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strike his wife and is sentenced to hang. Drover's fate affects a wide circle of other people. His wife Milly goes to visit the policeman's widow and then seeks comfort with Drover's brother Conrad, who is consumed with guilt over his incest. Milly's sister Kay goes to bed with
Surrogate, a rich economist who is a Communist, and then with Jules, who works in the Soho café where the Communist journalist Conder lodges. Both Surrogate and the Assistant Commissioner try to enlist the aid of the society hostess, Caroline Bury. All are unsure how far they should try to save Drover, who faces long imprisonment if he does not hang. Conrad, feeling he ought to act, blackmails a pawnbroker into selling him a revolver and shoots at the Assistant Commissioner. The gun was loaded with blanks however, and Conrad is knocked down by a car as he fires. Unknown to either, the Home Secretary has already reprieved Drover.
139:. The amount of fog during the battle led to many of the troops on both sides being cut off in terrain reduced to "small numberless circlets commensurate with such ranges of vision as the mist might allow at each spot.... In such conditions, each separate gathering of English soldiery went on fighting its own little battle in happy and advantageous ignorance of the general state of the action; nay, even very often in ignorance of the fact that any great conflict was raging."
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are deliberately depicted as, in one critic's view, "mediocre, bleak, uninspiring and at times perverted and stupid". Some of the characters seem only half complete. The resulting interplay of selfish, driven characters creates what Greene called "a panoramic novel of London". In this panorama, the traditional detective story is (sometimes using
160:
The
Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, newly appointed after a career in the Far East, is summoned to a meeting with an assistant to the Home Secretary, who has to decide whether to reprieve Drover. During a demonstration, this Communist bus driver knifed a policeman who was about to
189:
thought it "engrossing, alive, and decidedly well worth reading" That reviewer praised Greene's "cinematographic" style, and Greene later said that the novel was "intentionally based on film technique" (Surprisingly, and to Greene's lasting amusement, it was one of the few novels he wrote that was
147:
The novel explores the intersecting lives of those close to the bus driver Drover in the days before he is due to hang. His
Communist colleagues want him to die because this will gain support for the party; his wife and brother begin an affair. There is no hero. With few exceptions, the characters
228:
A few months after publication, a grisly murder occurred in London strikingly similar to a fictional murder described in (but only tangential to the main plot of) the novel, and Greene feared the police would arrest him. Other similarities with real life were less accidental. The somewhat sleazy
29:
237:. And the Assistant Commissioner, perhaps the most vivid and humane character in the book, was in part based on Greene's uncle and perhaps also in part on a friend named Turner. As for settings, Greene visited a matchbook factory and
244:
In 1948, Greene extensively revised the novel for the third edition and his changes were incorporated in future printings. Greene's handwritten revisions were offered for sale in 2010 for $ 40,000.
1322:
107:". Its theme, said Greene, is "the injustice of man's justice." Later in life, Greene classified his major books as "novels" and his lighter works as "entertainments"; he ranked
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before writing about those locations in his novel. (Factory and prison are deliberately described using similar language.)
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techniques) turned on its head.; the hidden villains, according to one critic, are class and capitalism.
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found great merit in what he called an adventurous, intelligent, "genuine modern novel". The
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103:, first published in 1934. Graham Greene later described it as his "first overtly
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never made into a film.) The novel's style is also influenced by
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212:. He alludes to Conrad by naming Drover's brother after him.
177:. (Later the book was to sell 120,000 copies) Writing in the
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Though at first it sold few copies, the novel was praised by
375:
Fighting Evil: Unsung Heroes in the Novels of Graham Greene
358:
Hoskins, "Graham Greene: An
Approach to the Novels, p. 46"
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was accused of plagiarism after he included passages from
1315:
Getting to Know the
General: The Story of an Involvement
1280:
Getting to Know the
General: The Story of an Involvement
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219:Wandsworth Prison, where Drover awaits execution
802:Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction
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229:character named Surrogate was modelled after
127:, which Greene took from the account of the
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27:
111:as a novel and not a mere entertainment.
883:Graham Greene: an Approach to the Novels
748:Graham Greene: an Approach to the Novels
558:Graham Greene, an Annotated Bibliography
402:Graham Greene: an Approach to the Novels
214:
361:. Google Books. Retrieved 13 April 2014
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233:. Lady Caroline Bury was inspired by
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14:
1815:
1764:
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1516:The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen
1323:A World of My Own: A Dream Diary
721:Conversations with Graham Greene
615:Conversations with Graham Greene
504:Graham Greene: A Life in Letters
88:Print (hardback & paperback)
1441:The Last Word and Other Stories
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775:Graham Greene: The Man Within
303:Graham Greene on the Frontier
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7:
1804:Heinemann (publisher) books
1433:May We Borrow Your Husband?
1374:The Return of A. J. Raffles
276:The Quest for Graham Greene
16:1932 novel by Graham Greene
10:
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829:Graham Greene: Three Lives
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137:The Invasion of the Crimea
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1229:The Captain and the Enemy
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641:Graham Greene Film Reader
531:The Life of Graham Greene
429:Graham Greene's Thrillers
208:and, as Greene admitted,
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1398:For Whom the Bell Chimes
1272:In Search of a Character
1205:Doctor Fischer of Geneva
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1794:Novels by Graham Greene
1621:The Heart of the Matter
1549:The Future's in the Air
1113:The Heart of the Matter
1097:The Power and the Glory
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1089:The Confidential Agent
220:
1709:The End of the Affair
1629:The End of the Affair
1358:The Complaisant Lover
1133:The End of the Affair
994:and their adaptations
235:Lady Ottoline Morrell
218:
99:is an early novel by
1799:Novels set in London
1693:The Honorary Consul
1677:Travels with My Aunt
1460:The End of the Party
1256:Journey Without Maps
1181:Travels with My Aunt
1105:The Ministry of Fear
911:blog, April 4, 2010"
487:Radicals on the Road
231:John Middleton Murry
123:is explained by the
1789:1934 British novels
1509:A Shocking Accident
1189:The Honorary Consul
1033:Rumour at Nightfall
23:
22:It's a Battlefield
1717:The Quiet American
1653:The Quiet American
1581:Went the Day Well?
1425:A Sense of Reality
1417:Twenty-One Stories
1141:The Quiet American
1065:The Bear Fell Free
1049:It's a Battlefield
1025:The Name of Action
591:The New York Times
338:on 9 November 2009
330:Pursuit of Justice
253:It's a Battlefield
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133:Alexander Kinglake
129:battle of Inkerman
121:It's a Battlefield
109:It's a Battlefield
96:It's a Battlefield
21:
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1775:
1701:Monsignor Quixote
1661:Our Man in Havana
1573:This Gun for Hire
1488:Alas, Poor Maling
1481:Across the Bridge
1474:The Basement Room
1409:Story collections
1264:The Lawless Roads
1213:Monsignor Quixote
1157:Our Man in Havana
780:. 1 February 1995
668:A Study in Greene
255:in a 1968 novel.
239:Wandsworth Prison
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77:Publication place
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1752:Shades of Greene
1685:The Human Factor
1589:Ministry of Fear
1382:The Great Jowett
1366:Carving a Statue
1350:The Potting Shed
1197:The Human Factor
1165:A Burnt-Out Case
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917:. 4 October 2010
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462:. 28 August 1996
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434:. 28 August 1996
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334:. Archived from
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1605:The Fallen Idol
1557:The New Britain
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1502:The Destructors
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1342:The Living Room
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183:V. S. Pritchett
175:Ford Madox Ford
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85:Media type
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1307:Ways of Escape
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1299:A Sort of Life
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1073:A Gun for Sale
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1017:The Man Within
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593:. 8 April 1934
585:New York Times
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247:Malian writer
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187:New York Times
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563:. 7 June 2010
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1002:Bibliography
946:. Retrieved
941:
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931:
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914:
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336:the original
329:
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277:
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205:Mrs Dalloway
203:
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93:
18:
502:R. Greene,
485:Schweizer,
483:. See also
1783:Categories
1645:Saint Joan
1390:Yes and No
948:17 January
921:17 January
891:17 January
864:17 January
837:17 January
810:17 January
784:17 January
756:17 January
729:17 January
703:17 January
676:17 January
666:Bergonzi,
649:17 January
623:17 January
597:17 January
567:17 January
539:17 January
512:17 January
466:17 January
438:17 January
410:17 January
383:17 January
328:"Diemert,
312:17 January
284:17 January
171:Ezra Pound
150:postmodern
143:Background
119:The title
990:Works by
881:Hoskins,
773:Shelden,
746:Hoskins,
506:, p. xxii
455:Diemert,
400:Hoskins,
224:Reception
179:Spectator
61:Heinemann
57:Publisher
1770:Category
1504:" (1954)
1497:" (1954)
1490:" (1940)
1483:" (1938)
1476:" (1936)
1469:" (1930)
1462:" (1929)
915:Tom Post
856:op. cit.
827:Mockler
804:, p. 697
777:, p. 245
697:, p. 428
693:Marcus,
643:, p. xix
556:Cassis,
529:Sherry,
459:, p. 108
457:op. cit.
431:, p. 104
427:Diemert
373:Gordon,
125:epigraph
49:Language
1565:21 Days
1128:; 1949)
1126:novella
885:, p. 45
858:, p. 57
831:, p. 79
750:, p. 29
723:, p. 85
670:, p. 47
587:review"
560:, p. 10
489:, p. 61
377:, p. 71
332:, p. 1"
305:, p. 45
301:Couto,
193:Ulysses
165:Reviews
52:English
1768:
1746:(play)
1728:(2010)
1720:(2002)
1712:(1999)
1704:(1985)
1696:(1983)
1688:(1979)
1680:(1972)
1672:(1967)
1664:(1959)
1656:(1958)
1648:(1957)
1640:(1956)
1632:(1955)
1624:(1953)
1616:(1949)
1608:(1948)
1600:(1947)
1592:(1944)
1584:(1942)
1576:(1942)
1568:(1940)
1560:(1940)
1552:(1937)
1544:(1934)
1444:(1990)
1436:(1967)
1428:(1963)
1420:(1954)
1401:(1983)
1393:(1983)
1385:(1981)
1377:(1975)
1369:(1964)
1361:(1959)
1353:(1957)
1345:(1953)
1326:(1992)
1318:(1984)
1310:(1980)
1302:(1971)
1283:(1984)
1275:(1961)
1267:(1939)
1259:(1936)
1240:(2005)
1232:(1988)
1224:(1985)
1216:(1982)
1208:(1980)
1200:(1978)
1192:(1973)
1184:(1969)
1176:(1966)
1168:(1960)
1160:(1958)
1152:(1955)
1144:(1955)
1136:(1951)
1116:(1948)
1108:(1943)
1100:(1940)
1092:(1939)
1084:(1938)
1076:(1936)
1068:(1935)
1060:(1935)
1052:(1934)
1044:(1932)
1036:(1932)
1028:(1930)
1020:(1929)
1009:Novels
942:, p. 8
938:Wise,
909:Forbes
854:West,
617:, p.76
583:"1934
404:, p. 7
342:31 May
278:, p.56
274:West,
39:Author
1736:Other
1533:Films
1334:Plays
481:Ibid.
259:Notes
115:Title
950:2012
923:2012
893:2012
866:2012
839:2012
812:2012
786:2012
758:2012
731:2012
705:2012
678:2012
651:2012
625:2012
599:2012
569:2012
541:2012
514:2012
468:2012
440:2012
412:2012
385:2012
344:2010
314:2012
286:2012
173:and
156:Plot
72:1934
135:'s
131:in
1785::
913:.
589:.
202:,
196:,
181:,
1525:"
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1458:"
1124:(
983:e
976:t
969:v
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543:.
516:.
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387:.
346:.
316:.
288:.
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