Greene on Capri

I read this during the late summer of 2008 as it was selected by our Thursday evening book group for our return from hiatus in September of that year. We read this alongside Hazzard's short novel, The Bay of Noon. Her portrait of Greene is focused, and in comparison with the earnest but elephantine biography by Norman Sherry, is brief and economical. Yet she is able to convey far more in it of the inner man, and the sense it provides of the outer man is more vivid as well. It is a model not merely of memoir but of the writer's craft. We enjoyed the literary portraits and the descriptions of Capri as well. This was an unexpected delight.

Initially I saw this work as a rather obtuse and unpleasant memoir where the author takes pleasure in convoluted descriptions that really say nothing about the subject and everything about smart writing. While this for me was initially true, I found it became a much more interesting and sweet book. I would put it in the league of great, short memoirs like "A Moveable Feast" or "Charles Olson in Connecticut." Especially pleasant was the section on Harold Acton.

3881. Greene on Capri A Memoir, by Shirley Hazzard (read 24 Apr 2004) This is an amazingly fetching little book, telling how the author and her husband came to know Graham Greene on Capri, and is very well-written and made an enchanting picture of life on the island. A most worthwhile account of Greene and of the island--made me want to re-visit it.

iIf you are interested in Greene then read it. Also good on the history of Capri and the characters who have llived there.