Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist renowned for his novels and thrillers. He was shortlisted several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature and was awarded the Shakespeare Prize in 1968 and the Jerusalem Prize in 1981. He wrote over 25 novels in his 67 years of writing.
Graham Greene was born in St John's House, a boarding house of Berkhamsted School, Hertfordshire. He grew up in a family deeply involved in education and literature. His father was the housemaster at Berkhamsted School, and his mother was a cousin to Robert Louis Stevenson.
Greene attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied history. At Oxford, he published his first book, a volume of poetry titled Babbling April (1925). After graduating in 1925, he worked as a private tutor and journalist for the Nottingham Journal and The Times.
After meeting his future wife, Vivien Dayrell-Browning, Greene converted to Catholicism in 1926. This conversion influenced his writing, as Catholic themes became central to many of his novels. His first novel, The Man Within, was published in 1929 and received favorable reviews, allowing him to pursue writing full-time.
Greene's early career saw a mix of successes and failures. His novels The Name of Action (1930) and Rumour at Nightfall (1932) were unsuccessful, and he later disowned them. Nevertheless, his first major success came with Stamboul Train (1932), a film that was adapted into Orient Express (1934).
His Catholic faith was a recurring motif, especially in novels like Brighton Rock (1938), The Power and the Glory (1940), The Heart of the Matter (1948), and The End of the Affair (1951). Despite this, Greene resisted the label of "Catholic novelist," preferring to be known as a novelist who happened to be Catholic.
Greene's work in the espionage genre, including The Confidential Agent (1939), The Quiet American (1955), Our Man in Havana (1958), and The Human Factor (1978), showcased his interest in international politics and intrigue. His screenplay for The Third Man (1949) remains a classic of the noir genre.
A Burnt-Out Case (1960), one of Greene's notable works, tells the story of Querry, a world-renowned architect who retreats to a leper colony in the Congo, seeking solace from his crisis of faith. This novel explores themes of suffering, redemption, and the complexities of human nature.
Many awards were given to Greene, including the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. He was also shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times.
Graham Greene passed away on April 3, 1991, from leukemia.
