Rating: 
Summary: Fancy a sip of Vitriol?
Review: 'Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him.'Thus begins Graham Greene's novel Brighton Rock: a dramatic statement of impending violence. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what is commonly referred to as the 'hook.' Most authors seek some sort of hook to draw a reader immediately into their personal work, and with the increasing fragmentation of the average US attention span thanks to split-second commercials, heavy sugar intake (rush/crash), and hyper-edited blockbuster movies from MTV graduates, the 'hook' has become the focal point for the marketers of mass-media entertainment, the defining degree of art's worth: how can it be sold? -And so I was lured into Brighton Rock...but thankfully, there was quite a bit of substance under the gang-war/urban decay veneer. At Brighton Rock's core seethes the conflict between the opposing characters of Ida and Pinkie, Yin and Yang given flesh-there is Ida, carefree and cheerful, sexually aware and open, living day to day without a care for the future and content to dwell among the squalid and stupid. Then we have Pinkie, whose burning drive for as-yet unachieved material success and his repulsion for the sexual act via Catholic programming combine to create a tense, inwardly tormented youth who obsesses over the future and disguises his inadequacies with bravado and contempt. Pinkie is misery personified, masculine impulse and intellect stifled and thus soured to the degree that the only 'joy' Pinkie feels is pride in his ability to manipulate, terrorize, and take the life from his fellow human beings. Greene skillfully shows us the divide between Pinkie and Ida through habits, conversation pieces, inward musings and, of course, physical actions. In that he makes theses two, who could so easily become rote stereotypes, startlingly _human_ is a clear testament of Greene's skill-I've known both a Pinkie and an Ida in my time, and so I imagine have you. Though Brighton Rock does not contain the hedonism of other 20th century books of similar vein-Trainspotting and A Clockwork Orange come to mind-this is to the book's ultimate advantage, for Greene's strength as a writer comes from his not-so-subtle statement on the human condition. Gratuitous scenes of vice would only serve to distract from the points made...and one need not be subtle to be effective. Greene's style of writing is a bit different from his contemporaries of that era: near-stream of conscious descriptive interludes are firmed up with simple but effective prose that says what it has to without a single unnecessary word. Like most books that can be considered in the Literature genre, Brighton Rock gives us a snapshot view into a time and place and way of life that has vanished in the rapid succession of progress...and the fact that he states it so lucidly puts Greene's work, in my opinion, above the obtuse efforts of the 'celebrated' Melville, Joyce, Dostoyevsky, etc. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A harrowing realism
Review: A few of Graham Greene's works have been successfully adapted into film, but BRIGHTON ROCK is not one of them. On the surface, it appears that it would make a great story for a film. But this hasn't happened. (I believe there was an attempt to make a film of this, but it was a miserable flop.) Perhaps part of the reason is that the narrative is written with such realism, and is often so cinematic, that it would be redundant. Fortunately, we don't need a visual interpretation. BRIGHTON ROCK casts a cold eye on a low-level urban scene, as gritty as Mean Streets. Much, even too much, is made of the good/evil "Catholicism" of the story. The fact is that Pinkie is simply an evil man. Calculating, cowardly, and over-his-head, he is morally drowing and is pulling down those closest to him. If you've read Greene's short story, "The Destructors", Pinkie would have easily fit in with that crew. On all levels this is one of Greene's best, if not always appreciated, novels: character development, plot, pacing... nothing is left to be desired.
Rating: 
Summary: a study in evil
Review: Admittedly, this is the first of Graham Greene's novels that I have had the pleasure to read. That being said, I was thoroughly entraced by Greene's exposition of the banality of evil and the differences between absolute morality and religion. The story of an extrodinarily young (17) criminal of pre-war England gives the reader chills with its insightful and plausible view into the mind of an innocent (experiencially speaking)yet extrodinarily brutal and amoral individual and the havoc reaked in the name of self-preservation and utter selfishness.
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Summary: between the stirrup and the ground..
Review: An excellent, if slightly dated book concerning Pinky, a young but ruthless gangstar, and his attempt to break into the bigtime. With one of the greatest opening lines of any book, the pace doesn't let up for a second as we follow Pinky's journey to the one place he believes in - Hell. On the way we meet some superb characters- Ada, the original 'tart with a heart' and her burning desire for justice, Colleoni- the dandified gangster living in a luxury that Pinky can only dream about from his Iron Bedstead at Franks. The action reaches its crescendo as Pinky tries to destroy the one thing that can save him - his girlfriend Rose. Transcending an ordinary novel about mid-20th gang war with its themes of justice and mercy, this book is lavisly written and carefully plotted.A classic.
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Summary: Graham Greene at his extraordinary best!
Review: Brighton Rock is the first Graham Greene book I read, and after buying all his books, this is still my favourite. I'm English by birth, and know Brighton well, and I am ever impressed by the evocation of a place exactly as I remember it. I find Pinky a truly disturbing character, and his Rose one of the most sad yet courageous heroines in modern literature. Mr. Greene is so good at drawing "small part" characters, and recreates so well the world of the petty criminal, and the unpleasant, hopeless characters who inhabit it. I have always felt Graham Greene to be the master of the written English language - his books contain neither one word more, nor one word less than they need to. Definitely my favourite author, and this my favourite of his considerable body of work.
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Summary: Hard Candy
Review: BRIGHTON ROCK To oversimplify perhaps, 16-year-old innocent Rose and the 17-year-old Puritanical killer Pinkie represent a Christian version of good and evil-they're almost walking personifications of it. Ida Arnold is the secular world, and in an ordinary melodrama, she would be the hero, because she is the one who persists to see that justice is done. But Greene's view of Ida is that she is morally superficial, and doesn't understand real good and evil, that is, good and evil with eternal consequences. Pinkie is a nominally Catholic but really Calvinist psychopath, more convinced of the existence of Hell than that of Heaven. Since he knows that Hell is his destination, he can only hope to live here in the posh manner of the big-time gangster Colleoni, Pinkie's rival. The average watcher/reader of American melodramas would probably be disconcerted by Greene's undercutting of the nominal hero Ida, who is all for truth, justice, and the English way. Her antagonists are not only Pinkie, but also Rose, whom Ida sees herself as protecting. But Rose prefers Pinkie. The world in which these characters move is the Brit resort Brighton, whose rock candy had the word "Brighton" embedded throughout the stick. It is a world of vacationing typists stenos, and clerks, and is permanently inhabited by seedy grifters and race-track touts. Largely to extort money from betting enterprises, two gangs compete in a protection racket. But Pinkie's operation (he took over for the former leader, who was murdered by Colleoni) is a pathetic imitation of the smooth operation of the larger "mob." Green's writing style is semi-Hemingwayesque, hard-boiled with brusque dialogue and jump cuts between scenes. The characters all have their signatures-Pinkie's inadequate shoulders and throbbing cheek, Rose's mousiness and bony frame, and Ida's unmaternal but pneumatic breasts. And the minor characters are individualized; for example, there's Colleoni's small-framed pudginess and the detail that Pinkie fixates on, the gold crowns on the red-upholstered chairs in his hotel apartment. I believe this is the first novel in which Greene's Catholicism was obtrusive, something he got away from in later work like THE QUIET AMERICAN and THE COMEDIANS.
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Summary: Flip Side Of Catholic Grace
Review: Even by the exulted standards of British literature, Pinkie Brown is one uniquely depraved villain. When he goes to court a lovestruck lass, he brings a bottle of acid to threaten her with. He kills not only to cover evidence of previous murders, but because he derives pleasure from the act. He hates with a blind fury anything that makes him feel vulnerably human. "Heaven was a word: Hell was something he could trust." Pinkie is not just a bad guy, he is a teen so twisted by evil that he willfully chooses damnation over salvation. He's an archetype, yes, but very compelling, a flip side to the flawed cleric of Greene's "The Power And The Glory" for whom observance of Catholic ritual nevertheless steers him along the right path. For Pinkie, Catholicism is no less universal a truth, but a concept only adhered to in the negative, at least after an encounter with razor-wielding toughs forces him to realize he can't expect himself to make that last-minute plea for divine forgiveness he had been counting on. "Brighton Rock" starts out strongly, with the last hours of a man on the run, before introducing us to the trinity of characters that steer the plot, Pinkie; his unfortunate girlfriend Rose, who invests her evil beau with all her Catholic-honed faith; and the secular, lusty Ida who, because of a chance encounter, decides to avenge one of Pinkie's victims. Greene writes with passion and an eye for detail that reveals greater designs. There's also a black humor in the book, as Pinkie shows himself time and again the servant of his inner bile to the virtual exclusion of common sense. Greene describes the coastal British getaway of Brighton in crunchy detail, and there's a nice verisimilitude to his dialogue that anticipates Anthony Burgess's later examination of juvenile thuggery, "A Clockwork Orange," without the futuristic component. ["Brighton Rock" is set in the 1930s, when the novel was published.] The only weakness of the book as I see it is that it takes a while to get started. There's a good 100 pages of scene-setting, and Ida doesn't make for a compelling character when she's not moving the plot, so her sections tend to drag a bit, at least until she starts getting after Rose about what Pinkie's really about. Since Greene writes his book as a mystery, this early lack of dramatic undertow costs the narrative in terms of readability, at least for a while. But Pinkie and Rose, as they develop, more than make up for this. There's an element of melodrama in her sad devotion to his evil cause, but it's effective. Greene makes clear in his careful, empathetic way how sad Rose's life has been before she found herself receiving the attentions of a young tough she mistakes for true love. She creates the sympathetic center of the novel, while Pinkie forms a counterbalance of true malice, a man so twisted even basic human lust is lost on him. Even Shakespeare's Richard III could charm, but Greene's development of Pinkie's character is stunning for the simple fact he delves deeper into Pinkie's psyche while avoiding the slightest pretense of sympathy. As a mystery, "Brighton Rock" finds itself in the second half, then takes off toward a conclusion that is actually quite gripping. What makes this book great is its exploration of the human character, and of the Catholic philosophy of good and evil. "Brighton Rock" is an obvious starting point for understanding Greene's attitude toward spirituality and man, and a powerful message of faith even by a negative example.
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Summary: Where reality crushes simplicity....
Review: Graham green paints a ugly and often disturbing portrait of a youth driven by greed, power and anger and his unwitting acomplices. Our anti-hero, Pinky, desires power and wealth. However, his dreams are shattered like a little leaguer trying to play in the Major Leagues. He hasn't the respect or presence to create fear in his enemies. By this token, we watch his downfall and those being pulled with him. A good read with remarkable characterization
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Summary: Grim but stunningly written
Review: Graham Greene may be the most underrated writer of the 20th Century. This book, one of his best, is also possibly the grimmest. It appears to be both an exploration of modern evil and of a struggle between unrelenting heartless selfishness versus human good, the latter rooted in vitality, love, lust, and generosity. A flaw is the many deliberately obscure passages. There is an oblique reference to Greene's own visit to a dentist to have a healthy tooth removed (apparently to awaken his senses). I have an unfortunate tendency to absorb the atmosphere of a book while I am reading it. The effect with this book caused me to feel depressed, evil, and unclean. If you react this way, this might be a book to avoid. Nevertheless it is a great work.
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Summary: The grim underbelly of the English Seaside
Review: Graham Greene writes crisply, and the colours and textures with which he paints an inter-war Brighton are vivid, if uniformly gray and brutal. The story is simple enough: I don't think it's what the characters do as much as what they stand for which interests Greene - for this reason the protagonists are not especially lifelike: Pinky is all brooding, anti-social and violent; absent even a hint of redemption (Greene uses the word 'poisoned' a lot in relation to Pinky), whereas Ida is drawn as a libertine Dickensian harlot whose only motivating moral is the pursuit of fun ' and, somewhat incongruously, really ' justice, for the forsaken Hale. The opposing forces or good and evil are far too contrary to have been meant to be taken at face value. For all the solemnity of Greene's main object, at times he pulls some surprises: just when the going begins to get truly rough, there is a delightfully comic scene involving a lecherous but repressed lawyer that had me laugh out loud. I haven't seen the film version, but the lawyer, Prewitt would be a peach of a part for some hammy old Shakespearean actor fancying a break into the big time. The narrative didn't really rivet me; Greene's writing is a bit too artful to be truly exciting, and in places I found Brighton Rock rather too easy to put down. Having said that, what I really admired were the backlights and figurative plays with which Greene makes his point - they exist alongside the plot, so that Greene can say his piece without having to shoehorn it into the story as bluntly as a lesser author might.
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