Product Description

Into the intrigue and violence of Indo-China comes Pyle, a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious "Third Force". As his naive optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #495174 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
"There has been no novel of any political scope about Vietnam since Graham Greene wrote "The Quiet American,"" -- "Harper's"

Customer Reviews

Incredibly prescient
Greene's Quiet American is a naive young man who believes in his own inherent goodness and his country's innocence; after all, unlike the French the USA isn't a colonialist power, is it?

So he sets about helping the Vietnamese find a third way between French colonialism and communism. It takes the already jaded Fowler to see that such idealism is not only misplaced, but cannot possibly coexist with the notion that the ends will justify the means.

Writing in the 1950s, as France struggled to hold Indo-China (or leave with dignity) Greene's is a contemporary story. Yet it reads as if the author's already been through the Vietnam War and witnessed the Quiet American's greatest folly.

The Best
Greene's best work and the best book ever on Vietnam's twentieth century wars (French and American). Works beautifully as fiction and also as a tour of the area and the era. I have re-read this book ten or twelve times and still find something new to enjoy and appreciate with each re-reading. As an American veteran of the second war (1968-69) I find this a particularly compelling book.

Greene- the Realist.
As a fan of Greene I couldn't wait to pick this book up. I often find this leads to disappointment, but not in this case.
This book embodies Greene's theme of man's blindness, his stumbling through life rather strolling down a chosen path. Fowler, the Foreign correspondent, who wallows through life and the American, Pyle, who is led by his naive allegance to democracy. Pyle's determination to spread the gospel of democracy to Indo-Chine bombards the ordinary Fowler with the extraordinary. In fact this highlights the true realism of Greene's writing and message of the novel: what does a Vietnamese peasant care of politics? His daily struggle is for a bowl of rice whether democratic or communist.
The colonial setting of Indo-Chine is potrayed with ease by Greene, not to mention the imagery.
All in all, this a spectacular read bringing home the absurdity, harshness and reality of the troubles in Vietnam.