Reader recommendation: The Quiet American
Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.
Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.
By
Rusty Wyrick, Ghivizzano, Italy
The Quiet American, by Graham Greene, is an absolute masterpiece! It is a slim book, but I read it quite slowly, to savor Greene鈥檚 elegant, precise prose. This book is also a thriller, beginning with a murder. But perhaps it is better known as a devastating critique of colonialism and foreign intervention. It is set in Vietnam, a decade before American troops arrived. But you could replace 鈥淪aigon鈥 with 鈥淏aghdad鈥 or 鈥淒amascus,鈥 and with very little difference be persuaded by Greene鈥檚 cynicism about oversimplification of complex conflicts.
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