Quiet American

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Summary: "I don't like Ike."
Review: I can honestly say that I've spent more time thinking about the events of Graham Greene's THE QUIET AMERICAN than of any other book I've read in months. In short, this is the story of America's involvement in Vietnam, full stop. Astounding is the fact that this was written between 1952 and 1955, yet can serve as a metaphor for almost two further decades of US involvement in that region.

This is no simple tale, although it can be read as one. It works on many different levels. In its simplest form, this is a story about two foreigners in Indo-China: a middle-aged British reporter, and a young idealistic American. They involve themselves in two main plots: one concerning the French Army's battle with the Vietminh, and the second, concerning the two men's relationship with a native woman and the subsequent fight for her affections. On this level, THE QUIET AMERICAN works as an effective thriller. Who is the mysterious "third force" that Pyle, the American, is aiding? Why is he even there, and why is he providing aid to this group? Will Fowler, the British journalist, abandon his policy of neutrality and enter into the conflict? Who will end up with the girl at the end?

But there are all sorts of other subtexts and subtleties going on here. Pyle isn't just "the quiet American"; he is America -- at least as far as the US's involvement in Vietnam is concerned. And the difference in age between Pyle and Fowler is no random chance. Fowler is the older man; his country has already had its expansionist, colonial period. Fowler already knows what it's like to get one's fingers burnt interfering in other people's conflicts. But Pyle won't be told. He's the young inexperienced man who has to find out for himself -- to the detriment of everyone.

This isn't just a simplistic "America = idealistic, good-hearted, but naive" or "England = experienced, weary, and impotent" view of the world. While Greene builds on several stereotypes of the Old and the New Worlds, he goes much farther beyond that. Both men desire Phuong (the Vietnamese woman), but for starkly different reasons. The woman's own interests are kept to herself deliberately. We learn far more about Pyle and Fowler simply by the way in which they view the woman. On a purely personal level, the characterization is heart-wrenching. When looked at on a national level as far as what the two men represent, it is amazingly thought provoking.

After reading THE QUIET AMERICAN, I kept replaying and rethinking a number of its scenes and breaking down the characters as much as I could. There is a lot going on here, and much of what Greene wrote about wouldn't fully come into being for a number of years after the book's publication. There are many layers of subtleties occurring in this book's pages, and while I'm certain that I have not yet caught them all, it is not through a lack of interest. This is a very powerful book, and should be on everyone's "To Read" list.

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Summary: Innocence and Experience
Review: Greene's "The Quiet American" describes the brief, but astoundingly full relationship between Thomas Fowler, a British war correspondent-slash-expatriate, and Arden Pyle, an innocent and naive American desk soldier in 1950's Vietnam. The novel tells of how Pyle tries to usurp the affections of Phuong, a local woman from a tired, but comfortable relationship with Fowler.

Simultaneously, Pyle is engaged in secretive dealings with a local thug in an attempt to drive French and Vietminh forces out of power - in an effort to establish a puppet government friendly to American interests.

Graham Greene shows why he is one of the single greatest authors of the 20th century. His understanding of cultures and grasp of the current of his contemporary geopolitics is astounding from one novel to the next. In this light, "The Quiet American" is an interesting fictional look at Vietnam in the years preceding the Vietnam Conflict.

The book is yet another of Greene's profound first-person confessionals in the manner of "The End of the Affair" and is well worth a read.

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Summary: Poor book
Review: AT first you think that you are going to read about some secret agent in Vietnam that was killed, but when you see that the story of the book is not that man, is a journalist from England that doesn't want to go back to his country you will be disappointed, the book doesn't have any main story, it has the story of the journalist, his girlfriend (who was also the girlfriend of the "secret agent") and many more, but you will not be interested in one story at all, a real waste of time this book.

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Summary: Set it Vietnam in the 1950s, it's a warning about the future
Review: Graham Greene wrote this novel in 1955. It's set in the early fifties when Vietnam was still Indo-China and there was a war raging between the French and the Vietnamese. It's obvious he's worried about the future and American involvement, and this theme resonates throughout the book as well as gives an eerie foreshadowing of what we all know happened later. At only 188 pages, it's a seemingly simple story of mystery, adventure and love. But it's also a story of a people, a place and a time as well as a warning about the future.

Thomas Fowler, the narrator, is a hardened British war correspondent. He in a relationship young Vietnamese woman named Phuong, enjoys his opium pipes, and manages to get along with his fellow correspondents. Suddenly, a young naïve American, named Alden Pyle, arrives in Vietnam, supposedly as an aid worker. When he declares his love for Phuong, the plot thickens. But this is just one facet of the story as both men are thrust into the war, viewing the meaningless deaths around them and coming very close to death themselves. Pyle's mission to Indo-China becomes increasingly suspect, and as Fowler discovers one clue after another, the conclusion is inevitable.

I was immediately drawn into the story, which sets up a mystery and keeps the reader wondering until the very end. At the same time, the three main characters are deeply developed, not only as to their individualisms, but also as to their national character. The British correspondent takes a caustic view of the world; the American is effusive and idealistic, and the Vietnamese woman is stoic. They move around in a Vietnam where the French are fast losing their hold, and everyone knows that change is going to happen.

I loved this book. Every word reverberated with a truth that existed when it was written, and which proved to be a prophesy of things to come. It also enriched my understanding of the dark period in history that followed. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Greene's Plea for Action
Review: Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American is an expressive illustration of the interconnection of personal agendas and politics into an action. This action would later be transformed into none other than history itself. Focusing on the events of the earlier part of what would become the Vietnam War, Greene delves into what not many other of his colleagues at the time would dare. He informs the public in such a brilliant way of what exactly is going on, raising the more general question- 'Is it possible to be completely unbiased and detached from a situation whose images are repeatedly shown to you on a daily basis?'
The reader is immediately introduced to three characters Fowler, Phuong, and Pyle. Greene does an especially brilliant job in creating these three characters to be paralleled to their respective countries. Fowler plays the part of the neutral observer, and embodies the British attitudes towards the Vietnam. He is especially firm to stand by his feelings of being absolutely unbiased towards the situation. Phuong is presented as a submissive, naïve, and delicate woman of Vietnam, the general attitude America held towards the country itself. Pyle epitomizes America through his aggressiveness and the air that can only be defined as a WASP. He is very well educated though it is made extremely clear not at all knowledgeable of consequence. Greene, using these parallels, is able to sculpt a story of the personal conflict of love, the greater conflict of war, and the ethics involved in a choice which will ultimately lead into an action affecting more than oneself.
Greene unravels his story in such a fashion to give the reader information concerning each life involved. He does not give a one sided account covering up the destruction of a nation, speaking about a peaceful involvement to end Communism as the greater American government would have liked him to. He asks the reader to take a step back in his or her own life and truly reconsider his action, or lack of action.
Through the course of the novel the reader views Fowlers transformation from innocent bystander to active involvement in something greater than himself. Fowler's step to action is admirable, but we're also questionable of his intention. Greene uses Fowler as a prime example that our larger decisions which will affect a world are not always as pure as we would like to believe. He shows that regardless of how genuine and selfless we wish to be at any point in time, we all are still guilty of that droplet of our personal agenda underneath it all. History is not made from reaction to raw facts, rather the physical social interactions between people.
The Quiet American is a necessary read, especially during this period of history. As America continues conflict in Iraq, the ideas provoked by Greene's words are crucial in the understanding of what the American government might again be failing to thoroughly express to the greater public. More importantly, The Quiet American shows the significance of understanding the full story, rather than one nation's view of that story. Rather than simply watching the news every once in awhile, or picking up the paper every Sunday to exclusively read the front page stories, Greene begs for the interaction of the individual and his own history.
Simply stated, The Quiet American is a must read for anyone who wishes to take the challenge of stepping back, listening, understanding that everything you've been fed may not be the entire story, and that the full story may only be attainable through personal inquiry and action.

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Summary: The scrutiny of America's relationship to Vietnam
Review: Graham Greene, author of "The Quiet American", does a phenomenal and thought provoking job of looking at the expansive views of the Vietnam War. Three main characters Greene conjurs depicts the British, Vietnamese, American, and Third Party (General The) interactions with eachother during the Vietnam war. What is so fascinating is that this novel was published in 1955, nearly a decadebefore it happened. And yet the way Greene's novel unfurls, so did the upcoming Vietnam war. I think a prominent theme in this novel is fear. Entangled in this theme lays place and time, adventure, and love all which add to the magical and sometimes depressing reality of life.
This novel does an impeccable job at setting up the relationships between characters which metaphorically represent their own nations. Fowler, the cynical narrator who may not be as un-involved as he seems to think he is, represents Britain and their neutral attitude towards involvent in the war. Fowler is rough around the edges, observative, and on average is alevel minded reporter who does just that: observe, collect, accept, report. A sort of mechanical sense to him, when he demonstrates this towards Phuong. Although his intensity about her as well as Pyle and his plastics is spurred and his morality and suppressed emotion overcomes his neutrality.
Phuong is a beautiful, delicate, submissive lover of life who clings to unrelaistic hopes but softens to her Vietnamese reality. Although she is smart and kind, curious, and sometimes political, she has no say in matters of love and matters of life. Like many of the Vietnamese trying to gain a sort of independance.
The most peculiar and intriguing character, despite the name the "Quiet American", is Pyle. A well learned American in Vietnam as a sort of Aid. (which is never really inquired about by reporters)He seems naive and somewhat manipulative. After telling Fowler he was a mdeical assistant, not much more was exposed about him, but left many to assume. After Pyle's death when Fowler is speaking with Vigot who represents an American faction of some sort, they are unsettled by this conversation. "A soldiers death...might that prove confusing?...the economic Aid Mission doesn't sound like the army..." said Fowler. In response to this, "He had special duites." Pyle's character seemed to represent America more and more throughout the novel. And the more we find his deceptions, ignorance, "York Harding" simplicity in a complicated country, and his loss of humanity, the more America is being projected onto this scenario. Before Fowler discovers the Dialacton and Pyle's perfect pronunciation of French and Vietnamese, Pyle in fact remains quiet. Later though, we learn of America's alterior motives in making "genuine" change for the betterment of Vietnamese society. (Which i'm still havgin trouble with understanding how selling plastics for guns and explosives to General The benefits the Vietnamese)Together, America and the Third Party become the masterminds of destruction.
Currently in America, Senator Ted Kennedy freely expressed that $Q is becoming Bush's Vietnam". One critique of Kennedy's statement said that if it is Bush's war, then it is America's too. This led me to think about Pyle, and just how much he really did represent America.
"The Quiet American" was a thrilling novel that explored many ideas in the humanities. What is the loss of innocense, what is moral and immoral, how are these ideas inter-related to the Vietnam War and Graham Greene's novel? You'll have to find out for yourself.

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Summary: A Spectacular, Intelligent, Captivating Book
Review: In this thoughtful and complex story, author Graham Greene presents us with three main characters; narrator Thomas Fowler, Alden Pyle, and Phuong. These three characters are connected to the Vietnam War in different ways. Pyle is from Boston, Fowler, from England, and Phuong is a native to Vietnam.

Each character in a way represents the country from which they come. Pyle, like America, is just getting involved with the War, thinking that he is bringing new, helpful ideas with him to benefit the Vietnamese. Phuong, like Vietnam, is simply trying to live life the best that she can. Fowler is from the only neutral country of the three. He does not agree with the war and he thinks that the Vietnamese just want to be able to "grow rice" and interact with each other pleasantly without the interference of countries that don't know them. However, he wants to remain disengaged from the war as much as he can, while still reporting/keeping an eye on it.

Alden Pyle, the "quiet American", is an interesting character. He is portrayed as an incredibly naïve, young patriot who has somehow gotten himself involved in something that he knows very little about. He seems to have absolutely no idea of how to function intelligently in the extremely unpredictable and potentially dangerous Vietnam.

Fowler is the passive, cynical journalist in Vietnam to submit war stories and experiences that will then be printed in England. He is clearly wise when it comes to knowing how to live and what to do during such shaky, uncertain days in Vietnam. Seemingly the exact opposite from Pyle, yet they become friends the first time they meet. Fowler finds a lighthearted amusement in Pyle's intense ignorance, but he also sees the danger he faces because of this.

Phuong, (pronounced Fong) though a comparably minor character, has one of the most important parts. She is the cause of Pyle's fate.
Though she could easily be Fowler's daughter, she and Fowler connect in an extremely meaningful way. She is what makes Fowler human; she is what brings out his passion and feeling. Generally narrating in an unemotional, apathetic way, Fowler sneaks in lines such as; "...we [Fowler and Phuong] sat in silence, content to be together" (33) and "It didn't seem much for the end of the working day, but, after all, he [Pyle] had had Phuong" (29) which reveal his strong feelings for Phuong.

The Quiet American is an eloquent story that depicts the ways in which three people make lives for themselves and survive (or don't) in the war-absorbed country of Vietnam. The three characters experience a war of their own when Pyle admits his love of Phuong to Fowler, who then gives him the go-ahead to confess these feelings to Phuong. This would not have been an issue if Fowler had been able to marry Phuong. Though he desperately desires to marry her, Fowler is married to a die-hard Catholic back in England. All Fowler needs is his wife to agree to divorce him. Though it starts out as innocently as it possibly could, this fight over Phuong develops during the course of the story into an intense battle and ultimately one character's downfall.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The characters were perfectly constructed and it was extremely well-written. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys anything good.

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Summary: Graham Greene's Open Ended World Policy Bible / Mystery
Review: The Quiet American is an interesting story starting with the narrator being told of the murder of a young American friend in a pre-war Vietnam. Fowler, the narrator, then flashes back to the events leading up to the death, gradually revealing to the reader that there is more going on than what meets the eye.
Like many other highly acclaimed novels (Crime and Punishment, The Heart of Darkness), The Quiet American is actually two things: a story and an idea. Don't mistake this story for a weak plot that Graham Greene has used to make his thoughts more palatable, such as the movie Waking Life.

This murder mystery stands on its own two legs and could make a great read if that's all that is being sought after. The plot is somewhat formulaic: average Joe puts the moves on the narrator's girl, but then he turns out to be something he's not and the narrator wants him dead. Sounds simple enough, but the massive roles that each character plays makes this novel rise above the other stories that have been fashioned in similar ways.

The character development is excellent, letting the reader visualize the people as human beings with varying and sometimes hypocritical ideas and personalities. As the book progresses, these characters grow into complex beings with misunderstandings and an ignorance that can only be described as human. Each character reflects a different opinion about the then current state of Vietnam and what should be done, although it is obvious that Graham Greene has made Fowler as his personal representative in the book. The characters' ideas are what really make this book stand out.

Throughout the story, Fowler declares that he is a completely unbiased bystander; just observing the future of Vietnam as it plays out before him. His insistence of this is only rivaled by the amount of times he acts hypocritically to the idea. Fowler is as biased as they come, and even worse, his ignorance of his biased state of mind reassures him that he is always in the right, because how could an innocent bystander be in the wrong? The only character who he can compare himself directly to is Pyle, the quiet American.

Unlike Fowler, Pyle is passionate enough to seriously act upon his believes, which are just as uninformed and stubborn as Fowler's, but at least Pyle is not lying to himself and others. All Pyle thinks about is the sorry state of Vietnam and how he can help it become the world power that it could be. He has good enough intentions, but Pyle has not lived in Vietnam for very long and does not understand Vietnam the way that any of the Vietnamese do, making his good intentions into bad decisions. Fowler thinks he knows how Vietnam works and since he considers himself unbiased, he thinks he has all the answers.

The situation is ironic though, because Pyle believes that a third, unbiased party (besides the Communists and the French) needs to step in and steer the country out of its slump. Fowler thinks of himself as a third, unbiased party that knows what would be good for Vietnam. If Pyle and Fowler really talked it over, Fowler could have become America's perfect third party Vietnamese president. Pyle and Fowler's ideas were almost identical, they just had different ways of acting them out: Pyle wanted to save the country as a whole, Fowler wanted to save the country by helping individuals. Obviously, both of the ideas are flawed enough and too extreme to work, so it is possible that if they worked together, a happy medium could have been reached.

The Quiet American is a great novel that should be held in a higher regard. Its ideas are timeless, especially comparing America today with the America of the 50's and how each interacts with the rest of the world. America definitely could learn a thing or two about foreign policy from this book.

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Summary: The Quite American
Review: There are not many novels similar to Graham Greene's "The Quiet American." Maybe authors are not as truthful and observant as he, or maybe the period in time that we live in affects the free will of perception and thought that a writer possesses. However, there are a few people who find no fear in speaking against the actions of a nation, and telling the truth about situations such as the Vietnam War. "The Quiet American" is Graham Greene's way of doing exactly this.

The novel focuses on three characters in particular: Thomas Fowler (the narrator), Alden Pyle (The American), and Phoung (Fowler's Vietnamese lover). Fowler is a British reporter in Vietnam in 1952. At this time period in Vietnam the Vietnamese are at war with the French. The French are loosing the war and America is slowly taking interest in Vietnam. Fowler has been in Vietnam for some time now and keeps finding excuses to stay longer because he has fallen in love with a much younger woman named Phoung. This is how the novel is laid out in the beginning.

One day, an American man named Pyle shows up at the hotel where Fowler always hangs around. Fowler and Pyle talk about things such as literature and Vietnam, eventually becoming friends. Fowler takes Pyle under his wing, teaching him about Vietnam and how exactly it works. Pyle sees Phoung and is amazed by her beauty. It is fairly obvious that Pyle wants her for himself. Eventually he convinces Phoung that he can protect her and take her away from the war and danger in Vietnam and she leaves Fowler.

Fowler is torn apart by this and begins suspecting Pyle of lying to him as to what he was doing in Vietnam. He starts figuring this out when he goes to Interview General Te (the rising leader of the Vietnamese who are fighting against the north) and finds Pyle along with other Americans at his base. One day Fowler is sitting at the same hotel that he always sat at and a huge car bomb explodes a couple hundred feet from him, killing many women and children. Fowler is upset by this and finally realizes the magnitude of devastation this war is and will cost the people of Vietnam. He begins investigating the bombing and finds our that Pyle is behind it. Fowler realizes that Pyle is working for the American government and that America is funding General Te. He realizes that more Americans are going to come and take over what has come to be his home. He also realizes that he must take action instead of observing everything like he always had done before, and he does. Fowler is approached by people who want to kill Pyle and agrees to help. He sets up Pyle and Pyle is killed.

The genius behind this novel is not what is written, its how it is written. If you look at each character you can see that they represent the country they are from and the actions they do are similar to the way the country acted in the situation. The British were in Vietnam during this time, reaping the benefits of the country and watching everything go on with out taking action, which is exactly what Fowler does. The Vietnamese were weak in terms of political standings in the world. They did not have much power and let other countries use them. But most of all Vietnam was a beautiful country; this is exactly how Phoung is portrayed. And at this time, America realized that the war was out of the control of the French and they decided to get involved. America basically went to Vietnam not knowing what the people wanted or how they lived and took over. And this is what Pyle does in the story. Graham Greene observed all of this when he was in Vietnam in the early 1950's and took a stand by writing this book.

The reason why I enjoyed this book so much is because it is true. I can look at this book and see the outline for how the Vietnam War started and I can see it through the eyes of a non-American for once. I wish Graham Greene were alive today. I wish a mind like his would create a book about the United States current situation with Iraq. Perhaps it would be called The Quite American. Fowler would be a peace worker in Iraq, Phoung would be the frightened Iraqi woman who was somewhat oppressed but was able to live happily with Fowler's help, and Pyle would be the American who came out of no where and promised to take care of Phoung. In this novel Pyle would destroy her town and overthrow the people in charge of her town. He would take control and than realize that the corrupt person whose place he took had allot of oil. Pyle and many other people like himself would take the oil and leave. They would lie to the people and promises to help them but in the end, Phoung and the people would be left in the aftermath that Pyle had left. The book would end with Fowler protesting this, and instead of him killing Pyle, Pyle would kill him.

In conclusion, I recommend everyone should read this book at one point in his or her life. Hopefully it would open some eyes and turn some heads as it did to mine.

Rating:
Summary: Keep in Mind when this book was Written
Review: This book was published in 1955 so Graham Greene didn't have the hindsight that we have almost 40 years later; so he was very accurate and prophetic.