W. J. West (1942–1999)

The Quest for Graham Greene, an intentionally selective, intriguingly suggestive portrait, probes hitherto unexplored facets of the Anglo-Catholic novelist (1904-91). Among them are a nervous breakdown at age 16 that sent him to a London psychoanalyst who introduced him to spiritualism and the literary avant-garde; Greene's Byzantine ties to British intelligence, which continued long after his 1944 resignation from MI6; and his involvement in a tax-fraud scheme that led to exile from England show more in 1966. In approved postmodernist fashion, W. J. West uses the first person while recounting his diggings in various archives.

West even works in clues from Greene's novels, which are more factual than many realise, resulting in a real cloak-and-dagger biography. show less

Out of all the books I have had standing by as reference while reading Greene's novels, this one was decidedly "meh".

West tries to give a lot of background and connect Greene's books and characters to real-life events and people in Greene's life, but somehow this neither makes a captivating read nor a convincing analysis of Greene's work.

The writing seems rather disjointed at times, and at other times the analysis comes across as a best guess.

Maybe this book makes for better reading for show more someone who has more of an in-depth knowledge of Greene's biography, but as a stand-by reference to accompany my Greene-land adventures The Quest for Graham Greene raised more questions than it answered. show less