Reading 1001 discussion

Review thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

1. What is the relationship between the twins, Kate and Tony Farrant?

2. How does Tony get out of trouble?

3. What is the theme of the novel?

4. Is this your favorite Graham Greene?

5. Does the book belong on the list?

1. The twins have an almost incestuous relationship, at least from Kate's point of view. It's not physically incestuous at all, but it's like they can't really love anyone else like they love each other. Anthony says he's in love with Lucia but I think it's clear this isn't likely to last. If there's such a thing as emotional incest, that's what they have! Plus there's a belief (or Kate believes) that they have some kind of psychic link, but that fails in the end. I guess Kate is devoted to her brother and Anthony is dependent on his sister - which is not quite the same thing.

2. Tony gets out of trouble by relying on his charm, which is maybe more "told" than "shown", although I did feel some of the affection for him that a charming character is supposed to elicit. But I know I would run a mile from a person like that in real life, so I was not completely convinced by his much-advertised charm.

3. The theme of the novel - maybe corruption? There's the financial corruption involved in Krogh's business, but also a sense that both Anthony and Kate are corrupted by a society that requires them to be immoral in one way or another in order to survive. Although please, there are other ways to make a living. Their problem is that they have been brought up believing their lives will be easy and comfortable, then they aren't. "Entitled" isn't a new phenomenon.

4 & 5. No, this is not my favourite Graham Greene. There are a lot of his books on the list, and I'm not surprised to see this one was deIeted. I do enjoy his books but I don't think this is one of the greatest. I gave it 4 stars, but if a reader is not a fan, this will not impress. My "favourite" (although I'm not sure how often I could bear to reread it) is Brighton Rock, which completely knocked me sideways when I read it as a teenager, with the cruelty of the ending. I will say no more!

1. What is the relationship between the twins, Kate and Tony Farrant?

I think Rosemary captured it exactly, they are co-dependent but that dependency is based on different things. Anthony needs her financial support and her unquestioning love but doesn't really seem to love her as thoroughly as Kate loves him, issues and all.

2. How does Tony get out of trouble?

Tony's sense of self appears to be as someone who is always a bit in trouble. At the same time he believes he can always get himself out of trouble by turning on the charm. He thinks of himself as a survivor rather than as someone who is merely surviving. We are told in this book that woman look at him and that even shy crusty old billionaire Swedes find him delightful company. Hall, on the other hand, sees him for who he is, but can not adjust his vision to see Krogh for what he is.

3. What is the theme of the novel?

There appears to be two main themes, the incestuous love (although not sexually incestuous love) between the sister and brother, and the corruption of capitalism and how it betrays even those who believe.

4. Is this your favorite Graham Greene?

No, it does have a momentum to it that is quite impressive and I did enjoy Greene's drawing of some of the secondary characters, Minty, in particular. However, I felt that he didn't quite pull together all the threads in a way that upheld the themes. Some of Greene's books can really take you with them down into the anxiety and suffering of the characters. In this book, I was outside the fray, just watching and waiting for the inevitable.

5. Does the book belong on the list?

No, there are so many Greene's on the list, I don't believe this one needs to be on there.

1. What is the relationship between the twins, Kate and Tony Farrant?
Agree with both Rosemary and Gail, but would add that Kate is also motivated by guilt. She often turns in her mind to the time she sent Tony back to his school, blaming that for how he turned out, and that makes her feel responsible for saving him.

It’s also significant that despite this intense feeling, Kate and Anthony haven’t seen each other for many years, so it is their recent reunion which seems to have shifted the relationship.

2. How does Tony get out of trouble?
By a combination of charm and running away. He can always find someone willing to help him out so he can run from one crisis to another. He’s happy to lie and steal, but he is no match for the ruthlessness of Krogh and Hall,

3. What is the theme of the novel?
Complexity and unreliability of human relationships - Anthony and Kate, Kate and Krogh, Krogh and Hall, Anthony and Minty. Corruption. Maybe also the isolation of the Englishman abroad - that seems to be a common theme for Greene.

4. Is this your favorite Graham Greene?
No, personally I prefer both Brighton Rock and The Human Factor for the depth of the characters and the tension that builds up. I did find Minty a memorable character though.

5. Does the book belong on the list?
No, it is an interesting book but doesn’t stand out enough in any particular respect.

1. What is the relationship between the twins, Kate and Tony Farrant?
At times they seem to be two halves of one person. Anthony got the “feminine” traits that should have been Kate’s: weakness, vanity, and charm. And Kate got the “masculine traits” that should have been his: she is cold, unromantic, business minded. Hence, in Part IV, Ch. 3, Kate muses that “…It was the nearest she could get to completeness having him in the same room...”

However, as others have noted above, it is "emotionally incestuous," at least for Kate who thinks, “I love no one, nothing but him.” Perhaps this is why Anthony hasn’t kept in touch with her and wants to escape so badly; he realizes that she harbors an unhealthy fixation on him. This may also explain why he falls suddenly in love with Loo -- she offers a chance at a "normal" relationship and an escape back to England... even if it is poor old Coventry :)

2. How does Tony get out of trouble?
I wrote this before I read Pamela's response and we're almost identical! Usually he gets out of trouble by using his charm, and when that fails to work, he runs away. He’s trying to do that in this situation but he’s no match for Krogh and his cronies (Kate included).

3. What is the theme of the novel?
At the end of the novel Kate says, “We’re all thieves, stealing a living here and there and everywhere, giving nothing back.” I take this to be the theme, especially given the book’s epigraph by Walt Disney: “All the world owes me a living.”

In that sense, Anthony is just doing what everyone is, he’s just not good at it. That gets at another theme: people who hold onto past ideals/morals, like Anthony, are not suited for the modern world. Being a charming English gentlemen with a glimmer of morality doesn’t get him very far in the cut-throat world of international business. As Greene writes, Anthony “has a child’s cunning in a world of cunning men… There were things he would not do.” He returns to this in Part IV, when Anthony wants to blackmail Krogh and Kate knows he isn’t anywhere near a match for Krogh: Anthony “wasn’t unscrupulous enough to be successful.”

4. Is this your favorite Graham Greene?
I have a vague memory of reading The Ugly American in high school. So this is the first Graham Greene I’ve read as an adult, and I didn’t really enjoy it. I’m hoping I like the other 7 on the list much better.

5. Does the book belong on the list?
It honestly seems like a very minor work. Given that there are eight other Greene’s on the list, I think it’s good that it was omitted in later editions.

1. What is the relationship between the twins, Kate and Tony Farrant? They are twins but in this case their relationship seems incestuous. I agree that it is more so for Kate and that Tony seems to have spent his life trying to escape her. I wonder why the author made her so heartless and more masculine and Tony more caring.

2. How does Tony get out of trouble? he uses his charm and escapism to get out of trouble.

3. What is the theme of the novel? Themes are relationships, identity, obsession vs love, The complexity of identity. Krogh with his false identity, his glass building, bad clothing, ugly statue. Loo with her floozy appearance, Tony with his well worn past their prime clothing, Kate with her cold hands off appearance.

4. Is this your favorite Graham Greene? No I don't think this is my favorite. It has it's points but I think I liked The Power and the Glory best so far. I also liked Brighton Rock.

5. Does the book belong on the list? It probably was one to remove from the list but I am not sorry to have read it.

1. I agree with others that the twin aspect - splitting traits and a connection that feels deeper than siblings - is crucial to the set up. But also agree with Pamela that the guilt that Kate feels, the rupture she caused at that time, and the lack of reciprocity now is the key to why Anthony fails to rescue her and she fails to rescue him. They no longer understand each other or have the same goals or values, even if they both want some of what the other has.

2. Tony is a sensualist and a very intuitive and charming person.

3. The novel is about capitalism as a destructive force in society, as a society of thieves. Tony manipulates in the moment and seems to have no sense of morals, but he has a line - he has a sense of social responsibility and comradeship with other men of the working class and this is the ultimate reason he fails at Krogh's. Maybe it is also why he fails to recognize the threat posed by Hall, who has no loyalty to class, only to Krogh, like a pet rather than a person. In this set up, ruthlessness wins, and Kate is wrong at the end - there is no honor among thieves.

4. This was not my favorite - I did struggle to get it done. I found it a bit predictable plot wise.