AUDIOBOOK
About
Alden Pyle, an idealistic young American, is sent to Vietnam to promote democracy amidst the intrigue and violence of the French war with the Vietminh, while his friend, Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, looks on. Fowler's mistress, a beautiful native girl, creates a catalyst for jealousy and competition between the men and a cultural clash resulting in bloodshed and deep misgivings. Written in 1955 prior to the Vietnam conflict, The Quiet American foreshadows the events leading up to the Vietnam conflict. Questions surrounding the moral ambiguity of the involvement of the United States in foreign countries are as relevant today as they were fifty years ago.
Related Subjects
Reviews
"A continuously intriguing piece of storytelling....Greene has brought into vivid relief...the fearful price of innocence-and has shown that behind innocence there lurk unconscious arrogance and a self-righteous streak of moral blindness."
Atlantic
"There has been no novel of any political scope about Vietnam since Graham Greene wrote The Quiet American."
Harper's
"Greene is a superb storyteller. He evokes the most actual streets, the most vivid skies, and individuals who can have a lacerating reality as they search the labyrinth of their lives."
Newsweek