Graham Greene's Narrative Strategies : A Study of the Major Novels

In Narrative Strategies Roston focuses upon the Greene's texts themselves and their manipulation of reader response, highlighting the innovative strategies that Greene developed to cope with the mid-century invalidation of the traditional hero. The result is a stimulating new reading of the major novels. Most critical studies have seen Greene's fiction as projections of his own experiences and as reflections of his changing religious beliefs. Roston rejects that approach on two grounds - that Greene deliberately misled his biographers and interviewers concerning both his life and his faith, and that incidents from an author's life inevitably become distorted in the process of being fictionalised. Instead, this study focuses upon the texts themselves, highlighting the innovative strategies that Green developed to cope with a twofold problem, the mid-century invalidation of the traditional hero and the potential hostility of readers to his advocacy of Catholicism. The result is an essentially new reading of the major novels Front Matter....Pages i-vi The Strategies....Pages 1-14 The Power and the Glory....Pages 15-41 The Heart of the Matter....Pages 42-64 The End of the Affair....Pages 65-82 A Burnt-Out Case....Pages 83-103 The Comedians....Pages 104-124 The Honorary Consul....Pages 125-140 Monsignor Quixote....Pages 141-156 Back Matter....Pages 157-168