The writer Graham Green is considered one of the most prominent figures of English literature of the 20th century. For his long enough life, he created many works and repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize, but never received it, although he was worthy of it no less than many other laureates.
Graham Green: biography (childhood)
Born in a large family of Charles Henry Green, who at that time was the director of one of the most privileged schools in England. From childhood he was fond of reading adventure literature. Constant conflicts with classmates have led to several suicide attempts. As a result, the boy was taken from school for home schooling, and then sent to Balliol College, operating at Oxford University.
Beginning of a writing career
Upon graduation, Graham Green began working as a journalist for the Nottingham Journal, and later as a freelance correspondent for The Times. At the age of 22, he converted to Catholicism, thus expressing his protest against the Church of England, which dominates the United Kingdom. True, there are other opinions on this score (they say that he was very in love with a classmate whose parents agreed to their marriage only on condition of a change in the faith of the future son-in-law).
In 1929, his first novel, "The Man Inside, " which had some success with readers, saw the light of day. This made Graham Green think about a writing career.
Following the first book, others followed. In particular, action-packed detectives such as the Istanbul Express, the Hitman, the Trustee and the Office of Fear have brought popularity to the writer. The last novel was written at the very height of the war and spoke about the adventures of the Londoner Arthur Rowe. A film accidentally hits him, which Nazi spies hunt for, and the young man has to work hard to stay alive.
Green himself considered these books entertaining, unlike one of his early works, the novel “England Made Me, ” in which the writer reflected the process of changing English society under the influence of scientific and technological progress.
Travels
Back in the 1930s, a young writer visited Liberia and Mexico. These trips made a huge impression on him, which resulted in 2 books of travel notes “The roads of lawlessness” and “Travel without a map”. In 1940, the best novel was published, which, according to critics, was written by Graham Green. "Strength and glory" provoked a sharp protest from the Catholic Church, although in fact he spoke about the Christian ministry of a deserted priest who was sent to commune the dying, although he knew that he would be shot for this.
Intelligence work
During the Second World War, Graham Greene serves the Queen as part of the Intelligence Service in Portugal and Sierra Leone. At the same time, he was officially listed as a representative of the British Foreign Ministry. His work in intelligence helped him a lot when writing action-packed novels that were popular with readers.
After the end of World War II, Graham Green was sent to Indochina as a correspondent for New Ripublic. Seen there, especially the events of 1955-1956, formed the basis of the novel "Quiet American."
In the next decade, the writer visited several “hot spots” in different parts of the world and met with influential politicians of that time, including some dictators.
Political Views
Despite the fact that Graham Green repeatedly changed socio-political preferences, he always remained intransigent in relation to all forms of arbitrariness and violence, including colonial, dictatorial, fascist regimes, racism and religious intolerance.
At the same time, after the writer defended the accused in the case of Daniel and Sinyavsky, he was not printed in the USSR for more than 12 years.
Green spent the last years of his life in Switzerland, where he died in 1991, on April 3.
Graham Green: movies
Many works of the writer have been made into films. Among them, the first in the history of world cinema film about a killer - “Weapon for hire” with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, the plot of which was based on the novel “The Assassin” (1942).
Another significant film was the detective "The Third Man", which was released in 1949 and shot based on the work of the same name by Graham Green. She won the Cannes Film Festival and also received BAFTA and Oscars.
The painting "The Third Man" has been repeatedly recognized as one of the best in the history of world cinema and the best British film of all time.
Despite the completely Hollywood appearance that Graham Green had in his youth, the actor did not work out of him. However, the writer was still nominated for an Oscar in 1950 for the script of the movie “Downed Idol”. True, he did not get the prize, although shortly before that, the picture was recognized as the best British film according to BAFTA. In addition, in 1954, Graham Green successfully coped with the role of producer of the painting "The Hand of a Stranger."
About creativity
Among the most popular works of the writer are the novels “Our Man in Havana”, “The Human Factor”, “Honorary Consul” and “The Essence of the Case”. Graham Green reflected in them his vision of Christian mercy, which does not die even in people who are complete sinners. So, in the novel The Essence of the Case, the story is about an honest colonial policeman who tries not to offend anyone: neither his wife, nor his mistress, nor those who turn to him, and is forced to constantly lie, and in the Honorary Consul, a doctor sympathizing with the conspirators, feels compassion for their hostage and dies in an attempt to save the diplomat.
Questions of Christian values - this is not the only thing that reflected in his work Graham Green. "Destroyers" (story) is a work of a completely different kind. It reveals the phenomenon of child cruelty, which is especially frightening for its causelessness and meaninglessness.
"Comedians"
This work of the author is considered one of his best works, therefore, deserves to tell you more about him. The main scene of the novel "Comedians" (Graham Green) - the island of Haiti during the reign of Francois Duvalier. It was written on the basis of the memoirs of a writer who repeatedly visited this country, including during the years of dictatorship. In the novel, Graham Green showed what it means to live in a state where lawlessness and terror reign. Even the best intentions of the heroes are smashed against the wall erected by Duvalier and his minions, and the most terrible is the realization of the hopelessness and meaninglessness of the struggle to which they come.
By the way, Green himself, in a letter to A. S. Frer, to whom he dedicated the novel, answered critics accusing him of overly dramatizing what was happening in Haiti, saying: “This black night cannot be denigrated.”
On the basis of the book in 1967, the film of the same name was shot, in which the main roles were played by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Awards
As already mentioned, in the mid-60s, Graham Green was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature, but the Swedish academics refused to award him because of disagreement with his political views.
However, at that time the writer was already the owner of many literary awards, including the Hawtorden Prize, James Tate Blake Prize, Shakespeare. In addition, he was awarded the British Order of the Knights of Honor and Merit. Of particular value to Graham Green himself was the Jerusalem Prize, which is awarded to authors who reflect in their works the theme of human freedom in society.
