468. The Third Man

The Third Man
Graham Greene
1950
Around 160 pages

Graham Greene never intended this novel to be read by the public, but that's never stopped us before (sorry again Kafka). He wrote this in preparation for The Third Man screenplay, which is a famous film that is also featured on the 1001 movie list. And while any Greene piece is worth reading, you can kind of tell that this story isn't as complete as his other masterpieces.

Our narrator is Major Colloway, a member of the British Royal Military Police. The mystery involves the the death of Harry Lime, a shady shadster who was apparently killed in a car accident. His friend Holly Martins, a popular American author, wants to prove that Harry was never involved in anything nefarious, with the help of Harry's girlfriend Anna.

Even Greene concedes that the movie is superior to this novel, which was essentially a warm up exercise for him. It's a perfectly good thriller that definitely reads like a screenplay. So worth reading if you are a Greene fan, but otherwise not a necessary entry.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Greene wrote of the film: "One of the very few major disputes between Carol Reed and myself concerned the ending, and he has been proved triumphantly right."

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