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The heart of the matter

Front Cover
67 Reviews
Penguin Books, 1978 - Colonial administrators - 271 pages
In this widely acclaimed modern classic, Graham Greene delves deep into character to tell the dramatic, suspenseful story of a good man's conflict between passion and faith. A police commissioner in a British-governed, war-torn West African state, Scobie is bound by the strictest integrity and sense of duty both for his Colonial responsibilities and for his wife, whom he deeply pities but no longer loves. Passed over for a promotion, he is forced to borrow money in order to send his despairing wife away on a holiday. When in her absence he develops a passion for a young widow, the scrupulously honest Catholic finds himself giving way to deceit and dishonor. Enmeshed in love and intrigue, he will betray everything he believes in, with tragic consequences. The Heart of the Matter is one of Graham Greene's most enduring and tragic novels.

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5 stars
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4 stars
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3 stars
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Four stars, because of the quality of the writing. - Goodreads
Greene's prose never ceased to thrill me. - Goodreads
My advice is to pay attention to the word "love". - Goodreads
I'm such a fan of Graham Greene and his writing style. - Goodreads
My introduction to this book was just that. - Goodreads

Review: The Heart Of The Matter

User Review  - Mia - Goodreads

I honestly have no great love for this book. I love nearly every book I read, I just get so attached to storylines and characters that I sometimes overlook the plot holes or mediocre writing and just ... Read full review

Review: The Heart of the Matter

User Review - Goodreads

Book Circle Reads 35 Rating: 4* of five The Publisher Says: Graham Greene's masterpiece The Heart of the Matter tells the story of a good man enmeshed in love, intrigue, and evil in a West African ...

All 52 reviews »

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References from web pages

The Heart of the Matter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Heart of the Matter (1948) is a novel by British author Graham Greene and won that year's James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. ...
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ The_Heart_of_the_Matter

The Heart of the Matter: Information and Much More from Answers.com
The Heart of the Matter The Heart of the Matter Author Graham Greene Country United Kingdom Language English Genre(s) Realistic Fiction Publisher.
www.answers.com/ topic/ the-heart-of-the-matter

Random House: Book Details for The Heart Of The Matter
[title] by [author] is published by [imprint], an imprint of Random House - the biggest selling book publisher in the UK
www.randomhouse.co.uk/ catalog/ book.htm?command=Search& db=main.txt& eqisbndata=0099478420

The heart of the matter by Graham Greene | librarything
All about The heart of the matter by Graham Greene. librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers.
www.librarything.com/ work/ 19756

The Heart of the Matter —— 维客(wiki)
The Heart of the Matter deals with Catholicism and moral change in the protagonist, Scobie (a police officer). Greene wrote the novel drawing on a ...
www.wiki.cn/ wiki/ The_Heart_of_the_Matter

The heart of the matter
The heart of the matter. ... The heart of the matter PVP: 12.80 € Entrega: 15 días, libros españoles. De 4 a 6 semanas, libros extranjeros. ...
libreriacompas.com/ The-heart-of-the-matter_0-09-928606-8.html

The Book Depository - Cheap books with free delivery worldwide !!!
He soon reaches the point of knowing about his absolute failure and of never being able to reach the heart of the matter. Because of his weakness Scobie is ...
www.bookdepository.co.uk/ WEBSITE/ WWW/ WEBPAGES/ showbook.php?id=0099478420

About the author (1978)

Born in 1904, Graham Greene was the son of a headmaster and the fourth of six children. Preferring to stay home and read rather than endure the teasing at school that was a by-product of his father's occupation, Greene attempted suicide several times and eventually dropped out of school at the age of 15. His parents sent him to an analyst in London who recommended he try writing as therapy. He completed his first novel by the time he graduated from college in 1925. Greene wrote both entertainments and serious novels. Catholicism was a recurring theme in his work, notable examples being The Power and the Glory (1940) and The End of the Affair (1951). Popular suspense novels include: The Heart of the Matter, Our Man in Havana and The Quiet American. Greene was also a world traveler and he used his experiences as the basis for many books. One popular example, Journey Without Maps (1936), was based on a trip through the jungles of Liberia. Greene also wrote and adapted screenplays, including that of the 1949 film, The Third Man, which starred Orson Welles. He died in Vevey, Switzerland in 1991.

Bibliographic information

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TitleThe heart of the matter
Penguin Books
Penguin twentieth-century classics
Penguin: Fiction
AuthorGraham Greene
Editionreprint, reissue
PublisherPenguin Books, 1978
ISBN0140184961, 9780140184969
Length271 pages
  
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