Thursday, July 23, 2009

the Quiet American, by Graham Greene

the Quiet American, by Graham Greene

read it for yourself, how history repeats itself, not just in one place, but all over the world

npr story has an excerpt, and is the conventional insight into this work

reflection on: each of us has a role that has been inherited from our ancestors, some aspects of which are impossible to avoid - get it from the library.

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Fowler: do you know this poem ?
I drive down the street and I care not a damn,
The people they stare, and they ask who I am;
And if I should chance to run over a cad,
I can pay for the damage if ever so bad.

Fowler persists in claiming to remaining unattached to the world, take no action, have no opinion, even as he wants to remain connected to Phuong. Even his final engagement with the world is at arm's length.

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Do people change, or are they acting, and eventually reveal their true selves ?