Graham Greene: A Life in Letters

Greene, Richard (editor)

ISBN 10: 0316727938 / ISBN 13: 9780316727938

Published by (London: Little, Brown, 2007) 9780316727938, 2007

About this Item

8vo; original charcoal boards, lettered in silver gilt on spine; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. xxxiv + 446, incl. index; plates. Slightest curl to edges of dustwrapper. Very good to near-fine condition. "One of the undisputed masters of English prose in the twentieth century, Graham Greene (1904-91) wrote tens of thousands of personal letters. This substantial volume presents a new and engrossing account of his life constructed out of his own words. . The sheer range of experience contained in Greene's correspondence defies comparison: at moments he is seen flying in a dive-bomber in Vietnam, on patrol with the Ghurkas in Malaya, or under artillery fire near the Suez Canal. Greene's letters are the most intimate record we have of a life enacted at the heart of modern history.".

Seller Inventory # 12842

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Graham Greene: A Life in Letters
• Publisher: (London: Little, Brown, 2007) 9780316727938
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0316727938
• ISBN 13: 9780316727938
• Binding: Hardcover
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

A revealing portrait of a fascinating life emerges gradually from nearly 70 years’ worth of the great British author’s letters to family members, lovers, literary peers, readers and others.One of the undisputed masters of English prose in the twentieth century, Graham Greene wrote tens of thousands of personal letters. This substantial volume presents a new and engrossing account of his life constructed out of his own words.

Meticulously chosen and engagingly annotated, this selection of Greene's letters - including many to his family and close friends that were unavailable even to his official biographer - gives an entirely new perspective on a life that combined literary achievement, political action, espionage, travel, and romantic entanglement. The letters describe his travels in Mexico, Africa, Malaya, Vietnam, Haiti, Cuba and other trouble spots, where he observed the struggles of victims and victors with a compassionate and truthful eye. The book includes a vast number of unpublished letters to Evelyn Waugh, Auberon Waugh, Anthony Powell, Edith Sitwell, R. K. Narayan, Muriel Spark and other leading writers of the time. Some letters reveal the agonies of his romantic life, especially his relations with his wife, Vivien Greene, and with his mistress Catherine Walston.

The sheer range of experience contained in Greene's correspondence defies comparison and is a key addition to his matchless oeuvre.