Brighton Rock

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: 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.

Rating:
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.

Rating:
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.

Rating:
Summary: For Hardcore Graham Greene Fans
Review: Greene's greatest novels explore the moral responsibilities of the average man in unwinnable situations. In these novels, such as "The Power and the Glory" or "The Heart of the Matter", his average men are fully imagined and believable, while his evil characters are often banal and blindly malevolent. This dynamic is topsy-turvy in "Brighton Rock", Greene's first novel, with Pinky, his evil protagonist, fully rendered while Ida Arnold, a force for good, comes across as relentless but ordinary, and not quite there.

Greene, of course, is a brilliant writer and writes an involving tale. But Pinky, his evil teenage protagonist, is somewhat difficult to envision in the real world. He is certainly more interesting than his eruptions of violence, which make him the equal of adults. But his hold on adults doesn't really seem credible. Further, his immaturity shows in his inarticulate moral thinking and mechanical Catholicism. But in Greene's greatest novels, moral obligations and Catholicism raise great issues, even in ordinary people. Finally, there is a major element of suppressed homosexuality in Pinky's nature, which Greene would surely have handled differently in a different era. Regardless, this is a fine book that held my imagination, even as I questioned Pinky's weird, angry, and shallow nature.

Rating:
Summary: Madness & Guilt at The Beach
Review: Having worked my way through about a third of Greene's output, I was quite looking forward to this entertainment about a teenage gangster in 1930s Brighton. At first, the atmosphere met my expectations, with the seedy underbelly of the holiday getaway exposed, with shabby bars, and razor gangs fighting for their slice of the protection rackets. However, the story's themes left me largely unsatisfied, as cardboard characters go through the motions of embodying larger ideas and forces. The book starts with the murder of a corrupt London newspaperman, who is killed by a minor Brighton gang. This gang is led by Pinkie, a 17-year-old sociopath who has filled the void left by the death of the previous leader. Although the newpaperman's murder goes off without a hitch, and the gang appears to be in the clear, problems starts when a hooker with a heart of gold starts poking her nose into the affair. With little to motivate her other than a fleeting connection to the dead man and an awfully stubborn notion of justice, Ida sets out to unmask the truth. Meanwhile, Pinkie's not totally convinced that the gang's tracks are covered and does a little checking around himself. Both PInkie and Ida realize that there is an unwitting witness who, a 16-year-old waitress, named Rose. The story then boils down to a tug-of-war between Pinky and Ida for Rose's loyalty.

Pinkie is a misanthropic pessimist, who looks to violence as the solution to most problems, and is profoundly mentally disturbed, especially when it comes to sex, which a repressive Catholic upbringing has sullied. Ida is his opposite, a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky (and disproportionately represented) type, the hooker who enjoys her work. Pinkie is a brooding thug, with little motivation other than to be on top of the world, preferably with his boot at its neck. Ida is all about carpe diem, living in the moment, and not worrying too much about what tomorrow will bring. Rose sits between them as a naive blank slate, with nothing driving her beyond senseless schoolgirl infatuation. Watching these characters circle each other with scheme and counter-scheme never gets very interesting. They are much much too broad to be believed in, and as vessels of larger themes they never measure up. Nor are the supporting characters of any help, each one more thinly sketched than the one before. It's all very melodramatic, and ends in the only way possible. In interviews, Greene admits his own dissatisfaction with this book. He started it as a straight detective story, and then reconfigured it, which is why the tone veers so strangely partway through.

Rating:
Summary: Morality tale of good and evil that's a real page turner
Review: I enjoy Graham Greene's books and bought some used copies from a street vendor a while ago. I took this one with me to read one day because it was the smallest and shortest one of the bunch. I sure was surprised when I quickly discovered that, although it was only 247 pages long, it certainly did pack a wallop. I think it is my favorite so far and I've read quite a few of this author's books.

Written way back in 1938, it is set in a world that probably exists only in the memories of the Brits who visited Brighton during that year. For those of you not familiar with the place, Brighton is a seaside resort frequented by working class people. There are hotels and restaurants, a racetrack and all kinds of Boardwalk amusements. It is also run by a mob which rivals any in greed and violence. As usual with Graham Greene, there is a theme of good and evil. The boy named Pinkie is bad; the girl he romances named Rose is good. Both are Catholics and the Catholic belief system looms large in this story, adding depth to the excellent characterizations.

The writing is excellent, the descriptions clear and concise. It didn't even take me long to pick up the British slang which included words I had never heard before. There are several murders in this book. And some unforgettable characters. I'll never forget big bosomed good-natured Ida who sets off to solve the murders and save poor Rose's life. There are also some great mob characters.

The title of the book has several meanings. It's not only about the place itself. There's a kind of rock candy sold there that is referred to as Brighton Rock. And one of the themes is that it tastes the same all the way through no matter how far down you eat it. Clearly this refers to the main character Pinkie, who is also referred to as "The Boy" and is rotten right down to his core.

Put all these elements together and the result is an excellent story that gripped me from the beginning and which I couldn't put down until it was finished. And even though I know that the Brighton of 1938 is no more, I sure would like to visit it.

Highly recommended.


Rating:
Summary: Brighton Rock Rocks
Review: I enjoyed BRIGHTON ROCK. I had never read anything that Graham Greene wrote before picking up this volume, and I was very impressed by so many aspects of it. On the surface, it's simply a gangster story set around the racetrack of a bustling English vacation town in the 1930s. But there are so many little touches and details that Greene adds that all raise this story up and make it more than just another exciting and gory tale of mob violence.

The plot is perhaps the weakest element of the book, but this is not a story that revolves around its plot. The plot points are merely the catalysts that propel these wonderful characters forward. We meet Pinkie, a mere seventeen-year-old, who has found himself in the unenviable task of becoming the head of a criminal organization that is embroiled in a power-struggle with an even larger, better-funded gang. In his world, Pinkie is fighting not only for dominance in his gang, but also battling for territory and control in the town of Brighton. However, he also encounters a strange conflict from an unlikely source: a fun-loving, cheerful, iron-willed woman by the name of Ida.

Ida comes into the story by the most unlikely of coincidences, and is determined to investigate what she feels is a grave injustice. She plays a great foil to Pinkie's character, even though the two of them rarely meet. The only downside that I saw to this fascinating person was the fact that after her fantastic introduction she seems to be coasting through the rest of the novel on autopilot. For a normal book, this would be perfectly expected, but Greene set the bar very high for himself here, especially with this character's motivation, and it just seems a bit jarring when not everything maintains an equal level of excellence.

Greene brings in quite a lot of thought to this novel. Religion, love, spirituality, and death are not things that one expects to undergo detailed analysis on the pages of a crime thriller, yet Greene approaches all of these with maturity and understanding. Each character (bar a handful) is given believable motivations. There are some plot pieces that are predictable, but that only means that I was daring the characters not to go the way that they did, and genuinely upset when they did unfortunate things, even though I had anticipated them. Greene draws on so many ideas to breath life into his novel. He places familiar concepts into irregular characters, and unfamiliar concepts into regular characters; the results are often wonderful and thought provoking.

As I mentioned, I'd not read a Graham Greene novel prior to this, but I certainly plan on doing so in the future. Greene packed quite a bit of careful thought into this intelligent thriller, and the outcome is as exciting as it is reflective. Gripping and spellbinding, this is definitely worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: "Only God may judge me"
Review: If you can get over the fact that the menacing antihero is named Pinky, and resist the urge to put words his mouth along the lines of, 'Eh, Dallow, wot are we going to do tonight? Wee-hee-hee; narf!', you'll find this to be one of the most rewarding thrillers out there. Its style gathers enormous momentum, with long, elaborate sentences like gasps of air, and it's difficult to put down. The character of Pinky is one of Greene's most compelling; like any great villian, he arouses both sympathy and disgust, and his eventual failure is almost dissapointing. Greene's usual themes of guilt and redemption and poverty are well turned-out. Also interesting is the half-revealed backstory, never made explicit; the pace of the novel is such that there's no time for exposition. It's a brilliant, vicious knife-thrust of a book, and one of Greene's best.

Rating:
Summary: Palpable fear on every page
Review: Set in the underworld of Brighton between the wars, this book seethes with menace. Pinkie, the boy gangster is stalked by the implacable Ida, the good time girl turned avenger. The plot twists and turns upon itself like a dying snake and the characters plod grimly on their tracks, helpless before their destiny. Mr Greene has brought many elements to his book. there is the ever present Catholicism, the burden of guilt, the fear of Hell's fire. Ida, the avenger, is as dogged and merciless in her own way but, feeling Right on her side, has fewer qualms than Pinkie for all his evil nature. Surely this must rank as one of Mr Greene's greatest books and that, given his range and mastery of the written word, is praise indeed.