Appointment With Agatha discussion

To match with our Agatha Christie version of a thriller, we have Graham Greene's The Third Man, a mid-career novella published in 1949.

Goodreads author bio: Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenplay writer, travel writer and critic whose works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world. Greene combined serious literary acclaim with wide popularity.

Although Greene objected strongly to being described as a “Catholic novelist” rather than as a “novelist who happened to be Catholic,” Catholic religious themes are at the root of much of his writing, especially the four major Catholic novels: Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair, and The Power and the Glory. Works such as The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana and The Human Factor also show an avid interest in the workings of international politics and espionage.

There is also a 1949 film noir adaptation of the book, if anyone is interested in pairing that up with this read!

Looking forward to reading the novella. The movie is amazing! Highly recommend, super atmospheric, the great Orson Welles, and of course the zither music!

The book helped me understand the movie. The movie was so well filmed that it didn't matter if I didn't get all the small details of the plot. Both were great!

I couldn't wait and just finished this book a few days ago! I've long been a fan of the film and have the special tin box blu-ray edition.

Our mandolin orchestra plays the theme in our repertoire.

Five stars, it's so so good. Maybe i'll just read it all over again!

I will read the book, as I know the film quite well, which has been filmed in Vienna, and is still shown at one of our cinemas for tourists who visit (not in Covid times of course). Normally there are also tours of the underground where the film partly took place.

Michaela-that’s so interesting about the film and the tours!

I’m not familiar with the book or the movie, but do plan on reading - although it may be later in the month. And will definitely seek out the movie after.

Michaela wrote: "I will read the book, as I know the film quite well, which has been filmed in Vienna, and is still shown at one of our cinemas for tourists who visit (not in Covid times of course). Normally there ..."

That is really nifty! I need to add that to my bucket list of places to visit!

I’ve always loved the movie. Have the book and a waiting to finish up a book for a different club. Looking forward to it

I'm ready to get going on this one! It's a pretty slender read, so it shouldn't take me long.

I've only read two other books by Greene, Orient Express and Our Man in Havana, and I liked them both. This one seems to be just as polarizing as our other group read, though, so I'm curious to see what I make of it!

I am running out of time to read this one - I'm still hoping to get to it, but it's looking less and less likely, lol!

I did buy it, so I will read it eventually.

I left my kindle charging at work, so no ebooks for me tonight. Perfect opportunity to pick up this novella.

I'm at page 51 right now, and I can see how this would have become a movie. It's very cinematic. I had no idea that Vienna was divided into quarters after the war!

I’ve been watching Line of Separation on PBS. It takes place in a small town in Germany that ends up divided into an American side and a Russian side. It’s helped me visualize. I keep getting confused. It seems like the narrator keeps changing. Or it could just be me and a lack of concentration these days