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Originally Posted by fausto
I read the book ages ago, and it really was a fun read. I do wonder though if Greene really viewed the services as part of the problem or if the problem was the way they were run after WWII. That's what quite a few ex-"spies" had issues with, but I've read the book too long ago to place Greene in one of the two options.
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I suspect it could be a bit of both. Much of the mayhem in the book is caused because of how other intelligence services (not the British ones) react to what they discover of Wormold and his ring of supposed agents.
They all feed off each other; it's quite incestuous.
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Originally Posted by Stewart
Yes, Greene is someone who I've been wanting to read for ages but have never even bought a book by. Part of me has always been holding off in the hope that we might get a relaunch of his work in some attractive editions, but Vintage seem intent on uglyfying their range as much as possible at the moment given them tacky red spines and only mentioning the authors' surnames on the cover (i.e. Vintage Greene). But, since Vintage/Random House owns the rights, I don't envisage my preferred option of Penguin winning them from the Greene estate and putting them out as Modern Classics...
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There seems to be a trend toward naff covers and surnames – similarly, the Agatha Christie Miss Marple books now have "Marple" on the cover, although that was partly for TV tie-in reasons.
Greene was just one of many authors that I keep realising I haven't read yet – and should make the effort. I'd certainly read more.
It's deceptively light. Looking back now (I finished it late Saturday) I find myself realising just how much of a vicious circle the whole thing is.