The Quiet American

By: Graham Greene

Narrated by: Joseph Porter

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Alden Pyle, an idealistic young American, is sent to Vietnam to promote democracy amidst the intrigue and violence of the French war with the Vietminh, while his friend, Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, looks on.

Fowler's mistress, a beautiful native girl, creates a catalyst for jealousy and competition between the men and a cultural clash resulting in bloodshed and deep misgivings.

Written in 1955, prior to the Vietnam conflict, The Quiet American foreshadows the events leading up to the Vietnam War. Questions surrounding the moral ambiguity of the involvement of the United States in foreign countries are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.

©1983 Graham Greene (P)1993 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"There has been no novel of any political scope about Vietnam since Graham Greene wrote The Quiet American." ( Harper's)
"Greene is a superb storyteller. He evokes the most actual streets, the most vivid skies, and individuals who can have a lacerating reality as they search the labyrinth of their lives." ( Newsweek)

Interesting story, poor performance

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would like to have known more of Phoung, her thoughts, her views, her decision making process.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Vigot, as he is torn between friendship and duty is one of the more interesting characters.

How could the performance have been better?

My major critique is that many of the American accents by the reader sounded very similar to each other. As such, there in a passage where the Americans were speaking with each other, it was hard to follow who was who.

Love Triangle as Allegory

This is a famous book. It is supposed to be about the American despoilation of Vietnam in the pursuit of 'hearts and minds.' To my mind it is one of Greene's lazier efforts and a scrim for his anti-Americanism. The story is a love triangle between an ageing cynical British journalist, a naive American CIA agent and Phoung, a beguiling totally sexist/racistly draw Vietnamese woman who is the source of the key conflict in the story but who is really just a stand-in for the whole of Vietnam, with the tussle between the two men a field for Greene to let go with both barrels on American perfidy, ruthlessness and ignorance. When I first read this book in the 1960s it resonated. Now it seems dated, but there is no doubt that Greene can turn a phrase and the underlying issues are certainly worth exploring. Just with not such a ham hand.

Kudos — My Applause

This is my foray into Greene’s prodigious body of work. I am heartened with his brilliant writing and story telling craft. It took a long bit to acclimate to the reader’s style. Three quarters in I adjusted sufficiently to appreciate it. I will read my way through Greene’s work.

Salute

American accent attempt

I found the reading in general good: the pace, clarity, emotional distancing. The attempt at an American accent, though, was a sad mistake that detracted from my enjoyment of the work.

Great story - poor performance

This one is much better read than listened too. It is not just the weird accents the narrator uses but the whole audio production is poor. I love Graham Green but this production was not good.

Makes you think

The book makes very evident the conflicting points of view about the war in Vietnam . I felt the treatment of women was definitely misogynistic. Joseph Porter was good as the Englishman but not so good as the American.

Not the best Greene

This is not the best Graham Greene book, and the overall experience of the book was marred by the narration. Fowler had an over- cynical tone. Pyle, from Boston, would definitely NOT have an exaggerated Southern drawl. A slight Boston accent would have been a nice touch, but would not have been necessary. Just normal American would have been so much better.

chapters seem to be out of order

The chapters do not play in order. Please look into this. It is very interesting to put the story together in tour head, but that is not a challenge the author intended

Narrator distracts from the tale.

Graham Greene fans will be enthused by this book but I wish I had read it rather than listened.

1) I do not speak French and thus feel I'm missing some of the nuances as there is the occasional line of French in the book.

2) The narrator's missteps really distract me from enjoying the book. I believe the character Alden Pyle is said to hail from Boston but the accent given him by this (I believe) British narrator sounds like rural Texas. It would be amusing if it were not so irritating.

Choosing titles to listen to rather than read is tricky. This one was a mistake for me.

A brutally honest indictment of America in Vietnam

America learned nothing from the French disaster in Vietnam. And now the insanity is returning in the form of Donald Trump.