The Captain and the Enemy - Softcover

Greene, Graham

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099529149 ISBN 13: 9780099529149

Publisher: Vintage Classics, 2011

A young boy, Victor, is collected from school by a stranger in a bowler hat. The stranger says he has won Victor in a game of backgammon with Victor’s father. The stranger, known as the Captain, takes Victor to live with the sweet but withdrawn Lisa, where he serves as her conduit to the outside world. From mysterious beginnings, Graham Greene’s final novel becomes a twisting thriller of smuggling, jewel theft and international espionage which culminates in a dramatic showdown in Panama.

About the Author:

Graham Greene (1904-1991) worked as a journalist and critic, and was later employed by the foreign office. His many books include The Power and the Glory, The Third Man, Our Man in Havana, The Comedians and Travels with My Aunt. He is the subject of an acclaimed three-volume biography by Norman Sherry.

From AudioFile:

Graham Greene's last published novel offers clues to the autobiographical motifs running through Greene's long career: the horrors of prep school, the loneliness of childhood, the mysteries of basement rooms, the difficulty of finding love. Jim Baxter is removed from his school by a mysterious figure called the Captain; years later, they meet again in Noriega's Panama amid political turmoil. Kenneth Branagh reads the book effectively; his low-key characterizations are lucid and believable. The sure pacing and clarity of Branagh's delivery make one wish his talents had been applied to a richer Greene novel, rather than this slim finale to a great career. G.H. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine