Graham Greene as one of your “Daily Penguin” authors was a surprise in light of past comments you have made regarding his work. I agree with you that Norman Sherry’s comprehensive biography depicting the extraordinary experiences of Greene’s life was a compelling read. His life was more interesting than any of his characters. A prospective reader of the biography does not need to have read the novels to enjoy reading this bio of one of the most famous/infamous literary figures in the 20thC. The harrowing account of the 1930’s expedition Greene led in West Africa especially stands out in my memory. As a chapter in my reading history, I enjoyed reading many Greene novels (some more than others). I will probably not re-read them not because I disliked them but because I seldom re-read books since there are so many more books yet to be read. If I read as rapidly as you do that might be a different story.

Greene felt very fresh when I read him in my teens. Now I wonder how I would feel if I reread some.

Haha, an enjoyable video Steve. Though I have to say I love the power and the glory! I think it’s tacitly acknowledged by many he was a heavy drinker too. I know he wrote one of his novels at the same time as power on Benzedrine though!

I feel the exact same way Steve.

I've read some of Greene's literary works. I prefer the entertainments.

I know that Graham Greene suffered from manic depression. That might be part of it.

Greene definitely pales in comparison with John le Carré in spy fiction, but that almost feels like comparing Xenophon to Plato. Our Man in Havana is probably my favorite of Greene’s novels. I found the Penguin Classic of his collected short stories and enjoyed a number of those. My wife is nearly finished with The End of the Affair. She loved Our Man in Havana, so we’ll see what her opinion of Greene is afterwards. Also, Stone >>> Updike!

Middling!!! Not to me!

Not a big fan of Greene either. One wonders what modern authors you will get to in this series that you are a fan of? I liked _The Quiet American_ and thought it worked as a spy(ish) novel. Wasn't Greene the writer who wrote exactly the same number of words every day and when he got to that count he stopped even if it was mid sentence? Or is that one of my many delusions?

I always felt he was overrated. I did like Monsignor Quixote though, and the movie version with Leo Mckern and Alec Guiness.

I am not a fan of Graham Green either, although if I had to, I would read him rather than certain other authors.