Rating: 
Summary: A Promiscuous Passion
Review: At one point in the novel Greene's Scobie reflects on the nature of the passion that rules his life: pity, that promiscuous passion that so few realise, a passion more dangerous than love. The novel contains no love stories, but is rather about the quest of one man, a flawed man, to learn how to love rather than pity. Scobie's last words are 'Oh God I love...'. We never discover who or what he loves, but Greene's ambiguous ending ensures, at least, that Scobie loves. This is a novel with deep and often complex themes, but it's style is engaging and accessible, as is typical of Greene. It's setting in West Africa, with all its instability and corruption, provides a backdrop for the struggles that Scobie encounters, with his wife, Louise, with his young lover, Helen, and - most importantly - with himself, his past, his memories. Of course there is also a struggle with his faith, as Greene's best novels always reflect in some way the novelist's own incessant struggle with a difficult and unrelenting faith. It is a rich, yet painful, novel.
Rating:
Summary: The heart of the matter
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the book. We can all see a little bit of ourself in Scobie. He is such a devoted hunband, an honest bureaucrat, who only borrows money to make her wife happy. He cannot help falling in love with a young helpless girl and goes to extremes to keep it a secret. Although the whole town knows of the affair.But being a good human he loves GOD and could not bear to live a decietful life. He loved his wife and Helen, but could not have either. Ofcourse the event which drives him to the brink is own involvement in murder of Ali, his faithful servant of 15 years. He had no other choise but to escape. In Scobie we see a glimpse of Dr. Plarr of "The honorary Consul", similar adultery theme.
Rating:
Summary: a gloomy tale on the expiation of sin
Review: Graham Greene is one of the most entertaining writers I have ever read. So why is it that among my favorite of his books ranks this sodden and eventless wreck? Because the smallness of the events is major; the insight into the mind and the problems therein is revelationary and the pain and confusion of the characters is truly affecting. Nobody is bad in this book; evil comes in a far more natural and random way and the only problems people cause is by talking or drinking just a little too much. Of course the world is a mess: the stirrings of war in Europe and the constant pressures of society that demands you give your life to someone else's order. Scobie is an honest and loyal man, one of the faceless ambassadors most people have forgotten about, and he lives his life in exhausted comfort with a nagging wife he'd long ago lost affection for. When the exotic romance of a rescue gives him a moment of glory all of his buried ambition rebells against the tightly ordered character he had imposed upon himself. Add to the fact that as a born-again Catholic he is still very passionate about prayer and the literalness of The Word. Things go quitely wrong and then we close our eyes and feel for the tragedy of such wayward and innocent people.
Rating:
Summary: The violent collision of desire and duty
Review: "The Heart of the Matter" - I couldn't quite understand why Graham Greene chose this title. But a few weeks after reading the book, I now think I know. The main character, Scobie, is confused when his life is turned upside down by events that seem to be beyond his control - his sincere desire to make his wife happy, and the sincere comfort he finds in his relationship with another woman. This emotional dilemma crosses over into his professional life, where he finds his obligation to duty overcome by his desire to cover-up the confusion he finds in his personal life. He has no problem with sincerity, except that he has too much of it. Thus, the title, "The Heart of the Matter," seems to represent the violent collision of desire and duty that ultimately leads Scobie to take extraordinary measures. Greene's performance in writing this work is stunning, as it is in many of his other novels. (I would compare "The Heart of the Matter" to "The End of the Affair" and "The Quiet American," both very powerful novels.) He is able to paint a perfect setting, and his description of the human psyche resonates in a strong way with one's inner soul. How he is able to achieve this very much amazes me.
Rating: 
Summary: The Heart of the Matter...
Review: "The Heart of the Matter" ran a little slow sometimes but Graham Greene did a wonderful job in describing the path to what he wanted to get to. He was testing by Scobie the dedication to be righteous no matter how much corruption there was around him. He also showed how Scobie always challenged himself with his beliefs and how hard he finds it to be to step up and be himself when he started dealing with some unfamiliar characters. A story in which shows how people could react if they are put under certain tests, and how genuine we should be in facing such tests. To be genuine with what we do, and to be courageous no matter who and what we face... A real classic to be read and reflected upon...
Rating:
Summary: Moving testament to imperfection and humanity
Review: Even for Graham Greene, a fine novelist, "The Heart of the Matter" is a standout masterpiece. It raises the question of how a good man, surrounded by corruption and undermined by his own weakness, can find the moral righteous course of action. What is compassion when all acts are contingent, when the world is impure, and when aggression and deceit seem to triumph all around? These weighty philosophical questions are carried well by a tightly crafted plot and by compassionately rendered characters. One of the truly noble books out there.
Rating:
Summary: Twentieth century cavalier
Review: Graham Greene's "The Heart of the Matter" is a powerful story about the choices a man has to make with regard to love, duty, and honor -- his responsibilities to his wife, his job, and God. There are heavy religious overtones to this novel, but they never feel preachy or compromise the strength of the drama. The main character is Major Henry Scobie, the deputy-commissioner of police in a British-occupied West African state during World War II. He's an honest cop on a force that is given to corruption: Some officers routinely take bribes to overlook diamond-smuggling operations, many of which are masterminded by a sly Syrian named Yusef, who manipulates his friendship with the officers through favors and blackmail. Scobie's wife, Louise, is miserable; she is lonely and feels ostracized by the other officers' wives in the community. She would like to leave and go to South Africa for a while, but Scobie can't leave his post to go with her or afford to send her because he's been passed over for promotion to commissioner. His last resort to scrape together the money is to borrow it from Yusef, which puts him squarely under Yusef's thumb. After Louise's departure, Scobie meets a girl named Helen whose husband drowned when their ship was attacked. He falls in love with her despite the fact that she's young enough to be his daughter and mocks his piety. He wonders if adultery can be a sin if the love is genuine, but this is not just a cynical attempt to rationalize his infidelity. Adding to the conflict is a clerk named Wilson who is in love with Louise and, while he pretends to be Scobie's friend and moral compass, acts a sort of dual role as watchdog and betrayer. Like the protagonist of Greene's "The Power and the Glory," Scobie's character is defined by the fact that he is a devout Catholic who is contritely aware of his sins. Although he believes that suicide would be eternal damnation, he poses a crucial question for himself: Would it be better to kill himself for the sake of honor than to live shamefully, insulting God by kneeling before the altar while living adulterously? I see Scobie as a "white knight" type of character -- a cavalier, a protector, someone who was born to be a policeman, someone who is sworn to follow the moral code of Christianity. When he fails in this task, or believes that he fails, he is forced to question the validity of continuing his mission; that is, his life. After reading so many novels about people with moral uncertainties, I find a fresh perspective in this man who draws courage from his convictions and acts accordingly.
Rating:
Summary: Colonial Africa on a Shoestring
Review: I'm a big fan of Graham Greene's, so you need to know that if you're considering my credibility. That being said, this and The End of the Affair are my favorite novels ever and I am perfectly willing to defend them and/or convert others to the Green Party. The Heart of the Matter is not a perfect novel. In fact, it is all about imperfection and weakness. It is in many ways an exploration of the many ways in which being human means failure to be perfect. West Africa, with its dampness and insects, is the main character and the others function to illuminate every way in which both good and bad intentions fail to realize their intended consequences. Scobie is a pathetic English police officer whose failures are evident in both his career and his marriage. His wife Louise is a shadow of a woman, haunted by a child's death and a foreign country. When Scobie tries to give her a vacation, he begins a series of events which lead to his destruction, but not before he finds both love and a sort of salvation.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I've noticed a theme in Graham's books. His characters seem both to themselves and to us to descend into this dark hole of apostasy, damnation, and doubt over the course of the book, but in the end, one is left with the strange paradoxical feeling that that very descension was somehow the life of faith and love of the Christian. This is part of what makes me love Graham so much, and specifically "Heart of the Matter." He understands the heart of the believer, and what he tells us - if we are honest - is painful. But there's a comfort in it, if for nothing else that Graham normalizes it for us. Those of who are believers in God, yet who wrestle somewhere between love of him and hatred for him, between faith and doubt, are reminded that perhaps we are not abnormal. That is how I felt reading this book, anyway.
Rating:
Summary: A tragic masterwork
Review: I had read this novel for a course when I was in college over thirty years ago, and recalled practically nothing about it. But when I recently reread it, I found that the years had worked wonders, not in the book, but in my appreciation of it. There are few writers who are as superb at creating character as Greene, and if you are middle-aged, you will identify with Scobie and his hopes and despair. I read the last twenty pages in tears, and I'm a grizzled old cuss. It is a magnificent depiction of a man torn between love for his wife, his mistress, and God. Those who have complained that this is a short story padded out to novel length are so very wrong. They should wait a few decades and give this work another try. One of the finest novels of the 20th century.
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