aged, English war correspondent, content with his opium pipe and his Vietnamese mistress, Phuong. His world is gradually disrupted by the arrival of an American covert operative named Pyle who is both a zealous ideologue and a naïve optimist. Things get complicated when Pyle steals Phuong away from Fowler, yet attempts to remain friends with him. The normally indifferent Fowler soon becomes morally repulsed by Pyle's seemingly well intended terrorist activities, and gradually becomes politically involved. By the time Fowler helps to engineer Pyle's murder it is unclear even to him whether he is doing so to help the Vietnamese people or to win Phuong back.
"The Quite American" explores several different concepts. Like many of Greene's novels and short stories it examines the peculiar morality of love. Fowler and Phuong form a strange symbiosis. Fowler is estranged from is English wife, and is old enough to be Phuong's father. His affection for her is unabashedly sexual and certainly not made for day time TV in the U.S. Phuong's attachment to both Fowler and Pyle is based more on practical reasons than on love. Greene never passes judgement any of the trio. And when Fowler wins Phuong back in the end, he is left-like so many of us-with a lingering doubt about his motives and actions.
Equally interesting is Greene's exploration of the politics of Southeast Asia in the 1950s and particularly, the shifting balance of power from European colonialism to American military and economic involvement. Pyle, who is probably based on the real life American operative, Landsdale devoutly worships the books of an intellectual whose thinking bears strong resemblance to that of George Kennan. As the French wrap up their losing streak, the Americans enter the scene with blind stupidity, you can't help but cringe at disaster to come.
I loved this book for its intelligent grasp of love and politics. Like many of Greene's other works, this one contains a genius for characterization.

I often like to pick up books that are called "classics because they almost always have something intriguing about them. This is definitely true of The Quiet American. Greene's writing is clear and oh-so-British, capturing the hubris of both English and American foreign policy in the 1950's. The English foreign policy sees itself as removed and benevolent but is actually condescending and patristic. The American foreign policy is either crude and full of bluster or naïve and full of danger in its naitivity. How true these portraits still are today, as can be seen in American intervention in places like the Middle East. This novel is truly prophetic and rings so true. This is important reading, even almost sixty years after its initial publication. The more things change the more they stay the same.

I am a published writer myself and Graham Greene is one of the masters I admire most. I am not sure there is a living writer today that has his command of the English language or his understanding of the human heart.

Set in French colonial Vietnam in the 1950s on the eve of the French overthrow, the book portrays the evolution of a love triangle: a jaded, cynical, opium addict British journalist (Thomas Fowler), the soft-spoken, intellectual, and idealistic quiet American (Alden Pyle), and a young Vietnamese girl (Phoung). Fowler and Phoung are lovers but Pyle steals the girl away from Fowler but winds up dead in the river. Fowler is suspected of the murder. He recalls memories of Pyle, narrating past events involving himself, Pyle, and Phoung. Phoung is highly desired by Fowler even though he takes her for granted whereas Pyle views her as a delicate flower to be protected. But the character of Phoung is weakly developed in the book and she comes around as an opportunist.

Running parallel to the plot are political themes: communism, colonianism, and American foreign policies in the region. The novel touches on the horrors of war in a third world country: the class distinctions of colonianism, opium addiction, brothels, death, and destruction.

It is clear throughout the book that Fowler dislikes Pyle and makes sweeping statements like, "The only quiet American is a dead American." There are numerous instances where Fowler makes disparaging statements about Americans in a third world country so that the novel became widely known for its anti-American sentiment.

The book is good and skillfully written, as befits a work by a famous author like Greene. I highly recommend this book.

So said the main character (and narrator) Fowler about himself in an attempt to thwart his promotion to the position of editor, away from the French war in Indo China, and his mistress Phuong.

And a true assessment of himself it may have been, if things had remained as they were. But once Pyle, the naïve, quiet American with his eye on the selfsame Phuong, and his dangerous political meddling enters the scene, Fowler ceases to be a mere spectator, and enters the real world of action with all that it entails. This, then, is the factual gist of, for me, Graham Greene's greatest novel.

It contains everything one has come to admire in Greene: an absolute economy of words, character developed through action and terse dialogue rather than descriptive language, all set within (what has seemingly become an unavoidable cliché when discussing his novels) an intriguing moral dilemma. So he breaks no new ground here, but rather perfects that which he does well to an exceptional degree.

And as always, nothing is ever simple. Ambiguities attach to everything we do, as Fowler discovers, when he does what he considers to be the expedient, just thing re the quiet American. Public and private morality dovetail in Pyle's fate, which Fowler suddenly can determine in one single act, which he does. So the world-weary Fowler ceases to be a mere reporter, and attains everything what he wanted in one fell swoop. And then, in a breathtaking turn-around the jaded, cynical observer Fowler is brought to this in the last sentence of the novel;

..but how I wished there existed someone to whom I could say that I was sorry.

which, when I read it for the first time, carried me over the threshold of the Christian Faith, in the joyous realization that such a Someone does exist.

Graham Greene wrote this novel in 1955. It's set in the early fifties when Vietnam was still Indo-China and there was a war raging between the French and the Vietnamese. It's obvious he's worried about the future and American involvement, and this theme resonates throughout the book as well as gives an eerie foreshadowing of what we all know happened later. At only 188 pages, it's a seemingly simple story of mystery, adventure and love. But it's also a story of a people, a place and a time as well as a warning about the future.
Thomas Fowler, the narrator, is a hardened British war correspondent. He in a relationship young Vietnamese woman named Phuong, enjoys his opium pipes, and manages to get along with his fellow correspondents. Suddenly, a young naïve American, named Alden Pyle, arrives in Vietnam, supposedly as an aid worker. When he declares his love for Phuong, the plot thickens. But this is just one facet of the story as both men are thrust into the war, viewing the meaningless deaths around them and coming very close to death themselves. Pyle's mission to Indo-China becomes increasingly suspect, and as Fowler discovers one clue after another, the conclusion is inevitable.
I was immediately drawn into the story, which sets up a mystery and keeps the reader wondering until the very end. At the same time, the three main characters are deeply developed, not only as to their individualisms, but also as to their national character. The British correspondent takes a caustic view of the world; the American is effusive and idealistic, and the Vietnamese woman is stoic. They move around in a Vietnam where the French are fast losing their hold, and everyone knows that change is going to happen.
I loved this book. Every word reverberated with a truth that existed when it was written, and which proved to be a prophesy of things to come. It also enriched my understanding of the dark period in history that followed. Highly recommended.

I thought this was a very good book to read. It's obvious that Greene is not a fan of the United States and that to him the overwhelming majority of Americans are idealistic and naive do gooders who blindly believe their way is the only way, even if people get hurt. As an American, I can admit there is some truth in what Greene says...I can see that when my country looks in the mirror, but his perspective on the US comes through in an over the top way at times.

That said, the story is a quick and enjoyable read and the characters are well done. I think it's a book that most will enjoy and that any young service member who is being posted abroad should read.

Some people hate this book, but what they really detest is the antihero protaganist, Fowler, a jaded and decaying British journalist observing a naive American, Pyle, slowly immersing himself in Vietnam. Written in the fifties, it can be seen as a prophetic symbol of the futility of our Southeast Asia policies, as well as an indictment of latent American messianic romanticism. The two characters are apt symbols of his nation, although peripheral characters should also be thought of as relevant when considering the novel's characterization of national characters. The toothless collapse of the European imperialistic mission, and the beginning of the end of ours.

Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American is an expressive illustration of the interconnection of personal agendas and politics into an action. This action would later be transformed into none other than history itself. Focusing on the events of the earlier part of what would become the Vietnam War, Greene delves into what not many other of his colleagues at the time would dare. He informs the public in such a brilliant way of what exactly is going on, raising the more general question- `Is it possible to be completely unbiased and detached from a situation whose images are repeatedly shown to you on a daily basis?'
The reader is immediately introduced to three characters Fowler, Phuong, and Pyle. Greene does an especially brilliant job in creating these three characters to be paralleled to their respective countries. Fowler plays the part of the neutral observer, and embodies the British attitudes towards the Vietnam. He is especially firm to stand by his feelings of being absolutely unbiased towards the situation. Phuong is presented as a submissive, naïve, and delicate woman of Vietnam, the general attitude America held towards the country itself. Pyle epitomizes America through his aggressiveness and the air that can only be defined as a WASP. He is very well educated though it is made extremely clear not at all knowledgeable of consequence. Greene, using these parallels, is able to sculpt a story of the personal conflict of love, the greater conflict of war, and the ethics involved in a choice which will ultimately lead into an action affecting more than oneself.
Greene unravels his story in such a fashion to give the reader information concerning each life involved. He does not give a one sided account covering up the destruction of a nation, speaking about a peaceful involvement to end Communism as the greater American government would have liked him to. He asks the reader to take a step back in his or her own life and truly reconsider his action, or lack of action.
Through the course of the novel the reader views Fowlers transformation from innocent bystander to active involvement in something greater than himself. Fowler's step to action is admirable, but we're also questionable of his intention. Greene uses Fowler as a prime example that our larger decisions which will affect a world are not always as pure as we would like to believe. He shows that regardless of how genuine and selfless we wish to be at any point in time, we all are still guilty of that droplet of our personal agenda underneath it all. History is not made from reaction to raw facts, rather the physical social interactions between people.
The Quiet American is a necessary read, especially during this period of history. As America continues conflict in Iraq, the ideas provoked by Greene's words are crucial in the understanding of what the American government might again be failing to thoroughly express to the greater public. More importantly, The Quiet American shows the significance of understanding the full story, rather than one nation's view of that story. Rather than simply watching the news every once in awhile, or picking up the paper every Sunday to exclusively read the front page stories, Greene begs for the interaction of the individual and his own history.
Simply stated, The Quiet American is a must read for anyone who wishes to take the challenge of stepping back, listening, understanding that everything you've been fed may not be the entire story, and that the full story may only be attainable through personal inquiry and action.

In this thoughtful and complex story, author Graham Greene presents us with three main characters; narrator Thomas Fowler, Alden Pyle, and Phuong. These three characters are connected to the Vietnam War in different ways. Pyle is from Boston, Fowler, from England, and Phuong is a native to Vietnam.
Each character in a way represents the country from which they come. Pyle, like America, is just getting involved with the War, thinking that he is bringing new, helpful ideas with him to benefit the Vietnamese. Phuong, like Vietnam, is simply trying to live life the best that she can. Fowler is from the only neutral country of the three. He does not agree with the war and he thinks that the Vietnamese just want to be able to "grow rice" and interact with each other pleasantly without the interference of countries that don't know them. However, he wants to remain disengaged from the war as much as he can, while still reporting/keeping an eye on it.

Alden Pyle, the "quiet American", is an interesting character. He is portrayed as an incredibly naïve, young patriot who has somehow gotten himself involved in something that he knows very little about. He seems to have absolutely no idea of how to function intelligently in the extremely unpredictable and potentially dangerous Vietnam.
Fowler is the passive, cynical journalist in Vietnam to submit war stories and experiences that will then be printed in England. He is clearly wise when it comes to knowing how to live and what to do during such shaky, uncertain days in Vietnam. Seemingly the exact opposite from Pyle, yet they become friends the first time they meet. Fowler finds a lighthearted amusement in Pyle's intense ignorance, but he also sees the danger he faces because of this.
Phuong, (pronounced Fong) though a comparably minor character, has one of the most important parts. She is the cause of Pyle's fate.
Though she could easily be Fowler's daughter, she and Fowler connect in an extremely meaningful way. She is what makes Fowler human; she is what brings out his passion and feeling. Generally narrating in an unemotional, apathetic way, Fowler sneaks in lines such as; "...we [Fowler and Phuong] sat in silence, content to be together" (33) and "It didn't seem much for the end of the working day, but, after all, he [Pyle] had had Phuong" (29) which reveal his strong feelings for Phuong.
The Quiet American is an eloquent story that depicts the ways in which three people make lives for themselves and survive (or don't) in the war-absorbed country of Vietnam. The three characters experience a war of their own when Pyle admits his love of Phuong to Fowler, who then gives him the go-ahead to confess these feelings to Phuong. This would not have been an issue if Fowler had been able to marry Phuong. Though he desperately desires to marry her, Fowler is married to a die-hard Catholic back in England. All Fowler needs is his wife to agree to divorce him. Though it starts out as innocently as it possibly could, this fight over Phuong develops during the course of the story into an intense battle and ultimately one character's downfall.
I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The characters were perfectly constructed and it was extremely well-written. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys anything good.

I have recently re-read this classic book, and it is both a marvelous exploration of the human condition and an incisive look at how dangerous the ignorant idealistic zealot can be--the sort of person who can excuse the deaths of innnocent people in a country he has decided to bring democracy to by saying that they were "just war casualties" (regretable but inevitable) and also that they "died for democracy"--whether they wanted to or not. This is as timely now as when it was written.

When this was published in the 50's, very few people had any idea of the depth of involvement of the U.S. Gov't in other countries' political processes/revolutions. Today, the covert operations and imperialist conceits of Greene's novel read, though much more interestingly written, much like so many newspaper stories of fact written since. Few novelists can compare to Greene; in weaving webs of bureaucratic and personal deception, and showing the sad effect on humanity.

The story involves three characters, Fowler, a seasoned British war correspondent in Vietnam in the 1950s; Phuong, his beautiful Vietnamese mistress; and Pyle, a young American. There is the proverbial "love triangle" of sorts, but the story is told from Fowler's point of view, so things appear differently than you would expect because of his wisdom and experience.
I learned a great deal from this book about the history of European imperialism in SE Asia, a subject that I really have never studied.

I can honestly say that I've spent more time thinking about the events of Graham Greene's THE QUIET AMERICAN than of any other book I've read in months. In short, this is the story of America's involvement in Vietnam, full stop. Astounding is the fact that this was written between 1952 and 1955, yet can serve as a metaphor for almost two further decades of US involvement in that region.
This is no simple tale, although it can be read as one. It works on many different levels. In its simplest form, this is a story about two foreigners in Indo-China: a middle-aged British reporter, and a young idealistic American. They involve themselves in two main plots: one concerning the French Army's battle with the Vietminh, and the second, concerning the two men's relationship with a native woman and the subsequent fight for her affections. On this level, THE QUIET AMERICAN works as an effective thriller. Who is the mysterious "third force" that Pyle, the American, is aiding? Why is he even there, and why is he providing aid to this group? Will Fowler, the British journalist, abandon his policy of neutrality and enter into the conflict? Who will end up with the girl at the end?
But there are all sorts of other subtexts and subtleties going on here. Pyle isn't just "the quiet American"; he is America -- at least as far as the US's involvement in Vietnam is concerned. And the difference in age between Pyle and Fowler is no random chance. Fowler is the older man; his country has already had its expansionist, colonial period. Fowler already knows what it's like to get one's fingers burnt interfering in other people's conflicts. But Pyle won't be told. He's the young inexperienced man who has to find out for himself -- to the detriment of everyone.
This isn't just a simplistic "America = idealistic, good-hearted, but naive" or "England = experienced, weary, and impotent" view of the world. While Greene builds on several stereotypes of the Old and the New Worlds, he goes much farther beyond that. Both men desire Phuong (the Vietnamese woman), but for starkly different reasons. The woman's own interests are kept to herself deliberately. We learn far more about Pyle and Fowler simply by the way in which they view the woman. On a purely personal level, the characterization is heart-wrenching. When looked at on a national level as far as what the two men represent, it is amazingly thought provoking.
After reading THE QUIET AMERICAN, I kept replaying and rethinking a number of its scenes and breaking down the characters as much as I could. There is a lot going on here, and much of what Greene wrote about wouldn't fully come into being for a number of years after the book's publication. There are many layers of subtleties occurring in this book's pages, and while I'm certain that I have not yet caught them all, it is not through a lack of interest. This is a very powerful book, and should be on everyone's "To Read" list.

I was in Vietnam for Vacation, and I came across this novel in a market store in Saigon. I remember there was a movie, but I had never seen it. I will have to say for a small little simplistic novel there was much to be enjoyed. The novel is narrated by Fowler, the British "OLDER" reporter who loves the space and madness occurring in 1950' Vietnam. Fowler is met by Pyle, an American on humanitarian mission to feed the war ravaged citizens of Vietnam. Pyle admits that he is in love with Fowler's Asian Girl friend and would like to steal her away. From this point on Greene continues the playful bantering back and forth between these two characters, but the novel soon becomes dark and more sinister as we learn these characters' deep dark secrets, they are not what they seem. Graham Greene has created an enjoyable novel that amounted to a love story, adventure story and Mystery all in this nicely written novel. I liked The Quiet American.

This book was just an OK read for me. It really did not capture my total interest or compel me to keep reading. In fact, the only reason I finished the book was to see if the pace ever picked up (it didn't really) and because of the way Greene structures his sentences and the choice of words he used. Very nice grammatical story telling, but just not all that interesting of a story. Too much was left unexplained or was otherwise nebulous or uninspiring. Judging from all the positive reviews I am in the minority, but this was the most uninteresting book I've read in months.

To read The quiet American now, some thity years after the end of a sensless and disastrous war, gives us an unexpected vision of Vietnam, its people and the United States involvement in that war. Furthermore, it's inevitable to think of the present war in Iraq.
It's no news that Graham Green is a magnificent fiction writer, witty, sometimes funny, always capable of digging deep into historical situations and different people habits and values (The power and the glory and The comedians are very good examples)but in the qiet American he is also a cruel reporter and a skillful creator of full size human characters.
The Viking Critica Library edition has also an enormoues value for the inclusion of literary reviews from the first edition of the book and the opinons of experts both in literature and Vietnam history.
Javier Olmedo,
Mexico City, Mexico

Graham Greene's masterpiece, the Quiet American provides and interesting perspective upon Vietnam during the decline of the French presence in Indochina. The characters are well presented and the plot in which they exist is dynamic and easily holds one's attention throughout the book's short length. The Quiet American is an exiting, tumultuous, and provocative look into the turmoil and chaos that was Vietam

In the midst of reading the book I can't say I was overly impressed with The Quiet American. I was enjoying the book of course, but it wasn't truly gripping me like I thought it would when I started. However, the few days after I finished my mind kept drifting back. Pyle and Fowler made deadly mistakes while doing what they thought was the right thing. Sounds familiar.

This book teaches us to think before we start making decisions that can drastically affect others in the name of righteousness. A lesson needed today as much as it was when this book was written.

Graham Greenefs gThe Quiet Americanh is a scathing critique of American imperialism in the Cold War Era. The twists and turns of the plot make it impossible for the reader to put gThe Quiet Americanh down for one moment. An insightful look at relationships, religion and war, Greene also provides readers with a unique historical perspective on Americafs tacit involvement in French Indochina which later escalated into full-blown participation in the Vietnam War.

This novel was a breath of nostalgic fresh air to me, and I realized this is what I've been missing. I'm tired of overwrought prose (some literary fiction feels like it tries so hard) and plot twist after contrived plot twist (Dan Brown et al) and laundry lists of trendy shoes and boutiques (chick lit in general). What I want is a good story, believable, well-told, with enough characterization and well-placed description to transport me somewhere and make me believe that something interesting actually happens. This reminds me of when I was a child and a book was so good you stayed up late to read it. I'll be looking for more Graham Greene for my bookshelf.

A classic whose truth seems not to fade:
"I hope to God you know what you are doing here. Oh, I know your motives are good, they always are... I wish sometimes you had a few bad motives, you might understand a little more about human beings. And that applies to your country too, Pyle."

This Vintage edition has an introduction by Zadie Smith: "There is no real way to be good in Greene, there are simply a million ways to be more or less bad."

There is a very good movie adaptation of this book with Michael Caine playing Fowler.The Quiet American

On second reading 42 years after original publication, Graham Greene's short and masterful novel "The Quiet American" seems profound and prophetic. (To many of us it seemed arrogant, stereotyped and anti-American in 1956). Alden Pyle, the quiet American,has been said by Greene biographers to be in part a takeoff of U.S. CIA officer Colonel Edward Lansdale, the model for Colonel Hillandale in William Lederer's "The Ugly American," a favorable account of America in Asia written contemporaneous with Greene's novel. Today Alden Pyle could be seen as a character based on the Robert McNamara, Maxwell Taylor, Henry Cabot Lodge or Robert Komer of the 1960s. Greene's moral vision is as keen here as in any of his novels.

I have really enjoyed some of Greene's other novels. He has a way of setting up interesting stories and is skilled at developing characters that give you keen insights into human nature. While there are aspects of this novel that are engaging, it overall falls flat as too wooden, too predictable, and too preachy. The novel had a lot of potential and would have been better if it would have been more subtle than what it was. Basically, the message is Americans are arrogant and naive, Brits are wiser and more cynical, and the Vietnam War was wrong. Regardless of whether you agree with those views, in a novel like this it would have been more convincing if it was not so heavy-handed. For all of that, it was still a decent book.

I think that cliche best sums up this book's theme. Greene makes one of the best arguments in favor of cynicism that I've ever read. This should be a must read for presidential candidates or just any guy who has ever competed with another guy for the love of a woman.

Graham Greene is a master story teller. In his concise and elegant prose, he exposes the ethical and moral quandary of two men against a backdrop of love and war, each driven by diametrically opposing impulses. Certain passages are graphic, but that is the unfortunate reality of war. Greene uses the right dose of irony and humour throughout his story; and even if the context could have called for it, he never allowed his characters to indulge in self-pity.

The Power and the Glory has long been one of my favorite novels and I’ve been meaning to read The Quiet American since high school. I’m glad that I have finally read this classic novel. It is engaging, thought-provoking, and beautifully written.

Grahame Greene's THE QUIET AMERICAN is so eerily accurate regarding Vietnam that a textual critic might believe the novel was written in 1976 and not 1956. What isn't surprising is that Greene's prose sparkles, and for him, a rather first rate plot. Adding to the fun here are the comments of the Critical edition. A classic in every sense.

Reading this book in 2005, the most amazing thing about it is that it was published in 1955. The sad history that is America's in involvement is yet to unfold, and it is all foresahdowed in this book. There is an English journalist, Fowler, old Europe, world weary, war weary, cynical, realistic; an American "diplomat", Pyle, idealistic, devious, naive, manipulative, acting out an academician's "third way"; and the Vietnamese woman they vie for, Phuong, dreamy, opportunistic, flirtatious, teasing, patiently biding, shrewd.

Jaklak sez Check it out.

There are not many novels similar to Graham Greene's "The Quiet American." Maybe authors are not as truthful and observant as he, or maybe the period in time that we live in affects the free will of perception and thought that a writer possesses. However, there are a few people who find no fear in speaking against the actions of a nation, and telling the truth about situations such as the Vietnam War. "The Quiet American" is Graham Greene's way of doing exactly this.
The novel focuses on three characters in particular: Thomas Fowler (the narrator), Alden Pyle (The American), and Phoung (Fowler's Vietnamese lover). Fowler is a British reporter in Vietnam in 1952. At this time period in Vietnam the Vietnamese are at war with the French. The French are loosing the war and America is slowly taking interest in Vietnam. Fowler has been in Vietnam for some time now and keeps finding excuses to stay longer because he has fallen in love with a much younger woman named Phoung. This is how the novel is laid out in the beginning.
One day, an American man named Pyle shows up at the hotel where Fowler always hangs around. Fowler and Pyle talk about things such as literature and Vietnam, eventually becoming friends. Fowler takes Pyle under his wing, teaching him about Vietnam and how exactly it works. Pyle sees Phoung and is amazed by her beauty. It is fairly obvious that Pyle wants her for himself. Eventually he convinces Phoung that he can protect her and take her away from the war and danger in Vietnam and she leaves Fowler.
Fowler is torn apart by this and begins suspecting Pyle of lying to him as to what he was doing in Vietnam. He starts figuring this out when he goes to Interview General Te (the rising leader of the Vietnamese who are fighting against the north) and finds Pyle along with other Americans at his base. One day Fowler is sitting at the same hotel that he always sat at and a huge car bomb explodes a couple hundred feet from him, killing many women and children. Fowler is upset by this and finally realizes the magnitude of devastation this war is and will cost the people of Vietnam. He begins investigating the bombing and finds our that Pyle is behind it. Fowler realizes that Pyle is working for the American government and that America is funding General Te. He realizes that more Americans are going to come and take over what has come to be his home. He also realizes that he must take action instead of observing everything like he always had done before, and he does. Fowler is approached by people who want to kill Pyle and agrees to help. He sets up Pyle and Pyle is killed.
The genius behind this novel is not what is written, its how it is written. If you look at each character you can see that they represent the country they are from and the actions they do are similar to the way the country acted in the situation. The British were in Vietnam during this time, reaping the benefits of the country and watching everything go on with out taking action, which is exactly what Fowler does. The Vietnamese were weak in terms of political standings in the world. They did not have much power and let other countries use them. But most of all Vietnam was a beautiful country; this is exactly how Phoung is portrayed. And at this time, America realized that the war was out of the control of the French and they decided to get involved. America basically went to Vietnam not knowing what the people wanted or how they lived and took over. And this is what Pyle does in the story. Graham Greene observed all of this when he was in Vietnam in the early 1950's and took a stand by writing this book.
The reason why I enjoyed this book so much is because it is true. I can look at this book and see the outline for how the Vietnam War started and I can see it through the eyes of a non-American for once. I wish Graham Greene were alive today. I wish a mind like his would create a book about the United States current situation with Iraq. Perhaps it would be called The Quite American. Fowler would be a peace worker in Iraq, Phoung would be the frightened Iraqi woman who was somewhat oppressed but was able to live happily with Fowler's help, and Pyle would be the American who came out of no where and promised to take care of Phoung. In this novel Pyle would destroy her town and overthrow the people in charge of her town. He would take control and than realize that the corrupt person whose place he took had allot of oil. Pyle and many other people like himself would take the oil and leave. They would lie to the people and promises to help them but in the end, Phoung and the people would be left in the aftermath that Pyle had left. The book would end with Fowler protesting this, and instead of him killing Pyle, Pyle would kill him.
In conclusion, I recommend everyone should read this book at one point in his or her life. Hopefully it would open some eyes and turn some heads as it did to mine.

Graham Greene, author of "The Quiet American", does a phenomenal and thought provoking job of looking at the expansive views of the Vietnam War. Three main characters Greene conjurs depicts the British, Vietnamese, American, and Third Party (General The) interactions with eachother during the Vietnam war. What is so fascinating is that this novel was published in 1955, nearly a decadebefore it happened. And yet the way Greene's novel unfurls, so did the upcoming Vietnam war. I think a prominent theme in this novel is fear. Entangled in this theme lays place and time, adventure, and love all which add to the magical and sometimes depressing reality of life.
This novel does an impeccable job at setting up the relationships between characters which metaphorically represent their own nations. Fowler, the cynical narrator who may not be as un-involved as he seems to think he is, represents Britain and their neutral attitude towards involvent in the war. Fowler is rough around the edges, observative, and on average is alevel minded reporter who does just that: observe, collect, accept, report. A sort of mechanical sense to him, when he demonstrates this towards Phuong. Although his intensity about her as well as Pyle and his plastics is spurred and his morality and suppressed emotion overcomes his neutrality.
Phuong is a beautiful, delicate, submissive lover of life who clings to unrelaistic hopes but softens to her Vietnamese reality. Although she is smart and kind, curious, and sometimes political, she has no say in matters of love and matters of life. Like many of the Vietnamese trying to gain a sort of independance.
The most peculiar and intriguing character, despite the name the "Quiet American", is Pyle. A well learned American in Vietnam as a sort of Aid. (which is never really inquired about by reporters)He seems naive and somewhat manipulative. After telling Fowler he was a mdeical assistant, not much more was exposed about him, but left many to assume. After Pyle's death when Fowler is speaking with Vigot who represents an American faction of some sort, they are unsettled by this conversation. "A soldiers death...might that prove confusing?...the economic Aid Mission doesn't sound like the army..." said Fowler. In response to this, "He had special duites." Pyle's character seemed to represent America more and more throughout the novel. And the more we find his deceptions, ignorance, "York Harding" simplicity in a complicated country, and his loss of humanity, the more America is being projected onto this scenario. Before Fowler discovers the Dialacton and Pyle's perfect pronunciation of French and Vietnamese, Pyle in fact remains quiet. Later though, we learn of America's alterior motives in making "genuine" change for the betterment of Vietnamese society. (Which i'm still havgin trouble with understanding how selling plastics for guns and explosives to General The benefits the Vietnamese)Together, America and the Third Party become the masterminds of destruction.
Currently in America, Senator Ted Kennedy freely expressed that $Q is becoming Bush's Vietnam". One critique of Kennedy's statement said that if it is Bush's war, then it is America's too. This led me to think about Pyle, and just how much he really did represent America.
"The Quiet American" was a thrilling novel that explored many ideas in the humanities. What is the loss of innocense, what is moral and immoral, how are these ideas inter-related to the Vietnam War and Graham Greene's novel? You'll have to find out for yourself.

I just love Greene's book: it's complex, thoughtful, suspenseful. So, I was so happy to find another book that tells what happened while Greene wrote the book and what happened when they made a movie of the novel. It's called A THINKER'S DAMN by William Russo, and it was like reliving the novel from a different angle. Great fun. And you can get it right here on the store.com

On second reading 40-plus years after original publication, Graham Greene's short and masterful novel "The Quiet American" seems profound and prophetic. (To many of us it seemed arrogant, stereotyped and anti-American in 1957). Alden Pyle, the quiet American,has been said by Greene biographers to be a takeoff of Edwin Lansdale, the model for William Lederer's "The Ugly American," a favorable account of America in Asia written contemporaneous with Greene's novel. Today Alden Pyle could be seen as a character based on the Robert McNamara, Maxwell Taylor, Henry Cabot Lodge or Robert Komer of the 1960s. Greene's moral vision is as keen here as in any of his novels.

This is one of the best spy novels I have ever read. It makes you take a hard look at the ethics of what governments do even when they are fully convinced they are doing it for the greater good. This is a great story.

I absolutely loved Graham Greene's look at the situation in Vietnam in the early 1950s; at how the world's powers all had a hand in the quagmire it became. I've read a lot of post-Vietnam fiction which looked back on the war with searing cynicism and anti-war fervor, but this is much different. Greene's Fowler, a British journalist, and Pyle, an American diplomat, are brilliant portrayals of world-weary cynicism and wide-eyed innocence. In the end we are not sure which course works best. Fowler's withdrawal, his refusal to engage himself, can not stand. But Pyle's innocence is shown to have a deadly side to it. Throw in the mix a Vietnamese beauty that each man refuses to give up for wildly different reasons, and you have the makings of an intensely enjoyable read.

I picked up this book to read after being impressed with The Third Man - both the movie and the novel. I wasn't disappointed. Graham Greene excels at presenting moral ambiguity with stark realism delivered by tight, well-crafted prose.

Greene's classic is superbly dark, not obvious, and refreshing because of its setting in Pre-US-Combat-Troops Vietnam. The glimpse into the country, the colonialism, and the culture are fascinating. Much like "real life", I found it hard to "like" any of the characters, yet I could still identify with them. A good read, but not one to leave you with warm fuzzies.

An amazing book. Not perfect, but a master piece. Graham Greene develops a very simple story that becomes strange and surprising, as life itself. It's a love story with sex, jealousy, war and hate, mixed altogether in a perfect and harmonic combination. And the most impressive thing is that there are many political, social and cultural ideas in this book, written in the 50s, which are still relevant nowadays.

The Quiet American is a landmark of 20th century fiction. It is Graham Greene's story of Fowler ("Foul Air" in French), a British journalist living in Saigon during the French war against independence of Viet Nam. The story is told in Fowler's voice, recounting the details of his life as an expatriate. Fowler relates his relationships with Phuong, a Vietnamese lover; and Pyle, a shadowy representative of the United States trade delegation in Viet Nam (or is he?). Fowler fights to keep possession of Phuong over the simplistic yet forceful advances of Pyle. This fight happens both internally within the man's thoughts, and externally during his clashes with Pyle. In the end, Pyle turns up dead. Who is to blame?

This is not a book about an American, the United States, it's national character, or it's past or current foreign policy. To read it as such is not helpful. Despite its title, The Quiet American is primarily a personal story about a British man's life away from his original home, and his struggle to decide how and where to live it. It's a story about every man's eventual realization, whether it comes early or late in life, that choices must be made, a side must be chosen. Actions must be taken. To make this point, Greene develops Fowler's and Pyle's exaggerated characters and builds a story to a powerful conclusion. Greene does this well. While his character's lives can be read as metaphorical for the roles of the nation's they represent, this metaphor is not central to the story.

Read this book for its examination of character and life.

I was challenged in reading this book to think about how America's best of intentions are often times poorly received in the parts of the world we intend to help. Greene's book is echoed in part by Niall Ferguson's Collosus, a book that argues that the idea of American empire is slightly unrealistic given the fact that Americans are unwilling to relocate and get dirty in the same way Englishmen were. The act of colonialism is not compatible with American culture, a fact Greene explores in this wonderful fictional work.

Greene's novel portrays the beginning on America's entry to the Vietnam war from the point of view of an English Journalist, Fowler. It is full of flowery speech, lyrical and smooth and portrays a novel of sexual intrigue, espionage and the horror of war in a superb fashion.

An intriguing novel about a British reporter and a young American man who are on a collision course over a young Vietnamese woman and, more importantly, the future of Vietnam.
The young American is not really who he says he is, and the reporter is not emotionally detatched from Vietnam like he pretends.
A great book!

The Quiet American is a deeply perceptive novel based on Greene's several stays in Vietnam between 1952 and 1954. He stayed chiefly in Saigon, but also - like his chief proponent in the novel, Fowler - travelled to Hanoi and Phat Diem in the north. It's almost uncanny how Greene predicts the coming nightmare of American involvement in Vietnam after the French withdrawal in 1954. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, which I re-read several times, and I consider it the best of Greene's many fine novels.

i don't do a lot of reading for fun. but this book i couldn't put down once i started it. it didn't take long for me to be drawn into the story and i could almost taste, see, and experience with the chracters. i vividly experienced this book. that doesn't happen to me often. the quiet american is a powerful work. i recommend this book especially to those people who like me don't read much fiction.

The Quiet American is an interesting story starting with the narrator being told of the murder of a young American friend in a pre-war Vietnam. Fowler, the narrator, then flashes back to the events leading up to the death, gradually revealing to the reader that there is more going on than what meets the eye.
Like many other highly acclaimed novels (Crime and Punishment, The Heart of Darkness), The Quiet American is actually two things: a story and an idea. Don't mistake this story for a weak plot that Graham Greene has used to make his thoughts more palatable, such as the movie Waking Life.
This murder mystery stands on its own two legs and could make a great read if that's all that is being sought after. The plot is somewhat formulaic: average Joe puts the moves on the narrator's girl, but then he turns out to be something he's not and the narrator wants him dead. Sounds simple enough, but the massive roles that each character plays makes this novel rise above the other stories that have been fashioned in similar ways.
The character development is excellent, letting the reader visualize the people as human beings with varying and sometimes hypocritical ideas and personalities. As the book progresses, these characters grow into complex beings with misunderstandings and an ignorance that can only be described as human. Each character reflects a different opinion about the then current state of Vietnam and what should be done, although it is obvious that Graham Greene has made Fowler as his personal representative in the book. The characters' ideas are what really make this book stand out.
Throughout the story, Fowler declares that he is a completely unbiased bystander; just observing the future of Vietnam as it plays out before him. His insistence of this is only rivaled by the amount of times he acts hypocritically to the idea. Fowler is as biased as they come, and even worse, his ignorance of his biased state of mind reassures him that he is always in the right, because how could an innocent bystander be in the wrong? The only character who he can compare himself directly to is Pyle, the quiet American.
Unlike Fowler, Pyle is passionate enough to seriously act upon his believes, which are just as uninformed and stubborn as Fowler's, but at least Pyle is not lying to himself and others. All Pyle thinks about is the sorry state of Vietnam and how he can help it become the world power that it could be. He has good enough intentions, but Pyle has not lived in Vietnam for very long and does not understand Vietnam the way that any of the Vietnamese do, making his good intentions into bad decisions. Fowler thinks he knows how Vietnam works and since he considers himself unbiased, he thinks he has all the answers.
The situation is ironic though, because Pyle believes that a third, unbiased party (besides the Communists and the French) needs to step in and steer the country out of its slump. Fowler thinks of himself as a third, unbiased party that knows what would be good for Vietnam. If Pyle and Fowler really talked it over, Fowler could have become America's perfect third party Vietnamese president. Pyle and Fowler's ideas were almost identical, they just had different ways of acting them out: Pyle wanted to save the country as a whole, Fowler wanted to save the country by helping individuals. Obviously, both of the ideas are flawed enough and too extreme to work, so it is possible that if they worked together, a happy medium could have been reached.
The Quiet American is a great novel that should be held in a higher regard. Its ideas are timeless, especially comparing America today with the America of the 50's and how each interacts with the rest of the world. America definitely could learn a thing or two about foreign policy from this book.

The Quiet American is a wonderful book that,to an American, probes at our treasured notion high-minded idealism and our spirit that has served us well at times and not so well at others. Greene's symbolism is telling and insightful, given that it was published well before the United States' full-blown involvement in that region of the world.

With the escalation of the Afghan war, now it's a good time to discover or revisit this thoughtful classic about misguided American intentions. I have read this book while stationed in Saigon, it helped me in my real world dealings. If more Americans read this book, maybe we wouldn't have the mess in Afghanistan.

Ok, so, seeing as how 70 something people have already offered their "review" of the book (i.e. a synopsis and a rambling dissertation on US-Vietnam-Iraq analogies), I would like to offer instead some tips for reading:

1. Don't get hung up on Greene's "prescience" about the course of the Vietnam war. Greene flirted with Communism his whole life, and in his later life started a full fledged affair with it. For some unfathomable reason, he saw the US as more of a threat than international Communism, and that is the angle he wrote from. To be fair, this angle is very slight in comparison to the norm among the self-appointed intellectual elite.

2. That being said, even if you are pro-American and conservative (as I am) it is still a fantastic book. Greene's anti-Americanism doesn't obsess him, and his criticisms are more or less true and can be taken constructively. Greene's strength lies in his incredible insight into human passions both sexual and political, NOT in his analysis of Cold War policy.

3.When you read this book, look for God as a hidden character, or rather as the unstated main subject of the book. This is probably the last of Greene's books as a real Catholic.

This book was written in the 50s. Graham Greene was very intelligent to understand the American people, a country where people never grow up. The adjectives Greene uses to describe his American colleagues: big, noisy, boyish. The third force was repeated again in 1990s with Americans helping Al-Quida against Russians in Afghanistan. Obviously nothing was learnt from the Vietnam disaster. By supplying weapons to Islamic fanatics in Pakistan in 1990s, Americans permanently destabilized the region, created generations of terrorists, had to deal with events like 9-11. But you can bet nothing will be learnt. The problem of right wingers in the U.S. comes from the fact that when you try to live by hypocrisy - two conflicting ideals of pure and naked capitalism and religious orthodoxy - you end up creating a hypocrite of yourself. But never discuss this with a redneck: "We are the greatest country in the world, and we can do no wrong". May be it should be changed to "We are full of schit".

I've just been proofing the journal I kept in Vietnam in 1964. In the course of it, I mentioned the "great" Vietnam novel by Graham Greene. I wanted to check my memory of the watchtower sequence, so I fetched the book from the library and re-read it. Much to my surprise, with a distance of 40 years, I found that the plot-moving devices were a bit creaky, and the novel wasn't nearly as great as I had thought, or as is generally advertised. I suspect that one of the reasons people admire it is because of Greene's pervasive loathing of everything American: "I was tired of the whole pack of them with their private stores of Coca-Cola and their portable hospitals and their too wide cars and their not quite latest guns" (p.31). Oh yeah, all right, too bad about Americans and Coca-Cola. Forty years down the road, this strikes me as boring Euro-pique.
There are nice bits about Vietnamese, French, and yes, Americans. But don't take it too seriously. It's a grudge novel.

"..I wished there was someone to whom I could say that I was sorry." -- writes Fowler, our 'hero'. Like many of Greene's characters, he is tormented by sin and the need to repent. Unlike many of Greene's characters, though, Fowler can't believe there is a God (see the opening quote) and is all the more interesting because of it. Based on Greene's own experiences as a 50s-Vietnam War correspondent, this one is my personal favorite of his many great books.

It's great when an authour arrives before the fact. This novel problematizes Western involvement with Indochina affairs, more specific American military involvement in Vietnam. This problem was to be a key issue for left wing people more than a decade later from when Greene wrote his book. In that respect "The Quiet American" is similar to Hanif Kureishis "The Black Album" which problematizes British Muslim radicalization in 1995, a decade before the 7 July 2005 London bombings. As said in the start, it's great when an authour arrives before the fact, because after the fact it's crowded with all the idiots!

Graham Greene's masterpiece, the Quiet American provides and interesting perspective upon Vietnam during the decline of the French presence in Indochina. The characters are well presented and the plot in which they exist is dynamic and easily holds one's attention throughout the book's short length. The Quiet American is an exiting, tumultuous, and provocative look into the turmoil and chaos that was Vietam

First, let me say that this novel is brilliant, insightful and lyric. It manages to be thought-provoking and entertaining at the same time and is just a true joy to read on so many levels. That said, the reading of "The Quiet American" in this audio book format leaves something to be desired.

Joseph Porter has a lovely voice well-suited to the narrator, and even well-suited to the main female character Phuong. However, as soon as the titular quiet american breaks his silence, the feigned American accent Porter reads with is simply appalling. I found it beyond distracting. I find that if you can't do an accent well for a public reading, best to leave it alone and read in your own voice. Joseph Porter could be forgiven for reading the lines of the American characters with a British lilt. There was no reason to forge ahead just to decimate the reading so awfully.

This short work by a good (not great) writer in Graham Greene is a worthy way to pass a few hours. It's not front-rank stuff, but it certainly isn't crap either. Pyle is a cipher, and some plot points, necessary for the narrative, come across as a little forced. But Greene knows the era and the milieu, and translates both very effectively to the written page.

Having been written before the involvement of the US in Vietnam, the book is worth a read. The characters are well built, through fall in line with the popular notions of Americans. This is handled well. Throughout there is a real sense of innocence in the main character, which ironically, leads to the opposite effect. I am giving this book three stars because there are moments that lag. The conversation seems to head in a direction void of the reader's presence. In any case, its still a good read.

[...] has the latest interview with C.J. Beck on his `Quiet American' in apartheid era Africa. Plot parallels. Like Greene's hero, Beck's Strachan is torn between his role as a journalist or becoming a part of the story. SPIKED has us tumbling through a version of "All the President's men" but with action hero duo like the "Lethal Weapon" film team. Speculates on a future possible, if a character like the real life Gerald Bull, designer of the world's largest supergun survived assassination and realized his dream of a space gun, by far the most realistic means to launch unmanned spacecraft, yet still ignored by NASA. One definitely for Graham Greene fans.

The story is excellent and very timely. The reading is very good EXCEPT when the narrator does the voice of the Quiet American, who is a Bostonian. The reader uses an annoying pseudo-Texas accent that is totally wrong and completely detracts from the story.

What a great read. This explains much about the history of Vietman, Cambodia, Laos, etc. after WWII...How they've been plundered and used by colonialists. Very insightful and Greene actually predicts the problems to come. Love it!

AT first you think that you are going to read about some secret agent in Vietnam that was killed, but when you see that the story of the book is not that man, is a journalist from England that doesn't want to go back to his country you will be disappointed, the book doesn't have any main story, it has the story of the journalist, his girlfriend (who was also the girlfriend of the "secret agent") and many more, but you will not be interested in one story at all, a real waste of time this book.

Graham Green helps me fall asleep. His storys are ascetically pleasing until you think about them. Theroux likes him and I like Theroux, I dont like Green - sorry Paul. Also dont read this book if your planning to go to Vietnam -it wont help.

This product arrived in great condition unfortunately the narrator lacks expression when reading. I was disappointed in this and turned it off. How do you describe the character Phuong as a clink of a tea cup or as a phoenix without changing the tone and expressiveness of your voice.

I doubt if I will listen to any more of it.

Hi Everyone,

I just bought this book for a World Lit class, so as far as its purpose goes, it was a fine book...but a little confusing at first when trying to get used to how the author jumps around in time when telling the story. I liked it, nonetheless.

Ruth Tanner

I know I'm supposed to revere this book, but for me a careful reading was insufficient to reveal its merits.

"The Quiet American" is not perceptive enough to be a political novel, not intimate enough to be a romance novel, and not arranged well enough to be a thriller. Heck, Greene (at least here) isn't even enough of a wordsmith to convincingly evoke l'Indochine in the 50's, so it's not even much of a travel book. I found myself doing much of the work in that regard.

Obviously, the characters as "representative" of their nation's philosophies (the Brit as cynic, the American as idealist, etc.) is well-taken, though I thought the device was heavy-handed and unproductive.

Another thing that, I think, had this book rolling on a flat tire was Greene's "in medias res" beginning, in which he reveals Pyle's death, etc. Although this intially seemed competent, in retrospect it robbed the rest of the story of whatever interest or suspense it would otherwise have had.

This is my first ever book by Greene. I did not care for his writing style -- very dry, and he did not make the characters come alive for me.

It is hard to read literature without having current events impact on what you're reading. For me, this has been especially true post-9/11. This book was filled with anti-American sentiment, which really bothered me.

I only read this book because I wanted to see the movie with Brendan Fraser. Of the actors working today, Fraser is my second-favorite actor after Tom Hanks (way, way second, because Mr. Hanks is of course far superior), but second-favorite nonetheless. The movie was actually in some ways better than the book, except Caine was too old for the role, and Fraser was also miscast, IMO.

But back to Greene. Despite my very lukewarm response to this book, I will still read one other novel by him. I never give up on anybody who is considered a major novelist without at least reading two books by him or her.