Commentaires client les plus utiles
|
|
2.0étoiles sur 5
Madness & Guilt at The Beach, Jui 18 2004
Having worked my way through about a third of Greene's output, I was quite looking forward to this entertainment about a teenage gangster in 1930s Brighton. At first, the atmosphere met my expectations, with the seedy underbelly of the holiday getaway exposed, with shabby bars, and razor gangs fighting for their slice of the protection rackets. However, the story's themes left me largely unsatisfied, as cardboard characters go through the motions of embodying larger ideas and forces. The book starts with the murder of a corrupt London newspaperman, who is killed by a minor Brighton gang. This gang is led by Pinkie, a 17-year-old sociopath who has filled the void left by the death of the previous leader. Although the newpaperman's murder goes off without a hitch, and the gang appears to be in the clear, problems starts when a hooker with a heart of gold starts poking her nose into the affair. With little to motivate her other than a fleeting connection to the dead man and an awfully stubborn notion of justice, Ida sets out to unmask the truth. Meanwhile, Pinkie's not totally convinced that the gang's tracks are covered and does a little checking around himself. Both PInkie and Ida realize that there is an unwitting witness who, a 16-year-old waitress, named Rose. The story then boils down to a tug-of-war between Pinky and Ida for Rose's loyalty.Pinkie is a misanthropic pessimist, who looks to violence as the solution to most problems, and is profoundly mentally disturbed, especially when it comes to sex, which a repressive Catholic upbringing has sullied. Ida is his opposite, a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky (and disproportionately represented) type, the hooker who enjoys her work. Pinkie is a brooding thug, with little motivation other than to be on top of the world, preferably with his boot at its neck. Ida is all about carpe diem, living in the moment, and not worrying too much about what tomorrow will bring. Rose sits between them as a naive blank slate, with nothing driving her beyond senseless schoolgirl infatuation. Watching these characters circle each other with scheme and counter-scheme never gets very interesting. They are much much too broad to be believed in, and as vessels of larger themes they never measure up. Nor are the supporting characters of any help, each one more thinly sketched than the one before. It's all very melodramatic, and ends in the only way possible. In interviews, Greene admits his own dissatisfaction with this book. He started it as a straight detective story, and then reconfigured it, which is why the tone veers so strangely partway through.
|
|
|
5.0étoiles sur 5
Flip Side Of Catholic Grace, Jui 6 2004
Even by the exulted standards of British literature, Pinkie Brown is one uniquely depraved villain. When he goes to court a lovestruck lass, he brings a bottle of acid to threaten her with. He kills not only to cover evidence of previous murders, but because he derives pleasure from the act. He hates with a blind fury anything that makes him feel vulnerably human."Heaven was a word: Hell was something he could trust." Pinkie is not just a bad guy, he is a teen so twisted by evil that he willfully chooses damnation over salvation. He's an archetype, yes, but very compelling, a flip side to the flawed cleric of Greene's "The Power And The Glory" for whom observance of Catholic ritual nevertheless steers him along the right path. For Pinkie, Catholicism is no less universal a truth, but a concept only adhered to in the negative, at least after an encounter with razor-wielding toughs forces him to realize he can't expect himself to make that last-minute plea for divine forgiveness he had been counting on. "Brighton Rock" starts out strongly, with the last hours of a man on the run, before introducing us to the trinity of characters that steer the plot, Pinkie; his unfortunate girlfriend Rose, who invests her evil beau with all her Catholic-honed faith; and the secular, lusty Ida who, because of a chance encounter, decides to avenge one of Pinkie's victims. Greene writes with passion and an eye for detail that reveals greater designs. There's also a black humor in the book, as Pinkie shows himself time and again the servant of his inner bile to the virtual exclusion of common sense. Greene describes the coastal British getaway of Brighton in crunchy detail, and there's a nice verisimilitude to his dialogue that anticipates Anthony Burgess's later examination of juvenile thuggery, "A Clockwork Orange," without the futuristic component. ["Brighton Rock" is set in the 1930s, when the novel was published.] The only weakness of the book as I see it is that it takes a while to get started. There's a good 100 pages of scene-setting, and Ida doesn't make for a compelling character when she's not moving the plot, so her sections tend to drag a bit, at least until she starts getting after Rose about what Pinkie's really about. Since Greene writes his book as a mystery, this early lack of dramatic undertow costs the narrative in terms of readability, at least for a while. But Pinkie and Rose, as they develop, more than make up for this. There's an element of melodrama in her sad devotion to his evil cause, but it's effective. Greene makes clear in his careful, empathetic way how sad Rose's life has been before she found herself receiving the attentions of a young tough she mistakes for true love. She creates the sympathetic center of the novel, while Pinkie forms a counterbalance of true malice, a man so twisted even basic human lust is lost on him. Even Shakespeare's Richard III could charm, but Greene's development of Pinkie's character is stunning for the simple fact he delves deeper into Pinkie's psyche while avoiding the slightest pretense of sympathy. As a mystery, "Brighton Rock" finds itself in the second half, then takes off toward a conclusion that is actually quite gripping. What makes this book great is its exploration of the human character, and of the Catholic philosophy of good and evil. "Brighton Rock" is an obvious starting point for understanding Greene's attitude toward spirituality and man, and a powerful message of faith even by a negative example.
|
|
|
5.0étoiles sur 5
A harrowing realism, Mai 27 2004
A few of Graham Greene's works have been successfully adapted into film, but BRIGHTON ROCK is not one of them. On the surface, it appears that it would make a great story for a film. But this hasn't happened. (I believe there was an attempt to make a film of this, but it was a miserable flop.) Perhaps part of the reason is that the narrative is written with such realism, and is often so cinematic, that it would be redundant. Fortunately, we don't need a visual interpretation. BRIGHTON ROCK casts a cold eye on a low-level urban scene, as gritty as Mean Streets. Much, even too much, is made of the good/evil "Catholicism" of the story. The fact is that Pinkie is simply an evil man. Calculating, cowardly, and over-his-head, he is morally drowing and is pulling down those closest to him. If you've read Greene's short story, "The Destructors", Pinkie would have easily fit in with that crew. On all levels this is one of Greene's best, if not always appreciated, novels: character development, plot, pacing... nothing is left to be desired.
|
|
|
Commentaires client les plus récents
|
de Graham Greene
de Graham Greene
de Graham Greene
de Graham Greene
de Elizabeth Bowen
