The Labyrinthine Ways Of Graham Greene

Covers fifty years of criticism of Graham Greene, a leading man of letters on the English literary scene.

English novelist, short-story writer, playwright and journalist, Graham Greene was one of the most widely read novelist of the 20th-century, a superb storyteller. Adventure and suspense are constant elements in his novels and many of his books have been made into successful films. Although Greene was nominated several times as a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, he never received the award. Graham Greene is a descriptive catalog of first editions of works by Greene, which are currently held in the collection of the University of Louisville. Arranged chronologically by title, Robert H. Miller, also includes letters, radio scripts, pamphlets, and subsequent editions of importance and scarcity.

In Narrative Strategies Roston focuses upon the Greene's texts themselves and their manipulation of reader response, highlighting the innovative strategies that Greene developed to cope with the mid-century invalidation of the traditional hero. The result is a stimulating new reading of the major novels.

This collection of fourteen essays by American and English scholars—many of them hitherto unpublished and all of them selected with a view to avoiding the duplication of essays already familiar and available—offers new testimony of the range and accomplishments of Graham Greene's talent. The essays vary from considerations of general topics to critical analyses of single novels, from a discussion of Greene as a writer of Christian tragedy to a witty, irreverent assessment of The Power and the Glory. The authors here are chiefly concerned with the novels, though frequent allusions reveal something of the nature and importance of the "entertainments" and the travel books. A number of the essayists focus upon Greene's commitment to the Roman Catholic faith and the definition it has given to his work. As a writer he is shown to be preoccupied with a duel vision of human frailty and of God's saving grace, a vision found by some to assert sin to the point of virtual heresy, though it never loses sight of that mercy which may catch up a soul "between the stirrup and the ground." As one essay points out, traces of this vision are to be found in Greene's earlier works as well as in his entertainments. Greene's own particular bent as a Catholic writer is brought out by a comparison with Fracois Maruiac; another essay is concerned with the tension that exists between the life of art and the life of sanctity. Round out this presentation of Greene's accomplishments are discussions of his work in the dram, the short story, and as a motion picture critic. Finally, this collection is notable for its inclusion of the most comprehensive bibliography of Greene's work and the criticism of them yet published. Graham Greene emerges from this composite judgment as a writer of consummate artistry who sees behind the façade the emptiness of a secular world.

A comprehensive reference guide to the published writings of Graham Greene, this book surveys not only Greene's literary work - including his fiction, poetry and drama - but also his other published writings. Accessibly organised over five central sections, the book provides the most up-to-date listing available of Greene's journalism, his published letters and major interviews. The Writings of Graham Greene also includes a bibliography of major secondary writings on Greene and a substantial and fully cross-referenced index to aid scholars and researchers working in the field of 20th Century literature.