Reviews

The Third Man by Graham Greene

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agrip's review against another edition

3.0

It's a short, grim read. I still need to watch the movie. But it does what Graham Greene does best, strip whatever flesh might render the world attractive and remind us that our short human lives are but currency traded by the ruthless and avaricious.

But as a reminder of the horrors of war that linger past the declaration of peace, The Third Man is a memory cudgel.

odin45mp's review against another edition

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2.0

I was excited to read this book for book club. I like a good spy/thriller. This was a fast read. The setting was real - Vienna during the early cold war. It involves British, American, and Russian authorities. A friend reaches Vienna just too late to meet his friend, but in time for his friend's funeral. But there seems to be a question as to exactly what happened at the accident scene, and our protagonist decides to investigate on his own.

The characters are all fairly thin, and what took me out of this book is that the dialogue rarely has markers as to who was talking, so little that there were times I had to read a passage multiple times to follow who was saying what in the conversation. The descriptions were also light, so I had a hard time getting a feel for the city itself, which was disappointing. As problematic as the Fleming Bond novels are in representation, we at least got a colonial British sense of each place that Bond visits, through his eyes. I don't get a good sense for Greene's Vienna. Without a good sense of the place or the people, I am left underwhelmed by this story, even though the plot itself was GOOD and has been retold in several other stories. We will see where our group discussion leads us this Thursday.

bumble_bia_'s review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

2.0

arytaco's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Better known as the film noir from Carol Reed, The Third Man as Graham Greene’s pre-screenplay novella is a fast-paced thriller from the acclaimed English author. The motion picture contains the expressionist direction, cuckoo clock speech and unique zither score, but the novella is interesting in its own right. Greene is allowed to linger on several dialogue scenes, allowing for memorable interactions that never quite made it to the screen. The film may be superior, but Greene’s novella is an impressive piece of writing that best replicates the unease of postwar Vienna.