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The Life of Graham Greene #2

The Life of Graham Greene: Volume II: 1939-1955

norman sherry

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Relates Greene's early years, his rise in the world of literature, his love affair with an American woman, the end of his marriage, and his experiences as a spy

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1994
Series
The Life of Graham Greene

This edition

Format
592 pages, Paperback
Published
May 1, 1996 by Penguin Books
ISBN
9780140245264
ASIN
014024526X
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Graham Greene

    Graham Greene

    Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English novelist and author regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene had acquired a reputation early in hi...

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About the author

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norman sherry

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Norman Sherry was an English novelist, biographer, and educator who was best known for his three-volume biography of the British novelist Graham Greene. He was Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University.
Sherry was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, the younger twin (by eleven minutes) of Alan. Sherry studied at King's College, Newcastle, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955.
He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He also wrote on Joseph Conrad, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Jane Austen. His Life of Graham Greene was praised by David Lodge for being "a remarkable and heroic achievement" that he predicted would prove "the definitive biography of record" of Greene.
From 1983, Sherry held the post of Mitchell Distinguished Professor of Literature at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
He was married three times: first to the children's novelist Sylvia Sherry, then to Carmen Flores (with whom he had a son and a daughter), and finally to Pat Villalon.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 9 votes)
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9 reviews All reviews
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Lerrete
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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This volume covers the writing of his greatest novels, including "The Power and the Glory," "The Heart of the Matter," and "The End of the Affair." Similar to the other volumes of this biography, it's very detailed, but provides a great understanding of how Greene's personal life flavored his novels.
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Wobbu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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There is something creepy about this volume, as though Sherry is just picking relentlessly at a scab. There is too much superfluous detail, too many passages lifted straight from the novels. A feeling he is trying to demonstrate he is somehow as incisive as his subject, putting the splinter of ice in his own heart out to show. But it isn’t a splinter of ice. It is just lurid and gossipy. And there are parts that in a book that attempts to wear its forensic credentials in its sleeve where he just basically makes stuff up. If Greene was really trying to double bluff Philby for example, surely there would be some evidence?

Overall frustrating and laborious but worth it for showing the source of so much of Greene’s work and the internal battle for his soul.
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CrazyLasagna
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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LORDY!! Has there ever been so much written about a writer? With this volume under my belt now, I've read 1,200 pages about the life of Graham Greene - and I STILL have 800 more to go in Volume III (which I WILL finish, even if it kills me off). I'm nearing the end of my project: "Reading Graham Greene in the Pandemic," in which I'm reading everything BY Greene in chronological order, lots of things ABOUT Greene, and then the movies of his work (23 of them!!). I think I'm going to make it - by the end of next February.
This volume covers the years from 1939 (when he's back from Mexico and about to start writing what most people think of as his masterpiece, "The Power and the Glory") through 1955 (when he is finally breaking up with Catherine Walston). In between we lived through his love affair with Dorothy Craigie, "Brighton Rock," his publishing days, "The Heart of the Matter" (which I think is terrific), "The Third Man" (which may be his best film - now a classic), "The Quiet American" (which may be his very best book in my personal opinion), and his intriguing relationship with the spy, Kim Philby.
Greene by now is an international success in both books, movies and plays. He has traveled the world and hangs out with both literary and film stars. He has left behind a marriage, and two long love affairs. I still have 800 pages and 35 years to go. QUITE A LIFE, I must say.
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jmhj
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Even more than Volume 1, this is for fans only.
Again, Sherry does a great job of digging deeper into Greene's life than just about any biographer digging into any subjects, life, but it's taken to a bit of absurdity here.
I liked Volume 1 because I felt like it was a traditional, albeit very detailed, biography about how Greene grew up, the things that formed his world view and how he got his early successes (the latter being particular relevant to me).
But this part covers only 16 years of his life and it spends hundreds of pages focusing on the disintegration of Greene's marriage and his relationship with his mistress, due to his obsession with a third woman. Yes, this informed two of his books, but we get that rather quickly. We don't need hundreds of pages about it. And Greene comes off in his letters like a pathetic teenager. It's frankly amazing to met that Sherry can still defend Greene as much as he does given how many of his letters he's read, in which Greene whines, begs and pleads with the object of his affection. If you thought highly of this man and want to no longer think highly of him, read this volume.
It takes over 300 pages to get to the good stuff, the stuff where Greene goes to Malaya and Indochina. This part of the book is as excellent as the first volume, but it's a slog getting there.
I am reading the third volume for only two reasons: 1) I am a completist and 2) the affair is pretty much over by the end of this volume, leading me to believe (hope!) that there will be much more about Greene's travels and writing than his obsession with one particular woman in the third volume.
This is not for the faint of heart, for sure.
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Miseingno
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Marvellous second volume on Greene’s middle years, his tempestuous relationship with Catherine Walton and his other mistress Dorothy and his long-suffering wife Vivien are outlined in detail, making a fascinating counterpoise to his at times gruelling adventures in West Africa and Vietnam, and film-making with Carol Reed in Vienna, amongst many others. A very satisfying, unputdownable read.
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bimbambusse
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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See review of volume 3. This particular volume is of interest because it researches Greene's life during the the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War. It provides much of the material he uses in his greatest novels including The Quiet American. Nonetheless, it is a slow read and would be of interest mostly to those who are familiar with his works.
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MaliTigar
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Shelfari wants to lump all three volumes together for some reason. So, here's the all-purpose review.
Volume 1 rocks (4 stars). Volume 2 rocks (4 stars). Volume 3 is just a little too much about Norman Sherry for my taste (2 stars). And at this point in his life, Greene has made so many frustrating choices, it's much harder to sympathize with him and you find yourself looking forward to his death so you can just be done with the biography and go back to reading the novels.
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liqkue
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Mostly an excellent read, especially the detailed coverage of the links between his experiences and his writing - for example his visits to Vietnam, the way his views of the power plays there between Vietnamese groups, the French and the Americans and the plot and underlying themes of 'The quiet American'. I didn't always warm to him - he was clearly self-obsessed.
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