Graham Greene

~ Hasmita Chander

Although I've been recommended this author or his books many times, I read his work for the first time only recently. After reading Brighton Rock, I wish I had started on Greene much earlier. I look forward to reading many more of his books.

This novel is about the petty criminals of a small town called Brighton. The main character is the king of the small crime circle here; he is all of seventeen and is named Pinkie. It would be hard to take a character like this seriously but Greene shows how simply, stupidly--and dangerously--such people can think--and act. To cover one murder, Pinkie may need to shut up a few more people, one of them being a poor and puny sixteen-year-old waitress. Will wooing her be enough to keep her quiet? Will she be obedient to him? Or will he need to take more drastic steps? Pinkie will have to go about these things and see.

From a writer's point of view I was left quite speechless after I read this book. His dialogues are so good I need to put in effort to avoid talking like his characters do. He can write as a narrator but from different characters' points of view, seemingly with ease. He can make us readers get down into a world that's so far and different from what we know and think of, making even ridiculous people's thoughts shockingly real--and they probably are.