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Graham Greene
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== Writing career == After leaving Oxford, Greene worked as a private tutor and then turned to journalism; first on the ''[[Nottingham Journal]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biogs.com/famous/greenegraham.html |title=Graham Greene |publisher=Biogs.com |access-date=2 June 2010}}</ref> and then as a [[copy editing|sub-editor]] on ''[[The Times]]''.<ref name="oxforddnb.com" /> While he was still at Oxford, he had started corresponding with [[Vivien Greene|Vivien Dayrell-Browning]], who had written to him to correct him on a point of Catholic doctrine.<ref name="telly" />{{sfn|Sherry|1990|p=179}}<ref name="oxforddnb.com" /> Greene was an agnostic, but when he later began to think about marrying Vivien, it occurred to him that, as he puts it in his autobiography ''[[A Sort of Life]]'', he "ought at least to learn the nature and limits of the beliefs she held".{{sfn|Greene|1971|pp=164-165}} Greene was baptised on 28 February 1926{{sfn|Sinyard|2003|p=3}} and they married on 15 October 1927 at [[St Mary's Church, Hampstead]], London.{{sfn|Sherry|1990|pp=352-354}} He published his first novel, ''[[The Man Within]]'', in 1929; its favourable reception enabled him to work full-time as a novelist.<ref name="oxforddnb.com" /> Greene originally divided his fiction into two genres (which he described as "entertainments" and "novels"): thrillers—often with notable philosophic edges—such as ''[[The Ministry of Fear]]''; and literary works—on which he thought his literary reputation would rest—such as ''[[The Power and the Glory]].'' The next two books, ''[[The Name of Action]]'' (1930) and ''[[Rumour at Nightfall]]'' (1932), were unsuccessful,<ref name="oxforddnb.com" /> and he later disowned them.<ref name="timesobit" /> His first true success was ''[[Stamboul Train]]'' (1932) which was taken on by the Book Society{{sfn|Sherry|1990|p=442}} and adapted as the film ''[[Orient Express (1934 film)|Orient Express]]'', in 1934.<ref>{{Cite web|title="Orient Express." AFI Catalog.|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/4997|access-date=2024-08-20}}</ref> Although Greene objected to being described as a [[Roman Catholic]] novelist, rather than as a novelist who happened to be Catholic,{{efn|For example, when [[Anthony Burgess]] asked Greene in an interview whether his novels were the first "in English to present evil as something palpable – not a theological abstraction but an entity", Greene replied, "I see we're getting on to myself as a Catholic novelist. I'm not that: I'm a novelist who happens to be a Catholic. The theme of human beings lonely without God is a legitimate fictional subject. To want to deal with the theme doesn't make me a theologian."<ref name="burgess">{{Cite news |last=Burgess |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Burgess |date=16 March 1980 |title='God and literature and so forth...' |work=[[The Observer]] |pages=33+35}}</ref> Greene rejected the label on other occasions.{{sfn|Sinyard|2003|p=3}}}} Catholic religious [[theme (literature)|themes]] are at the root of much of his writing, especially ''[[Brighton Rock (novel)|Brighton Rock]]'', ''The Power and the Glory'', ''[[The Heart of the Matter]]'', and ''[[The End of the Affair]]'',<ref name=mcgowin>[http://www.eclectica.org/v8n4/mcgowin_greene.html Graham Greene, The Major Novels: A Centenary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127085400/http://www.eclectica.org/v8n4/mcgowin_greene.html |date=27 January 2014 }} by [[Kevin McGowin]], ''[[Eclectica Magazine]]''</ref> which have been named "the gold standard" of the Catholic novel.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JMLSvJ096KQC&pg=PA3|page=3|title=Graham Greene's Catholic Imagination|first=Mark |last=Bosco|author-link=Mark Bosco|publisher=Oxford University Press|date= 21 January 2005|isbn=9780198039358}}</ref> Several works, such as ''[[The Confidential Agent]]'', ''[[The Quiet American]]'', ''[[Our Man in Havana]]'', ''[[The Human Factor (novel)|The Human Factor]]'', and his screenplay for ''[[The Third Man]]'', also show Greene's avid interest in the workings and intrigues of international politics and espionage. In the early 1930s Greene moved to the left politically. He read left-wing writers like [[G. D. H. Cole|G.D.H. Cole]] and [[John Strachey (politician)|John Strachey]]; in 1933 he joined the [[Independent Labour Party]]. This move to the left is reflected in the characters and plot of his fifth novel [[It's a Battlefield|''It's A Battlefield'']].{{sfn|Sherry|1990|pp=410, 456–461}} His later political affiliations and convictions were more ambiguous.{{sfn|Sherry|1994|pp=479, 494–496}} He supplemented his novelist's income with freelance journalism, book and film reviews for ''[[The Spectator]]'', and co-editing the magazine ''Night and Day''. Greene's 1937 film review<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecharnelhouse.org/2014/02/25/graham-greenes-infamous-review-of-wee-willie-winkie-1937-starring-shirley-temple|title=Graham Greene's infamous review of Wee Willie Winkie (1937), starring Shirley Temple |website=The Charnel-House|date=26 February 2014 |access-date=4 December 2014}}</ref> of ''[[Wee Willie Winkie (film)|Wee Willie Winkie]]'', for ''Night and Day''—which said that the nine-year-old star, [[Shirley Temple]], displayed "a dubious coquetry" which appealed to "middle-aged men and clergymen"{{sfn|Parkinson|1995|pp=233-234}}—provoked Twentieth Century Fox successfully to sue for £3,500 plus costs,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/our-man-in-london-20090821|title=Our Man in London|first=Michael |last=Atkinson|date=21 August 2009|publisher=movingimagesource.us}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/life/long-life/9141712/alexander-chancellor-maybe-its-because-im-not-a-clergyman-or-jimmy-savile-but-shirley-temple-doesnt-do-it-for-me/|title=Was Graham Greene right about Shirley Temple? |first=Alexander |last=Chancellor|magazine=The Spectator|date=22 February 2014}}</ref> and Greene left the UK to live in Mexico until after the trial was over.<ref name=Johnson>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/shirley-temple-scandal-was-real-reason-graham-greene-fled-to-mexico-400856.html|title= Shirley Temple scandal was real reason Graham Greene fled to Mexico|newspaper=The Independent|date=18 November 2007|first=Andrew |last=Johnson}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/chasinglolitahow00vick|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/chasinglolitahow00vick/page/64 64]|title=Chasing Lolita: How Popular Culture Corrupted Nabokov's Little Girl All Over Again|first=Graham|last= Vickers|publisher=Chicago Review Press|date= 1 August 2008|isbn=9781556526824}}</ref> While in Mexico, Greene developed the ideas for the novel often considered his masterpiece, ''The Power and the Glory''.<ref name=Johnson /> By the 1950s, Greene had become known as one of the finest writers of his generation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barrett |first=D. |year=2009 |chapter=Graham Greene |editor-first=A. |editor-last=Poole |title=The Cambridge Companion to English Novelists |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00pool |url-access=limited |series=Cambridge Companions to Literature |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00pool/page/n435 423]–437 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521871198.027 |isbn=9780521871198 }}</ref><ref>[https://earlybirdbooks.com/must-read-graham-greene-books 13 Must-Read Graham Greene Books] ''earlybirdbooks.com'', accessed 31 October 2020</ref> As his career lengthened, both Greene and his readers found the distinction between his 'entertainments' and novels increasingly problematic. The last book Greene termed an entertainment was ''[[Our Man in Havana]]'' in 1958. Greene also wrote short stories and plays, which were well received, although he was always first and foremost a novelist. His first play, ''[[The Living Room (play)|The Living Room]]'', debuted in 1953.<ref name="Billington">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/mar/13/living-room-review | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Michael | last=Billington | title=The Living Room—review | date=13 March 2013}}</ref> [[Michael Korda]], a lifelong friend and later his editor at [[Simon & Schuster]], observed Greene at work: Greene wrote in a small black leather notebook with a black fountain pen and would write approximately 500 words. Korda described this as Graham's daily penance—once he finished he put the notebook away for the rest of the day.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Another Life: A Memoir of Other People|last = Korda|first = Michael|publisher = Random House|year = 1999|isbn = 0-679-45659-7|location = United States|pages = [https://archive.org/details/anotherlifememoi00kord/page/312 312–325]|url = https://archive.org/details/anotherlifememoi00kord/page/312}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/124611-1/Michael-Korda.aspx|title=Another Life: A Memoir of Other People Interview|last=Korda|first=Michael|date=11 July 1999|website=www.booknotes.org|publisher=C-Span|access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref> His writing influences included [[Henry James]], [[Robert Louis Stevenson]], [[H. Rider Haggard]], [[Joseph Conrad]], [[Ford Madox Ford]], [[Marcel Proust]], [[Charles Péguy]] and [[John Buchan]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=R. H. |title=Understanding Graham Greene |url=https://archive.org/details/understandinggra0000mill |url-access=registration |location=Columbia, SC |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-87249-704-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pendleton |first=Robert |title=Graham Greene's Conradian Masterplot |location=Suffolk |publisher=MacMillan Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-333-62888-8 }}</ref>{{sfn|Diemert|1996}} === Travel and espionage === Throughout his life, Greene travelled to what he called the world's wild and remote places. In 1941, the travels led to his being recruited into [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] by his sister, Elisabeth, who worked for the agency. Accordingly, he was posted to [[Sierra Leone]] during the Second World War.<ref>Christopher Hawtree. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/feb/10/guardianobituaries "A Muse on the tides of history: Elisabeth Dennys"]. ''The Guardian'', 10 February 1999. Retrieved 16 April 2011.</ref> [[Kim Philby]], who would later be revealed as a Soviet agent, was Greene's supervisor and friend at MI6.<ref>{{cite web|author=Robert Royal |url=http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=3226 |title=The (Mis)Guided Dream of Graham Greene |work=First Things |date=November 1999 |access-date=2 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/graham-greene.shtml |title=BBC—BBC Four Documentaries—Arena: Graham Greene |work=BBC News |date=3 October 2004 |access-date=2 June 2010}}</ref> Greene resigned from MI6 in 1944.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brennan|first=Michael G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRkdCgAAQBAJ|title=Graham Greene: Fictions, Faith and Authorship|date=18 March 2010|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4411-3742-5|language=en}}</ref> He later wrote an introduction to Philby's 1968 memoir, ''My Silent War''.<ref>Greene's introduction to the Philby book is mentioned in Christopher Hitchens' introduction to ''Our Man in Havana'' (pg xx of the Penguin Classics edition)</ref> Greene also corresponded with intelligence officer and spy, [[John Cairncross]], for forty years and that correspondence is held by the John J. Burns Library, at [[Boston College]].<ref>"[https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=bcchronicle19991014-01.2.10 The Spy Who Wrote Me Burns Lands Graham Greene Correspondence With Soviet Agent]." ''Boston College Chronicle'', Volume 8, Number 4, 14 October 1999.</ref> Part of Greene's reputation as a novelist is for weaving the characters he met and the places where he lived into the fabric of his novels.<ref>{{cite news|title=Graham Greene, 86, Dies; Novelist of the Soul|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=16 May 2024|date=4 April 1991|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/04/obituaries/graham-greene-86-dies-novelist-of-the-soul.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Our Man in the Stacks |author=Sunil Iyengar |work=[[Los Angeles Review of Books]] |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/our-man-in-the-stacks/ |date=13 January 2021 |access-date=15 May 2024}}</ref> Greene first left Europe at 30 years of age in 1935 on a trip to [[Liberia]] that produced the travel book ''[[Journey Without Maps]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/tim-butcher/graham-greene-our-man-liberia|title=Graham Greene: Our Man in Liberia|last=Butcher|first=Tim|year=2010|work=History Today Volume: 60 Issue: 10|access-date=20 March 2012|quote=insisted this trip, his first to Africa and his first outside Europe}}</ref> His 1938 trip to [[Mexico]] to see the effects of the government's campaign of forced anti-Catholic [[secularisation]] was paid for by the publishing company [[Longman]], thanks to his friendship with [[Tom Burns (publisher)|Tom Burns]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110615070843/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/tls_selections/commentary/article2305784.ece Graham Greene, Uneasy Catholic] ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'', 22 August 2006.</ref> That voyage produced two books, the nonfiction ''[[The Lawless Roads]]'' (published as ''Another Mexico'' in the US) and the novel ''[[The Power and the Glory]]''. In 1953, the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith|Holy Office]] informed Greene that ''The Power and the Glory'' was damaging to the reputation of the priesthood; but later, in a private audience with Greene, [[Pope Paul VI]] told him that, although parts of his novels would offend some Catholics, he should ignore the criticism.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1005484.stm |title=EUROPE | Vatican's bid to censure Graham Greene |work=BBC News |date=3 November 2000 |access-date=2 June 2010}}</ref> In 1954, Greene travelled to [[Haiti]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmD7JS7jw3MC&pg=PR5|title=Introduction to The Comedians |author=Paul Theroux |page=v|publisher=Random House|date= 1 January 2004|isbn=9780099478379 }}</ref> where ''[[The Comedians (novel)|The Comedians]]'' (1966) is set,<ref>{{cite book|first=Bernard |last=Diederich|author-link=Bernard Diederich|date= 2012|title=Seeds of Fiction: Graham Greene's Adventures in Haiti and Central America 1954–1983|publisher= Peter Owen}}</ref> and which was then under the rule of dictator [[François Duvalier]], known as "Papa Doc", frequently staying at the [[Hotel Oloffson]] in [[Port-au-Prince]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/dec/17/grahamgreene|title=Drinking, dancing and death|author=Duncan Campbell|date=17 December 2005|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> He visited Haiti again in the late 1950s. As inspiration for his novel ''[[A Burnt-Out Case]]'' (1960), Greene spent time travelling around Africa visiting a number of [[leper colony|leper colonies]] in the [[Congo Basin]] and in what were then the [[British Cameroons]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Greene |first=Graham |date=1961 |title=A Burnt-Out Case |url=https://archive.org/details/burntoutcase00gree|url-access=registration |location=New York (Amer. ed.) |publisher=The Viking Press |page=vii–viii }}</ref> During this trip in late February and early March 1959, Greene met several times with [[Andrée de Jongh]], a leader in the Belgian resistance during WWII, who famously established an escape route to Gibraltar through the Pyrenees for downed allied airmen.<ref>{{cite book |last=Neave |first=Airey |author-link=Airey Neave |year=1970 |title=The Escape Room |location=[[Garden City, New York]] |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |pages=126–127 }}</ref> In 1957, just months after [[Fidel Castro]] began his final revolutionary assault on the [[Fulgencio Batista|Batista regime]] in [[Cuba]], Greene played a small role in helping the revolutionaries, as a secret courier transporting warm clothing for Castro's rebels hiding in the hills during the Cuban winter.<ref name="WashPost041491">{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Tom |date=14 April 1991 |title=Sex, Spies and Literature; Graham Greene's Cuba: Helping Fidel Was the Heart of the Matter |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/04/14/sex-spies-and-literature/77b162a4-2d48-4d5c-8dc6-3c44e9ebebd0/ }}</ref> Castro, like [[Daniel Ortega]] and [[Omar Torrijos]], was one of several Latin American leaders Greene's friendship with whom has led some commentators to question his commitment to democracy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 April 1991 |title=Obituary: Graham Greene |first=Norman |last=Sherry |author-link=Norman Sherry |work=[[The Independent]] |issue=1394 |page=3}}</ref><ref name="oxforddnb.com" /> After one visit Castro gave Greene a painting he had done, which hung in the living room of the French house where the author spent the last years of his life.<ref name="WashPost041491" /> Greene did later voice doubts about Castro, telling a French interviewer in 1983, "I admire him for his courage and his efficiency, but I question his authoritarianism," adding: "All successful revolutions, however idealistic, probably betray themselves in time."<ref name="WashPost041491" /> === Publishing career === Between 1944 and 1948, Greene was director at [[Eyre & Spottiswoode]] under chairman [[Douglas Francis Jerrold|Douglas Jerrold]], in charge of developing its fiction list.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Greene|first=Richard|title=Graham Greene: A Life in Letters|year=2011}}</ref> Greene created ''The Century Library'' series, which was discontinued after he left following a conflict with Jerrold regarding [[Anthony Powell]]'s contract. In 1958, Greene was offered the position of chairman by [[Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre]], but declined.{{sfn|Sherry|1994|pp=189-90, 200-204}} He was a director at [[The Bodley Head]] from 1957 to 1968 under [[Max Reinhardt (publisher)|Max Reinhardt]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hill|first=Mike|title=The Works of Graham Greene, Volume 2: A Guide to the Graham Greene Archives|year=2015|pages=33}}</ref>
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