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The Man Within
Graham Greene’s first published novel tells the story of Andrews, a young man who has betrayed his fellow smugglers and fears their vengeance. Fleeing from them, with no hope of pity or salvation, he takes refuge in the house of a young woman, also alone in the world. Elizabeth persuades him to give evidence against his accomplices in court, but neither she nor Andrews is aware that to both criminals and authority, treachery is as great a crime as smuggling. The first step in a brilliant career, The Man Within offers a foretaste of Green’s recurring themes of religion, the individual’s struggles against cynicism, and the indifferent forces of a hostile world. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by Jonathan Yardley.
195 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1929
195 people are currently reading
1166 people want to read
About the author
Graham Greene
799 books6,109 followersHenry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. The Power and the Glory won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and The Heart of the Matter won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed on The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivienne Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland. William Golding called Greene "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety".
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. The Power and the Glory won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and The Heart of the Matter won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed on The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivienne Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland. William Golding called Greene "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety".
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July 29, 2023
"He came over the top of the down as the last light failed and could almost have cried with relief at the sight of the wood below."
The Man Within is the first published Graham Greene novel.
This one was dense with its long symbolic descriptions of nature and the tortured inner life of the main character Andrews. Andrews is a smuggler who has betrayed his fellow smugglers to the police. Now he is on the run and stumbles upon a cottage inhabited by a lone young woman who has a tremendous impact on his life. The woman, a true believer, is herself lonely and about to bury her guardian who passed away a day before Andrews arrival. Questions about the nature of the relationship between Andrews and the woman (Elizabeth) arise from the nosy villagers. Andrews opens his heart to Elizabeth. Andrews thinks of himself as a snitch, his and his fellow smugglers image of him formed by the memories of his dead father, who was a famous smuggler. A real man to whose status Andrews can barely live up to. His fellow smugglers bully him about this. This is one of the reasons he snitched on them. Elizabeth tells Andrews that he can feel better about himself if he goes to town and takes the witness stand against his former compatriots. He decides to take her advice. But far from the simple world of the cottage and the noble Elizabeth, Andrews finds the going tough, resisting external temptations and the voices inside his head.
This is a tale of a man on the run, a man escaping the ghost of his father's towering personality, finding love and coming of age.
It is not Greene's best. The prose is dense and bombastic. The main character Andrews is a real pussy, reneging on his promises and duties on more than one occasion. He is far from a hard boiled character. None of Greene's protagonists are brave like ones in the novels of John Buchan or American writers of crime fiction. They get slapped around and are tortured men.
Symbolic mists (especially at the beginning) that seem to follow Andrews around and revelations through candlelight are repeated over and over in the novel. At one point, Andrews shines a candle light upon a woman who is trying to seduce him, but sees on the wall, the face of Elizabeth in trouble from his enemies.
The novel is also awash with religion - "‘I’ll teach you charity. Call yourself a Christian’ – his eyes filled with warm sentimental tears at a sudden vision of little grey churches, corn fields, stiles, honeyed distant bells in the dusk, robins in snow.". Andrews is attracted to the seemingly simple world around the cottage and life with the woman. There is an entertaining description of a dreary funeral early in the novel where the priest goes through the motions while the villagers simply attend the procession for beer and cake. Greene's grouse with the half-hearted priest is filled with nostalgia and resignation:
"The priest was tall and thin and stooping and he suffered from a running cold. He snuffled between each phrase as he took long, loping strides through the graveyard. It was a raw day and he appeared anxious to get through with a dreary business. Between every phrase he snuffled and at the end of every sentence he gave a hasty furtive wipe at his nose with a corner of his surplice that blew out in the wind like a banner."
and
"The shambling priest was reading the lesson in a meaningless drawl muffled by the mist and his increasing cold. The words meant no more to him than did the dead man. It was a mechanic ritual less conscious than the act of brushing teeth."
Greene's future obsessions and motifs are all evident in this book - catholic guilt, alcohol and men on the run. Greene is that rare great writer who repeatedly dirtied his feet in the muddy waters of crime fiction while also wrestling with some "big game" issues like the state of a world which cares less and less about religion. While not comparable to his "entertainments", The Man Within has its share of thrilling and racy moments.
While reading this novel, I felt like Greene and this novel are from another world. How can I, a godless man grown up on easily available free porn, simplistic twitter feeds and cynical American podcasts, really identify with the motivations of these characters?
Maybe even Greene felt a distance from this novel in his later years. This is from his Author's Note:
"Why reprint then? I can offer no real excuse, but perhaps an author may be allowed one sentimental gesture towards his own past, the period of ambition and hope."
The Man Within is the first published Graham Greene novel.
This one was dense with its long symbolic descriptions of nature and the tortured inner life of the main character Andrews. Andrews is a smuggler who has betrayed his fellow smugglers to the police. Now he is on the run and stumbles upon a cottage inhabited by a lone young woman who has a tremendous impact on his life. The woman, a true believer, is herself lonely and about to bury her guardian who passed away a day before Andrews arrival. Questions about the nature of the relationship between Andrews and the woman (Elizabeth) arise from the nosy villagers. Andrews opens his heart to Elizabeth. Andrews thinks of himself as a snitch, his and his fellow smugglers image of him formed by the memories of his dead father, who was a famous smuggler. A real man to whose status Andrews can barely live up to. His fellow smugglers bully him about this. This is one of the reasons he snitched on them. Elizabeth tells Andrews that he can feel better about himself if he goes to town and takes the witness stand against his former compatriots. He decides to take her advice. But far from the simple world of the cottage and the noble Elizabeth, Andrews finds the going tough, resisting external temptations and the voices inside his head.
This is a tale of a man on the run, a man escaping the ghost of his father's towering personality, finding love and coming of age.
It is not Greene's best. The prose is dense and bombastic. The main character Andrews is a real pussy, reneging on his promises and duties on more than one occasion. He is far from a hard boiled character. None of Greene's protagonists are brave like ones in the novels of John Buchan or American writers of crime fiction. They get slapped around and are tortured men.
Symbolic mists (especially at the beginning) that seem to follow Andrews around and revelations through candlelight are repeated over and over in the novel. At one point, Andrews shines a candle light upon a woman who is trying to seduce him, but sees on the wall, the face of Elizabeth in trouble from his enemies.
The novel is also awash with religion - "‘I’ll teach you charity. Call yourself a Christian’ – his eyes filled with warm sentimental tears at a sudden vision of little grey churches, corn fields, stiles, honeyed distant bells in the dusk, robins in snow.". Andrews is attracted to the seemingly simple world around the cottage and life with the woman. There is an entertaining description of a dreary funeral early in the novel where the priest goes through the motions while the villagers simply attend the procession for beer and cake. Greene's grouse with the half-hearted priest is filled with nostalgia and resignation:
"The priest was tall and thin and stooping and he suffered from a running cold. He snuffled between each phrase as he took long, loping strides through the graveyard. It was a raw day and he appeared anxious to get through with a dreary business. Between every phrase he snuffled and at the end of every sentence he gave a hasty furtive wipe at his nose with a corner of his surplice that blew out in the wind like a banner."
and
"The shambling priest was reading the lesson in a meaningless drawl muffled by the mist and his increasing cold. The words meant no more to him than did the dead man. It was a mechanic ritual less conscious than the act of brushing teeth."
Greene's future obsessions and motifs are all evident in this book - catholic guilt, alcohol and men on the run. Greene is that rare great writer who repeatedly dirtied his feet in the muddy waters of crime fiction while also wrestling with some "big game" issues like the state of a world which cares less and less about religion. While not comparable to his "entertainments", The Man Within has its share of thrilling and racy moments.
While reading this novel, I felt like Greene and this novel are from another world. How can I, a godless man grown up on easily available free porn, simplistic twitter feeds and cynical American podcasts, really identify with the motivations of these characters?
Maybe even Greene felt a distance from this novel in his later years. This is from his Author's Note:
"Why reprint then? I can offer no real excuse, but perhaps an author may be allowed one sentimental gesture towards his own past, the period of ambition and hope."
December 14, 2025
The Man Within is Graham Greene’s first published novel after two previous attempts. He was 25 at the time, which is quite young for a writer, especially a writer that I see as true explorer of human nature. Nonetheless, Greene focused on what he knew best, his young self, and proceeded to dissect his youth for all of us to see. As Greene grew older he gathered more insights along the way, but he continued to apply this same approach to the best of his work.
As a young male human, the question of courage often asserts itself. We young men are essentially children, and facing adulthood creates a fear of one’s future as a man. I think the smartest of male children suffer the most as they crudely reason out how they will face the perceived dangers to come. Meanwhile, in the present, they perform acts of courage without realizing them as such. This is what The Man Within is about.
This is also a love story. After all, what is youth without a first love? Again, Greene breaks apart the love of youth for his readers to contemplate in hopes that they will remember their own experiences along the way. He also explores female and male perspectives on what love is and how it can make those in love stronger than who they were as individuals.
This novel was started in 1926 and published in 1929. As such, Greene seems to adopt a style that echoes James Joyce and his "stream of consciousness" which was a dominate aspect of Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, a few year prior in 1922. As a result, The Man Within is a bit wordy at times. Fortunately, Greene finds his own style in his future works, which is contrary to his approach to this novel. He develops a style that strikes at the heart of human nature in very concise ways.
I wanted to find 5 stars for this work, but overall it’s just a bit too wordy and a bit too rudimentary in what Greene accomplishes. In short, it’s a good, but not great, first novel, and it serves as the first stepping stone towards Greene’s greatest novels to follow.
As a young male human, the question of courage often asserts itself. We young men are essentially children, and facing adulthood creates a fear of one’s future as a man. I think the smartest of male children suffer the most as they crudely reason out how they will face the perceived dangers to come. Meanwhile, in the present, they perform acts of courage without realizing them as such. This is what The Man Within is about.
This is also a love story. After all, what is youth without a first love? Again, Greene breaks apart the love of youth for his readers to contemplate in hopes that they will remember their own experiences along the way. He also explores female and male perspectives on what love is and how it can make those in love stronger than who they were as individuals.
This novel was started in 1926 and published in 1929. As such, Greene seems to adopt a style that echoes James Joyce and his "stream of consciousness" which was a dominate aspect of Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, a few year prior in 1922. As a result, The Man Within is a bit wordy at times. Fortunately, Greene finds his own style in his future works, which is contrary to his approach to this novel. He develops a style that strikes at the heart of human nature in very concise ways.
I wanted to find 5 stars for this work, but overall it’s just a bit too wordy and a bit too rudimentary in what Greene accomplishes. In short, it’s a good, but not great, first novel, and it serves as the first stepping stone towards Greene’s greatest novels to follow.
September 2, 2018
Author's Note
--The Man Within
--The Man Within
April 28, 2019
I battled with this in the way an angler does with a fish. I felt somewhat lost and then was hooked only to dip under water into the gloom of unfulfilled reader.
As a first novel of what we know Greene becomes it is of interest especially with smuggling involved but, whilst the lead character Andrews is complex and challenging, the story doesn't feel truly developed and struggles to an end.
2.5 rounded to 3.
As a first novel of what we know Greene becomes it is of interest especially with smuggling involved but, whilst the lead character Andrews is complex and challenging, the story doesn't feel truly developed and struggles to an end.
2.5 rounded to 3.
September 25, 2023
Who is a real man? What makes a man what he is? Is he supposed to be made up only of courage or also of chivalry? Is he supposed to be the brute who has to be tough and ruthless or is he supposed to be the tender, considerate, even brave-hearted hero that he is made out to be in tales of adventure and peril? Is he allowed his share of sin or cowardice or are romance or sincerity too alien concepts for him? 'The Man Within' asks these questions boldly, stridently and a touch pedantically and yet it resonated with me on a personal level not least because as I come of age, finally shrugging off the coat of boyhood and young adulthood and embrace manhood, these are questions that are posed to me daily. Answers are hard to come by and I end up making more errors than I intend to. But I can agree that a man is all these worthy and vicious things and no challenge or feat is enough to test his real virtues and make him confront his demons.
This was Graham Greene's first novel and it shows. It is overwritten in places, most notably in the end, which goes on a bit too long (though in its own delirious, nihilistic way, it is marvellously enjoyable); the language, while unmistakably evocative, is a bit too flowery in places, dimming slightly the sharp, incisive impact of his impeccable flair at drama and suspense; it is, as I said, a touch pedantic in places too. With time, Greene would be a bit more crisp, tight, more magnificently ruthless and more adept at carving out his irredeemably flawed anti-heroes very realistically. Since this was his first novel, these niggles show up distinctly but, but, they cannot just rob the pure, giddy pleasure that Greene still had the power, at that nascent stage, to offer to his readers.
It is hard to fault a book which still reverberates as a very well-crafted entertainer nearly 90 years after it was first published. That is almost like a century ago and I know many classics that have just not aged well as they were supposed to (John Buchan's admittedly entertaining but quaintly dotty 'The Thirty Nine Steps' comes to mind) but Greene's debut, being a debut and, in the author's own confession, a minor work (though that is impossible to agree with) in his later ouevre, is not such a book. It remains as unforgivably intense, agonisingly heart-wrenching and fascinatingly dark as it would have been back in 1929. And yes, it is, as its author confessed, 'hopelessly romantic'.
Hopelessly but also so thrillingly romantic that even as Greene does ill-fated romance like no other writer, the warmth and almost painful and mesmeric eroticism that flows in the novel's closing chapters are impossible to resist. Greene loves and cares for his characters. He always did, even in his subsequent novels, and even a seemingly ruthless smuggler out to take revenge on the man who betrayed the gang can be worthy, in his beautiful, beautiful words, of not just empathy and warmth but, most crucially, love, passion and a belief in goodness and honesty. Yes, it is that compassionate a work. It is easy to miss the compassion of Greene's works because his laments on mankind's many failings are so beautiful in their heartbreaking irony. What everyone misses is the heartfelt compassion and respect that he has for his characters. And 'The Man Within' does not disappoint in that one big crucial aspect.
Other than that, it is so many things at one time. An exciting, even perilous tale of manhunt, an ethical argument on whether criminals can be believably human or whether men with cowardice can discover their inner heroism and valour, even a metaphysical drama that wonders if men can leave behind legacies and demons beyond their graves. And, of course, one extraordinary romance, a love story of two flawed, less than perfect characters, who meet under very extraordinary circumstances and yet are characters whom we root to win in the end against all odds. Greene, that rascally devilish storyteller, that lovelorn man who always listens to his heart, does know how to break our hearts as much as he knows how to pull the rugs beneath our feet.
Yes, it has its niggles and yes, it is far from the perfection that he would achieve so soon, but all that is nitpicking in light of what brilliance this novel demonstrates. Get over your skepticism and read it from cover to cover to witness the birth of a real legend of modern literature.
This was Graham Greene's first novel and it shows. It is overwritten in places, most notably in the end, which goes on a bit too long (though in its own delirious, nihilistic way, it is marvellously enjoyable); the language, while unmistakably evocative, is a bit too flowery in places, dimming slightly the sharp, incisive impact of his impeccable flair at drama and suspense; it is, as I said, a touch pedantic in places too. With time, Greene would be a bit more crisp, tight, more magnificently ruthless and more adept at carving out his irredeemably flawed anti-heroes very realistically. Since this was his first novel, these niggles show up distinctly but, but, they cannot just rob the pure, giddy pleasure that Greene still had the power, at that nascent stage, to offer to his readers.
It is hard to fault a book which still reverberates as a very well-crafted entertainer nearly 90 years after it was first published. That is almost like a century ago and I know many classics that have just not aged well as they were supposed to (John Buchan's admittedly entertaining but quaintly dotty 'The Thirty Nine Steps' comes to mind) but Greene's debut, being a debut and, in the author's own confession, a minor work (though that is impossible to agree with) in his later ouevre, is not such a book. It remains as unforgivably intense, agonisingly heart-wrenching and fascinatingly dark as it would have been back in 1929. And yes, it is, as its author confessed, 'hopelessly romantic'.
Hopelessly but also so thrillingly romantic that even as Greene does ill-fated romance like no other writer, the warmth and almost painful and mesmeric eroticism that flows in the novel's closing chapters are impossible to resist. Greene loves and cares for his characters. He always did, even in his subsequent novels, and even a seemingly ruthless smuggler out to take revenge on the man who betrayed the gang can be worthy, in his beautiful, beautiful words, of not just empathy and warmth but, most crucially, love, passion and a belief in goodness and honesty. Yes, it is that compassionate a work. It is easy to miss the compassion of Greene's works because his laments on mankind's many failings are so beautiful in their heartbreaking irony. What everyone misses is the heartfelt compassion and respect that he has for his characters. And 'The Man Within' does not disappoint in that one big crucial aspect.
Other than that, it is so many things at one time. An exciting, even perilous tale of manhunt, an ethical argument on whether criminals can be believably human or whether men with cowardice can discover their inner heroism and valour, even a metaphysical drama that wonders if men can leave behind legacies and demons beyond their graves. And, of course, one extraordinary romance, a love story of two flawed, less than perfect characters, who meet under very extraordinary circumstances and yet are characters whom we root to win in the end against all odds. Greene, that rascally devilish storyteller, that lovelorn man who always listens to his heart, does know how to break our hearts as much as he knows how to pull the rugs beneath our feet.
Yes, it has its niggles and yes, it is far from the perfection that he would achieve so soon, but all that is nitpicking in light of what brilliance this novel demonstrates. Get over your skepticism and read it from cover to cover to witness the birth of a real legend of modern literature.
January 8, 2024
En medio de la noche, un hombre huye buscando ocultarse de sus perseguidores, encuentra una cabaña en el bosque, y ahí a una muchacha con un muerto.
El hombre se llama Andrews y ha escapado por los pelos de una refriega que se dio entre contrabandistas y agentes de la aduana, ha habido un muerto, y la gente se pregunta que ha pasado.
La muchacha se llama Elizabeth es muy joven y vive en esa cabaña apartada de la gente, su única compañía, era ese hombre que ha muerto.
Ellos se conocen en circunstancias amargas, Andrews le cuenta a ella su encrucijada, los temores que enfrenta y su desesperación, ella le convence de ir al pueblo y contarles lo que sabe.
Andrews es un hombre atormentado por sus orígenes, su padre era un rufián, un esposo golpeador, en suma, un hombre despreciable que lo crió y no le dio opciones, sólo el futuro de ser un hombre fuera de la ley como el, pero dentro de Andrews siempre ha vivido alguien más, un ser que no está satisfecho con su vida, que quiere cambiarla y poder ser un hombre honrado, este deseo no es lejano, pues Andrews es casi un chiquillo, por lo que podría cambiar de vida, pero existen impedimentos, no tiene dinero, ni amigos, ni familia, sólo se tiene a sí mismo, ese, el de afuera, tímido, nervioso, lleno de zozobras, acostumbrado a delinquir para vivir.
La historia empieza en un punto bajo, pero va descendiendo cada vez más y separando a Elizabeth y a Andrews del resto de la gente, ellos son la anomalía, ellos representan valores y sentimientos que asustan, la muchedumbre huele extrañeza, huele individualidad y no le gusta, de algún modo buscarán restaurar la normalidad.
Y en medio de ello existe una imposibilidad del amor, pero eso no impide que ella y el, sueñen o piensen en que se sentirá estar enamorado y sobre todo vivir enamorado.
El final es un tanto apoteósico, trágico pero al mismo tiempo reivindicativo, Andrew mata simbólicamente a la sombra de su padre, ese que en la oscuridad lo tenía del cuello y de algún modo se siente liberado de ser el hombre dentro de él.
Nota del título: El título en español es Historia de una cobardía, y como siempre pone énfasis en lo obvio y no en el sentido amplio del libro, el título en inglés es : The man within, que literalmente significa El hombre dentro de mi, que suena más poético y de acuerdo a la idea central del libro.
El hombre se llama Andrews y ha escapado por los pelos de una refriega que se dio entre contrabandistas y agentes de la aduana, ha habido un muerto, y la gente se pregunta que ha pasado.
La muchacha se llama Elizabeth es muy joven y vive en esa cabaña apartada de la gente, su única compañía, era ese hombre que ha muerto.
Ellos se conocen en circunstancias amargas, Andrews le cuenta a ella su encrucijada, los temores que enfrenta y su desesperación, ella le convence de ir al pueblo y contarles lo que sabe.
Andrews es un hombre atormentado por sus orígenes, su padre era un rufián, un esposo golpeador, en suma, un hombre despreciable que lo crió y no le dio opciones, sólo el futuro de ser un hombre fuera de la ley como el, pero dentro de Andrews siempre ha vivido alguien más, un ser que no está satisfecho con su vida, que quiere cambiarla y poder ser un hombre honrado, este deseo no es lejano, pues Andrews es casi un chiquillo, por lo que podría cambiar de vida, pero existen impedimentos, no tiene dinero, ni amigos, ni familia, sólo se tiene a sí mismo, ese, el de afuera, tímido, nervioso, lleno de zozobras, acostumbrado a delinquir para vivir.
La historia empieza en un punto bajo, pero va descendiendo cada vez más y separando a Elizabeth y a Andrews del resto de la gente, ellos son la anomalía, ellos representan valores y sentimientos que asustan, la muchedumbre huele extrañeza, huele individualidad y no le gusta, de algún modo buscarán restaurar la normalidad.
Y en medio de ello existe una imposibilidad del amor, pero eso no impide que ella y el, sueñen o piensen en que se sentirá estar enamorado y sobre todo vivir enamorado.
El final es un tanto apoteósico, trágico pero al mismo tiempo reivindicativo, Andrew mata simbólicamente a la sombra de su padre, ese que en la oscuridad lo tenía del cuello y de algún modo se siente liberado de ser el hombre dentro de él.
Nota del título: El título en español es Historia de una cobardía, y como siempre pone énfasis en lo obvio y no en el sentido amplio del libro, el título en inglés es : The man within, que literalmente significa El hombre dentro de mi, que suena más poético y de acuerdo a la idea central del libro.
February 14, 2022
Greene’s first novel and only historical one. Andrew’s is a coward who has betrayed his fellow smugglers. After the ambush he escapes over the Downs of Sussex reaching an isolated cottage. Here a lone woman holds a vigil over a dead man in a coffin.
Elizabeth and Andrew’s then take pity on each other. Andrew’s is a repugnant character who was bullied by his father and hates the smuggling life. Living in Sussex the familiar names of Shoreham, Hassocks and Lewes drew me into the story.
Not Greene’s best work and lacked the character development of future novels. There was echoes of his theme of guilt and redemption to a degree.
Elizabeth and Andrew’s then take pity on each other. Andrew’s is a repugnant character who was bullied by his father and hates the smuggling life. Living in Sussex the familiar names of Shoreham, Hassocks and Lewes drew me into the story.
Not Greene’s best work and lacked the character development of future novels. There was echoes of his theme of guilt and redemption to a degree.
November 22, 2009
The Man Within was Graham Greene's first published book, and a big best seller back in 1929. He was very young when he wrote it--25, I think--and you can feel it, especially in the love scenes, but heck, it's still Graham Greene, and he writes like a god. All the elements that appear in his later, more famous books--great plot, lush description, beautifully turned sentences, themes of love and God and faith and betrayal, of struggles with the dark side of human nature, they're all here.
A young man called Andrews has ratted on his friends, a gang of smugglers. He hides out from them in the first place he can find, an isolated cottage. A beautiful and saintly girl lives there and gives him shelter. He falls in love with her. She urges him to do the right thing, to go to court and testify against the smugglers.
Since this is Greeneland, everything is in shades of gray; the man he has betrayed is actually the only man who has ever been good to him, a kind of father figure. And Andrews is no hero; he didn't rat on his gang because they were criminals, he ratted on them because they treated him like he was a nobody. And nobody wants these men to go to jail; the townspeople, the police, and the courts are rife with corruption.
Throughout the book, Andrews continually steps outside himself to question his motives and to struggle against his baser instincts. As the quote by Sir Thomas Browne says, "There's another man within me that's angry with me."
The Man Within begins as a standard Hollywood gangster movie, and ends as a soul-searing story of redemption. It's not The Heart of the Matter, it's not The End of the Affair, but it is a bit like going back in a time machine and seeing the first glimmerings of what turned out to be a world-straddling, God-given talent.
A young man called Andrews has ratted on his friends, a gang of smugglers. He hides out from them in the first place he can find, an isolated cottage. A beautiful and saintly girl lives there and gives him shelter. He falls in love with her. She urges him to do the right thing, to go to court and testify against the smugglers.
Since this is Greeneland, everything is in shades of gray; the man he has betrayed is actually the only man who has ever been good to him, a kind of father figure. And Andrews is no hero; he didn't rat on his gang because they were criminals, he ratted on them because they treated him like he was a nobody. And nobody wants these men to go to jail; the townspeople, the police, and the courts are rife with corruption.
Throughout the book, Andrews continually steps outside himself to question his motives and to struggle against his baser instincts. As the quote by Sir Thomas Browne says, "There's another man within me that's angry with me."
The Man Within begins as a standard Hollywood gangster movie, and ends as a soul-searing story of redemption. It's not The Heart of the Matter, it's not The End of the Affair, but it is a bit like going back in a time machine and seeing the first glimmerings of what turned out to be a world-straddling, God-given talent.
March 23, 2010
What is patience? Waiting quietly. I probably ask that question to some small human, from my own birth canal or someone else's, every day. And I receive the answer I'm expecting, because I've trained my little munchkins to say it. But do I know it? Do I practice patience on my own? Hell, no. Not usually. But I'm learning. Graham Greene is my teacher and he makes learning fun.
This is Greene's first book. And it is good. There is romance, suspense, internal conflict, spiritual struggle, uh-oh climaxes. I've read four books by Greene now and am slowly adjusting to his trademark style of cracking open the prose around or right after 100 pages. And this book is no different. But it is more disjointed, a bit more chaotic. I'm not going to say it sputters because that would be sacrilege, but it does backfire a bit at times while along its merry way. I also admit to thinking that the main character was a bit of an idiot savant at the start, his muddled internal workings throwing me off.
But the real problem I have with this book, that keeps that five star from turning bold as brass, is that faith wins here. I know, I know, I should be in glad rags shoutin' and singing Hallelujah! but sweet jesus, I was wanting the mountain to win again. For the prince to stop wallowing with the pigs, dust off his robes and have heaven smile upon him and for the universe to right herself long enough for doubt and uncertainty to flee just feels unfair to this faithful reader. What can I say? I like my doubt. It keeps my faith alive.
This is Greene's first book. And it is good. There is romance, suspense, internal conflict, spiritual struggle, uh-oh climaxes. I've read four books by Greene now and am slowly adjusting to his trademark style of cracking open the prose around or right after 100 pages. And this book is no different. But it is more disjointed, a bit more chaotic. I'm not going to say it sputters because that would be sacrilege, but it does backfire a bit at times while along its merry way. I also admit to thinking that the main character was a bit of an idiot savant at the start, his muddled internal workings throwing me off.
But the real problem I have with this book, that keeps that five star from turning bold as brass, is that faith wins here. I know, I know, I should be in glad rags shoutin' and singing Hallelujah! but sweet jesus, I was wanting the mountain to win again. For the prince to stop wallowing with the pigs, dust off his robes and have heaven smile upon him and for the universe to right herself long enough for doubt and uncertainty to flee just feels unfair to this faithful reader. What can I say? I like my doubt. It keeps my faith alive.
February 18, 2013
Every once in a while I see The Man Within on my Goodreads "read" shelf sitting all but entirely on its own and I think I ought to give it more Graham Greene friends.
I read this about 20 years ago and my recollection of its minute details are quite vague, but one thing I do recall clearly is that the book itself is quite vague. The feeling of its utter starkness oppressed me then and sticks with me to this day. But I'll have a crack at a brief summary...
There is a villain, naturally our hero in the story, who has betrayed his cohorts and is on the lamb. A woman takes him in and shows him the righteous path, and
The story stays pretty linear. Its scope is narrow. The details are sparse. The Man Within is a baby step of a book. You can see Greene feeling his way as a new writer.
I read this about 20 years ago and my recollection of its minute details are quite vague, but one thing I do recall clearly is that the book itself is quite vague. The feeling of its utter starkness oppressed me then and sticks with me to this day. But I'll have a crack at a brief summary...
There is a villain, naturally our hero in the story, who has betrayed his cohorts and is on the lamb. A woman takes him in and shows him the righteous path, and
The story stays pretty linear. Its scope is narrow. The details are sparse. The Man Within is a baby step of a book. You can see Greene feeling his way as a new writer.
October 6, 2018
Conflitos interiores fazem parte de todo e qualquer ser humano, mas a consciência crítica de Andrews é um desespero. Nunca se cala e torna-o um ser patético a juntar à sua falta de coragem e pouca inteligência .
May 5, 2014
This twitching encounter establishes the compunction and the fear which color Greene's career. The meance is in the details; though I suspect Greene's characters would find a surfeit of the sinister within their own natures.
January 29, 2020
NOW IT'S DONE, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!
First published in 1929 and reprinted in 1977, this oldish paperback with brownish paper is simply amazing due to its readability. The title seems unfamiliar to me so I have never had a thought about reading it at all. According to Vintage, it's been still reprinted, being the first in the Novels list. Incidentally, I think I might have come across it sometime in some good bookstores in Bangkok during my college years and nearly a decade later from its typically unique white covers with his name in black, the title green and a small standing Penguin oval logo on the orange background at the top right corner.
I found the following excerpts decisively encouraging:
Having long regarded him as one of my favorites, I have usually learned from his figurative words/notable grammar and repetitive words. In the meantime, there would be two topics; each being brief followed by some examples.
1) Figurative Words/Notable Grammar: I mean some sentences having such words/grammar are special since they're typically written by Mr Greene; I've never read anything like these before, by anyone, anywhere.
Examples:
The sun dived with sudden decision into night from the edge of a distant down. (p. 98)
A sky curdled with dark, heavy clouds had forced the pace of night. (p. 205)
' . . . I felt that he should have thanked her, not she him.' (p. 78)
' . . . I am obliged to keep you together, though, no doubt, proper accommodation will be afforded you. . . .' (p. 153)
'I'd let your friends get you, but orders is orders. Come this way.' (p. 157)
etc.
2) Repetitive Words: Mr Greene has sometime applied his technique of repetitive three words in which it probably might have been one of the writing trends in the 1920's; however, it is extremely rare or none (allow me to reread his novels, I would revise this review, if found any) in the rest of them.
Examples:
Oh, but he was tired, tired, tired. (p. 13)
He was surrounded again by silence save for the drip, drip, drip of the laden boughs. (p. 48)
Reason, reason, reason. I must cling to that, he thought. (p. 159)
And she was right, right, right. Her sacrifice had been safe with him. (p. 209)
'You were wrong, wrong, wrong,' but his heart felt sick at the thought of how nearly she had been right. (p. 210)
etc.
To continue . . .
First published in 1929 and reprinted in 1977, this oldish paperback with brownish paper is simply amazing due to its readability. The title seems unfamiliar to me so I have never had a thought about reading it at all. According to Vintage, it's been still reprinted, being the first in the Novels list. Incidentally, I think I might have come across it sometime in some good bookstores in Bangkok during my college years and nearly a decade later from its typically unique white covers with his name in black, the title green and a small standing Penguin oval logo on the orange background at the top right corner.
I found the following excerpts decisively encouraging:
Graham Greene's key themes of betrayal, pursuit and the search for peace run through The Man Within, his first published novel, set in Sussex in the early nineteenth century.
. . .
Greene started writing The Man Within at twenty-one. A remarkable achievement, it still retains its grip, tension and freshness of impact. (back cover)
Having long regarded him as one of my favorites, I have usually learned from his figurative words/notable grammar and repetitive words. In the meantime, there would be two topics; each being brief followed by some examples.
1) Figurative Words/Notable Grammar: I mean some sentences having such words/grammar are special since they're typically written by Mr Greene; I've never read anything like these before, by anyone, anywhere.
Examples:
The sun dived with sudden decision into night from the edge of a distant down. (p. 98)
A sky curdled with dark, heavy clouds had forced the pace of night. (p. 205)
' . . . I felt that he should have thanked her, not she him.' (p. 78)
' . . . I am obliged to keep you together, though, no doubt, proper accommodation will be afforded you. . . .' (p. 153)
'I'd let your friends get you, but orders is orders. Come this way.' (p. 157)
etc.
2) Repetitive Words: Mr Greene has sometime applied his technique of repetitive three words in which it probably might have been one of the writing trends in the 1920's; however, it is extremely rare or none (allow me to reread his novels, I would revise this review, if found any) in the rest of them.
Examples:
Oh, but he was tired, tired, tired. (p. 13)
He was surrounded again by silence save for the drip, drip, drip of the laden boughs. (p. 48)
Reason, reason, reason. I must cling to that, he thought. (p. 159)
And she was right, right, right. Her sacrifice had been safe with him. (p. 209)
'You were wrong, wrong, wrong,' but his heart felt sick at the thought of how nearly she had been right. (p. 210)
etc.
To continue . . .
November 20, 2016
For well over fifty years, I have loved the work of British author Graham Greene. While in Ecuador, I visited a bookstore that had a copy of The Man Within, his first novel, which was published in 1929. Up until the last few pages, I thought it was a remarkable minimalistic work, focussing on three characters: Francis Andrews, a reformed smuggler who turns in his fellows to the law; Elizabeth, a lonely young woman with whom he falls in love; and Carlyon, the smuggler, his former friend, who chases him.
Andrews is an odd hero, since he is an informer and a self-professed coward. At one point, he says, "It is as though ... there are six different people inside me. They all urge different things. I don't know which is myself." Interestingly, the books dedication cites Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici: "There's another man within me that's angry with me."
Unfortunately, the book goes off the rail at the end when one of the characters dies without sufficient motivation.
Until then, I thought The Man Within on a par with the author's best work.
Andrews is an odd hero, since he is an informer and a self-professed coward. At one point, he says, "It is as though ... there are six different people inside me. They all urge different things. I don't know which is myself." Interestingly, the books dedication cites Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici: "There's another man within me that's angry with me."
Unfortunately, the book goes off the rail at the end when one of the characters dies without sufficient motivation.
Until then, I thought The Man Within on a par with the author's best work.
September 16, 2025
Greene's first novel is a bit too transparent, but the prose is surprisingly mature for an author's first novel. A Freudian Christian novel about betrayal, redemption, guilt, and faith, it still manages to carry the reader with the depth of the main characters and the struggle of the protagonist against the shadow of his dead father.
November 18, 2014
Review first posted on Booklikes: http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/...
"Too many local people would come in to watch the smugglers ’ fate – or triumph, as likely as not, with a local jury to try them. Every man is against me, he thought. None are on my side save outcasts and the hoard of strangers who will come from London. Judge, counsel, officers . Must I always stand alone on one side? And his heart protested against the necessity which drove him from his present shelter."
This was interesting. In a way, I really wish I had not known this was Greene's first novel. In fact, I kinda wish I had not known this was written by Greene at all, because
all along the way through this book I kept thinking about how his style would change in his later books, how the characters would develop, how he would work out relationships between characters differently in years to come. All this tainted my experience ofThe Man Within. However, it was still an enjoyable read and Greene's experiment with a stream of consciousness prose that nevertheless manages to capture the intense rhythm of a heartbeat when describing a man on the run was compelling. Gimmicky it may have been, but I have rarely enjoyed following a manhunt as much as the story of Andrews in the opening chapter of this book.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book was less impressive and on occassion the book drags on quite a bit.
It is an early work, but I could not get over Andrews', the main character, attitude towards Elizabeth as someone to be possessed or tamed. In act, none of the characters that interact with Elizabeth seem to see her as a person. She is objectified by all of the characters she interacts with, not least of all by Carlyon who uses as a means to satisfy his revenge against Andrews.
The other aspect the did not enjoy particularly was that Greene still struggled with conveying the characters internal conflict, the very aspect that would become a his trademark in later works. There is a lot of telling why Andrews did what he did rather than using the story to reveal his motivations. And yet, the ending turns this on its head and leaves us with Andrews doing something uncharacteristic for which very little is given by way of explanation. I guess it really was that break in consistency that irked me more than the telling rather than showing aspect.
Greene himself was not that fond of his early novels. He himself recalled his second and third novels from being reprinted for the very reason that he did not think they represented the kind of story that he wanted to write. He claimed they they were overly romantic. I do not know exactly what Greene meant by this but there are glimpses of romanticism in The Man Within which at times seemed a little contrived - though, even in his later works, it is passages like this that give Greene his distinct voice:
"And yet to go without a word or sign seemed impossible. He felt in his pockets. They were empty, save for some ancient crumbs, hard as shot, and his knife. He stared at his knife hesitatingly. His heart told him to leave it as a gift which might help her, a sign that he was grateful; his mind told him that very soon in Lewes he would need it. He opened the blade and stroked it. It was clean and sharp and on it, very roughly engraved, a schoolboy’s first experiment with acids, was his name. It’s my only weapon, he thought. It’s of more use to me than to her. What could she use it for but toasting and cutting bread? I shall be defenceless without it. Leave it for that very reason, his heart appealed. A sacrifice."
"Too many local people would come in to watch the smugglers ’ fate – or triumph, as likely as not, with a local jury to try them. Every man is against me, he thought. None are on my side save outcasts and the hoard of strangers who will come from London. Judge, counsel, officers . Must I always stand alone on one side? And his heart protested against the necessity which drove him from his present shelter."
This was interesting. In a way, I really wish I had not known this was Greene's first novel. In fact, I kinda wish I had not known this was written by Greene at all, because
all along the way through this book I kept thinking about how his style would change in his later books, how the characters would develop, how he would work out relationships between characters differently in years to come. All this tainted my experience ofThe Man Within. However, it was still an enjoyable read and Greene's experiment with a stream of consciousness prose that nevertheless manages to capture the intense rhythm of a heartbeat when describing a man on the run was compelling. Gimmicky it may have been, but I have rarely enjoyed following a manhunt as much as the story of Andrews in the opening chapter of this book.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book was less impressive and on occassion the book drags on quite a bit.
It is an early work, but I could not get over Andrews', the main character, attitude towards Elizabeth as someone to be possessed or tamed. In act, none of the characters that interact with Elizabeth seem to see her as a person. She is objectified by all of the characters she interacts with, not least of all by Carlyon who uses as a means to satisfy his revenge against Andrews.
The other aspect the did not enjoy particularly was that Greene still struggled with conveying the characters internal conflict, the very aspect that would become a his trademark in later works. There is a lot of telling why Andrews did what he did rather than using the story to reveal his motivations. And yet, the ending turns this on its head and leaves us with Andrews doing something uncharacteristic for which very little is given by way of explanation. I guess it really was that break in consistency that irked me more than the telling rather than showing aspect.
Greene himself was not that fond of his early novels. He himself recalled his second and third novels from being reprinted for the very reason that he did not think they represented the kind of story that he wanted to write. He claimed they they were overly romantic. I do not know exactly what Greene meant by this but there are glimpses of romanticism in The Man Within which at times seemed a little contrived - though, even in his later works, it is passages like this that give Greene his distinct voice:
"And yet to go without a word or sign seemed impossible. He felt in his pockets. They were empty, save for some ancient crumbs, hard as shot, and his knife. He stared at his knife hesitatingly. His heart told him to leave it as a gift which might help her, a sign that he was grateful; his mind told him that very soon in Lewes he would need it. He opened the blade and stroked it. It was clean and sharp and on it, very roughly engraved, a schoolboy’s first experiment with acids, was his name. It’s my only weapon, he thought. It’s of more use to me than to her. What could she use it for but toasting and cutting bread? I shall be defenceless without it. Leave it for that very reason, his heart appealed. A sacrifice."
June 4, 2018
3,5
In the Author’s Note to this 1971 edition of The Man Within, Graham Greene explains that after a first attempt to revise the original text for this edition, he gave up and decided to leave it exactly as it was originally. He calls the story “embarrassingly romantic”, the style “derivative” and says he gave up the revision after concluding that by doing so, he was eliminating perhaps the only quality it had, its youth. I disagree. Taking into account that Greene started writing this novel when he was not yet 22 and published it when he was 25, I can’t help but being amazed at how well he already wrote at such a young age. Yes, the story is too romantic, I would even call it melodramatic, but the great writing makes up for all that.
In the Author’s Note to this 1971 edition of The Man Within, Graham Greene explains that after a first attempt to revise the original text for this edition, he gave up and decided to leave it exactly as it was originally. He calls the story “embarrassingly romantic”, the style “derivative” and says he gave up the revision after concluding that by doing so, he was eliminating perhaps the only quality it had, its youth. I disagree. Taking into account that Greene started writing this novel when he was not yet 22 and published it when he was 25, I can’t help but being amazed at how well he already wrote at such a young age. Yes, the story is too romantic, I would even call it melodramatic, but the great writing makes up for all that.
September 20, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2019
[A Classic Tragic Novel]
For such a short book, it seemed a long read. It's my first book by Graham Greene and the first book the author got published back in 1929. It was a success then but is considered his weakest work today. I have to admit that I found the book simply average. The story was nothing special, the characters were nothing special, the internal struggles of our main character were often annoying, and I had trouble believing the love story. Elizabeth was probably the only one worth rooting for throughout the book as she was the only one making some sense most of the time. Admittedly, the author was probably still finding his writing style (and I hope to find out what it was in some of his later novels). And the book picks up a pace a couple of times with some action. Ah well... I guess I'll have to face the fact that I don't much care for male protagonists with daddy issues.
For such a short book, it seemed a long read. It's my first book by Graham Greene and the first book the author got published back in 1929. It was a success then but is considered his weakest work today. I have to admit that I found the book simply average. The story was nothing special, the characters were nothing special, the internal struggles of our main character were often annoying, and I had trouble believing the love story. Elizabeth was probably the only one worth rooting for throughout the book as she was the only one making some sense most of the time. Admittedly, the author was probably still finding his writing style (and I hope to find out what it was in some of his later novels). And the book picks up a pace a couple of times with some action. Ah well... I guess I'll have to face the fact that I don't much care for male protagonists with daddy issues.
May 23, 2021
The Man Within was Graham Greene's first published work, published in 1929 when he was 25 years old. Over the past couple of years, I've begun to explore his writing more and more; both his fiction and non-fiction. It was interesting to finally get a copy of his first book and see how it all started.
The story revolves around an English smuggler, who wanting to get out of the 'business', turns in his crewmates with an anonymous letter to the police. In the struggle to arrest the smugglers, one of the police is killed. Andrews, who was the person who turned in the smugglers, goes on the run to escape from the others. He is a self-professed coward, who in his escape, comes across a hut on the Sussex moors and meets a woman who will change his life. He is encouraged to give evidence against his comrades, an act that might have disastrous consequences.
I quite liked this story. It took a few pages to get into the flow, but it became a story I couldn't put down. Unlike Greene's later work, which acquired a finesse in his writing style, this story was very raw, emotional. Andrews is an introspective person, filled with self-loathing for his life style, his cowardice, but who falls in love deeply with Elizabeth, and who wants to change for her. The story moves quickly, building in tension; it's definitely difficult to put down as you get into the flow. Excellent first story. I've got a number of Greene's other books still on my bookshelves and look forward to continuing my exploration with his writing. (4 stars)
The story revolves around an English smuggler, who wanting to get out of the 'business', turns in his crewmates with an anonymous letter to the police. In the struggle to arrest the smugglers, one of the police is killed. Andrews, who was the person who turned in the smugglers, goes on the run to escape from the others. He is a self-professed coward, who in his escape, comes across a hut on the Sussex moors and meets a woman who will change his life. He is encouraged to give evidence against his comrades, an act that might have disastrous consequences.
I quite liked this story. It took a few pages to get into the flow, but it became a story I couldn't put down. Unlike Greene's later work, which acquired a finesse in his writing style, this story was very raw, emotional. Andrews is an introspective person, filled with self-loathing for his life style, his cowardice, but who falls in love deeply with Elizabeth, and who wants to change for her. The story moves quickly, building in tension; it's definitely difficult to put down as you get into the flow. Excellent first story. I've got a number of Greene's other books still on my bookshelves and look forward to continuing my exploration with his writing. (4 stars)
March 28, 2015
I'm not quite sure how I want to rate this book. Perhaps by the time I put my thoughts down I'll come up with it.
I've read some of the major Greene works - The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American, The End of the Affair. I've enjoyed them all.
I decided this year for my theme read (I've enjoyed doing that the past few years - last year was all about WWI) that I'd read the 3 volume biography of Graham Greene by Norman Sherry, and read Greene's books in chronological order along with that.
I've read the biography up to just before Greene wrote "The Man Within". So I had all that information while reading this book. I found that I was being hyper critical then, while reading.
So can I write a fair review of this book as I would with any other novel that I picked up and read WITHOUT all the background info?
I tried to suspend judgment when I realized that I was being influenced and just got down to enjoying the story. I did like it and that only grew as I was reading.
This is an INTENSE story - a lot of internal struggle. Greene's novels are not superficial, and that's one of the reasons I'm drawn to them.
Many of the previous reviewers touch on the story line so I won't go there.
A good first novel - I would give it a 3.75 so I'll round up to a 4.
I've read some of the major Greene works - The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American, The End of the Affair. I've enjoyed them all.
I decided this year for my theme read (I've enjoyed doing that the past few years - last year was all about WWI) that I'd read the 3 volume biography of Graham Greene by Norman Sherry, and read Greene's books in chronological order along with that.
I've read the biography up to just before Greene wrote "The Man Within". So I had all that information while reading this book. I found that I was being hyper critical then, while reading.
So can I write a fair review of this book as I would with any other novel that I picked up and read WITHOUT all the background info?
I tried to suspend judgment when I realized that I was being influenced and just got down to enjoying the story. I did like it and that only grew as I was reading.
This is an INTENSE story - a lot of internal struggle. Greene's novels are not superficial, and that's one of the reasons I'm drawn to them.
Many of the previous reviewers touch on the story line so I won't go there.
A good first novel - I would give it a 3.75 so I'll round up to a 4.
November 24, 2021
This was Mr. Greene's first published novel; and it was a huge success. Like other future novels of Mr. Greene's, this, too, was a "Catholic novel." Graham Greene was born in 1904, and he converted to Catholicism in 1926. Francis Andrews is the main protagonist. He is young, about 20 who is a smuggler of alcohol. He decides to get out of the business and betray his fellow smugglers. The head of this smuggling ring, Carlyon, attempts to hunt Andrews down before he can testify against him and the others. Meanwhile Andrews meets this girl, Elizabeth, 19 and falls in love with her. She is the one who convinces Andrews to turn himself him in order to give evidence in Court; which he does. But the smugglers are acquitted. So now Andrews fears for his safety and that of Elizabeth. The ending is not a "they lived happily ever after." The novel is a must for Graham Greene followers. A masterpiece in the truest sense.
May 8, 2023
Set in the 19th century, although there aren't any exact time references, the writing here feels Victorian, i.e slow and overblown. After this, he learnt how to write more sparse prose. The inner struggles of Andrews the protagonist are interminable. Clunky metaphors abound. The court scene is good and a few of the minor characters, like Sir Henry the lawyer, are interesting. Greene felt he reached his peak as a writer forty odd years after publishing The Man Within.
August 9, 2016
This is the first novel that Graham Greene published (though it was actually the third one he wrote, as two previous books had been rejected!) He was only 21 when he started it and 25 when it was published. Greene himself is unenthusiastic in his author's note at the start of the later edition, describing it as 'embarrassingly romantic'. He's too hard on himself, though, I would say. The writing is patchy, but there are some powerful passages which show the way forward to the later writer. This book was filmed in 1947, starring Richard Attenborough and Michael Redgrave - sadly it has never had a DVD release, but I do hope to see the film and compare it with the novel.
The central character is a young man, Francis Andrews, who is brought up by his smuggler father to follow in the family business. However, after his father's death, he rebels against his life of crime and turns his comrades into the police - not because of any moral feeling, but because he resents the way they treat him. While running away from the other smugglers, he seeks shelter in an isolated cottage and falls in love with the young woman who offers him refuge, Elizabeth - known in the neighbourhood as a 'loose woman', although she seems to be anything but. However, the plot isn't the main fascination of the novel. The joy of it is seeing Greene's voice as a writer develop, especially in some of the more nightmarish sections, like the whole passage where an extremely tired and half-hallucinating Andrews faces the court as a witness. The romance with Elizabeth and the dalliance with another woman, Lucy, might occasionally be unconvincing (though not as embarrassing as Greene claimed), but the sections where Andrews wrestles with his own cowardice and inability to make a firm decision are absolutely convincing.
The central character is a young man, Francis Andrews, who is brought up by his smuggler father to follow in the family business. However, after his father's death, he rebels against his life of crime and turns his comrades into the police - not because of any moral feeling, but because he resents the way they treat him. While running away from the other smugglers, he seeks shelter in an isolated cottage and falls in love with the young woman who offers him refuge, Elizabeth - known in the neighbourhood as a 'loose woman', although she seems to be anything but. However, the plot isn't the main fascination of the novel. The joy of it is seeing Greene's voice as a writer develop, especially in some of the more nightmarish sections, like the whole passage where an extremely tired and half-hallucinating Andrews faces the court as a witness. The romance with Elizabeth and the dalliance with another woman, Lucy, might occasionally be unconvincing (though not as embarrassing as Greene claimed), but the sections where Andrews wrestles with his own cowardice and inability to make a firm decision are absolutely convincing.
May 20, 2022
An engaging novel about Francis Andrews, a reluctant smuggler, who betrays his smuggler colleagues and then faces the consequences of his betrayal. A customs official is killed when smugglers are caught in the act of their illegal activities. Andrews had written a dob in letter to the Customs office. On the night of the raid, Andrews comes upon an isolated cottage where he meets Elizabeth. She persuades Andrews to testify at the murder trial of the smugglers. No one in the town appreciates Andrews seemingly honest testimony.
An interesting novel that Graham Greene fans should find a satisfying reading experience.
This book was first published in 1929 and his the author’s first novel.
An interesting novel that Graham Greene fans should find a satisfying reading experience.
This book was first published in 1929 and his the author’s first novel.
December 5, 2019
What is it to be a man? What is courage? In Greene's first published novel, all the themes that would later support the oeuvre of the maestro are already in place. Truth versus virtue, sex and religion, fear and guilt, comfort and damnation…
Although Greene himself would alter dismiss this novel, claiming the story to be “embarrassingly romantic” and the style “derivative”, The Man Within is well worth perusing and not only for Greene fans.
The main character is Andrews, whose father was a smuggler king, a hero at sea, but at home a bully who beat and mistreated his wife and son. After his death and burial at sea, his ship was passed on to Carlyon, who is an altogether kinder kind of man, so much so that Andrews decides to join his smuggling troupe. But young Andrews is a weak sort of character, a softy at heart. He feels out of place in the rough world of smuggling and is very much made to feel that way by the crude behaviour of the other smugglers. Seeking revenge on the world and spirit of his tyrannical dad, he decides to turn the gang in and become a snitch.
That’s where the story starts. It then evolves in three parts.
In the first part Andrews on the run stumbles upon a cabin in the fog and is given shelter and protection by a woman who lives there all on her own, an odd sort of outcast herself. Shrouded in mist and mystery, the opening part of the novel is gothic crime noir set in the English countryside with lots of psychology, secrecy and fog. If only there ever were an English Ingmar Berman to film this!
The second part is rather more down to earth, a courtroom drama, and the third and final part is downright disappointing. It is overwritten and sentimental.
The older Graham Greene was fully aware of the novel’s shortcomings, but had it reprinted as a “sentimental gesture towards [his] own past”, not wanting (or bothering) change a comma in it.
In spite of its obvious flaws The Man Within is still a joy to read for Greene-fans. Other readers better not start here.
Although Greene himself would alter dismiss this novel, claiming the story to be “embarrassingly romantic” and the style “derivative”, The Man Within is well worth perusing and not only for Greene fans.
The main character is Andrews, whose father was a smuggler king, a hero at sea, but at home a bully who beat and mistreated his wife and son. After his death and burial at sea, his ship was passed on to Carlyon, who is an altogether kinder kind of man, so much so that Andrews decides to join his smuggling troupe. But young Andrews is a weak sort of character, a softy at heart. He feels out of place in the rough world of smuggling and is very much made to feel that way by the crude behaviour of the other smugglers. Seeking revenge on the world and spirit of his tyrannical dad, he decides to turn the gang in and become a snitch.
That’s where the story starts. It then evolves in three parts.
In the first part Andrews on the run stumbles upon a cabin in the fog and is given shelter and protection by a woman who lives there all on her own, an odd sort of outcast herself. Shrouded in mist and mystery, the opening part of the novel is gothic crime noir set in the English countryside with lots of psychology, secrecy and fog. If only there ever were an English Ingmar Berman to film this!
The second part is rather more down to earth, a courtroom drama, and the third and final part is downright disappointing. It is overwritten and sentimental.
The older Graham Greene was fully aware of the novel’s shortcomings, but had it reprinted as a “sentimental gesture towards [his] own past”, not wanting (or bothering) change a comma in it.
In spite of its obvious flaws The Man Within is still a joy to read for Greene-fans. Other readers better not start here.
May 20, 2010
This is Greene’s first novel, and it shows. The plot is straightforward, lacking the thrilling twists—and much of the suspense—of Greene’s later work: Francis Andrews, a smuggler, is motivated by personal resentments to inform on his colleagues. When the smugglers bring their cargo ashore, the revenue officers, or “gaugers,” are waiting; a skirmish ensues, a gauger is shot and killed, six of the smugglers are apprehended, and three escape. Having disclosed the time and place of their landing in an anonymous letter to the authorities, Andrews is able to slip away prior to the confrontation, and the novel opens with his flight.
The construction of the narrative is, in some respects, patchily episodic, through there are a couple of well-executed and memorable scenes that compare favorably to Greene’s best work. The real problem, however, is that the novel is informed by an almost maudlin romanticism that damages its credibility (and would largely disappear from Greene’s later work). The characters are very much familiar romantic types; only Andrews is given a degree of psychological complexity, and yet this fails rather dismally. The dramatic core around which the novel is organized is Andrews’ struggle with the harassing memory and influence of his hated father, which is too neatly Oedipal to be believable. Even more problematic is Greene’s tendency to psychologically schematize his protagonist, making explicit and discursive what should be suggestive and demonstrative. Ultimately, this reduces Andrews to the overly detailed blueprint of a character.
Despite its flaws, The Man Within is ultimately enjoyable, and it’s certainly worth the time of anyone who has a more than slight interest in or appreciation of Greene’s work.
The construction of the narrative is, in some respects, patchily episodic, through there are a couple of well-executed and memorable scenes that compare favorably to Greene’s best work. The real problem, however, is that the novel is informed by an almost maudlin romanticism that damages its credibility (and would largely disappear from Greene’s later work). The characters are very much familiar romantic types; only Andrews is given a degree of psychological complexity, and yet this fails rather dismally. The dramatic core around which the novel is organized is Andrews’ struggle with the harassing memory and influence of his hated father, which is too neatly Oedipal to be believable. Even more problematic is Greene’s tendency to psychologically schematize his protagonist, making explicit and discursive what should be suggestive and demonstrative. Ultimately, this reduces Andrews to the overly detailed blueprint of a character.
Despite its flaws, The Man Within is ultimately enjoyable, and it’s certainly worth the time of anyone who has a more than slight interest in or appreciation of Greene’s work.
January 25, 2012
This book was not one of my favorites, and never will be. That said, I found it deeply, deeply fascinating. The protagonist seems to be profoundly aware of his own cowardice, which is not something I view as common. Furthermore, he fails to take note of his own courage, always downplaying it. It is almost like his own personal pity party, where he wallows in his own cowardice, to the point of almost enjoying it, while being unaware of how much he does. The love found within was deeply touching to me, and the woman he came to love, and the feelings that he exhibited, of feeling clean and alive and joyful and *new* when he was with her, cause me to think of her as a Jesus figure. So yes. Fascinating yet depressing story, I look forward to reading more of Mr. Greene. Also, one of my favorite quotes from the book was as follows: "Surely you know by this time that the feeling won't last. For a day we are disgusted and disappointed and disillusioned and feel dirty all over. But we are clean again in a very short time, clean enough to go back and soil ourselves all over again." This reminds me of the cycle that we and the Israelites constantly go through. We sin, we may at first be disgusted by our sin, than we grow into apathy over said sin, God brings us to repentance, and then we come once again to apathy, this time over our cleanliness, and anxiously and eagerly search out sin once again.
7 down, 97 to go! :D
7 down, 97 to go! :D
June 24, 2013
Kind of reassuring for those of us with weekly aspirations to know that even the well-respected Greene was a bit crap when he first started. Also exhibits a quite remarkable degree of revulsion of women, in the classic "Damned whores and god's police" mode.
I had a notion I was going to read all of Greene's novels, in order. They better improve quick, our I'm never going to make it.
I had a notion I was going to read all of Greene's novels, in order. They better improve quick, our I'm never going to make it.
August 23, 2016
I should probably give The Man Within at least 3 stars. For heaven's sake, it was Greene's first novel. It shows great promise of the things to come, but parts were just,... not quite baked for me. Regardless, I'll keep reading the rest of Greene's library. It's a journey well worth the effort.
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