The Man Within His Head

I was already in the midst of a phase of re-reading the novels of Graham Greene.  I’d re-read The Quiet American, the Power and the Glory, and The Heart of the Matter, and was about to start re-reading The Comedians.  That’s when I read a review of a brand new book by Pico Iyer, The Man Within My Head, a thoughtful look at his own life as compared with that of a literary idol, Graham Greene.  He visits Greene’s boyhood town and some of the locales of the novels.  I found a copy of the book at Half Price Books, and it’s proving to be a great interlude before I get back to reading the man who is currently within my head.

So, a little interlude between music-related posts: some covers of Graham Greene editions I own, along with some Greene quotes from the books (with thanks to Goodreads for collecting them).

Compass Books edition, 1965

 “I wish sometimes you had a few bad motives, you might understand a little more about human beings.”  The Quiet American, 1955

Viking first edition, 1948

“We’d forgive most things if we knew the facts.”  The Heart of the Matter, 1948

 

Viking first edition, 1958

 

“They haven’t left us much to believe in, have they?–even disbelief. I can’t believe in anything bigger than a home or vaguer than a human being.”   Our Man in Havana, 1958

 

Folio Society edition, 1997 Compass edition, 1966

“A brain is only capable of what it could conceive, and it couldnt conceive what it hasn’t experienced.”  Brighton Rock, 1938

 

Viking first edition, 1951

“You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.”  The End of the Affair, 1951

 

Viking first edition, 1961

“I think I have always liked my fellow men. Liking is a great deal safer than love. It doesn’t demand victims.”  A Burnt-Out Case, 1961