Most authors attempt to write stories that will impress upon the reader some idea or emotion in order to bring about change. Graham Greene writes stories that, rather than impose the idea upon the reader, pull a reaction out of the reader whether he wants to react or not. The stories he tells shock the reader and cause him to question how people or a situation could possibly be as it is. Often, the reader is a little disturbed and upset after reading Greene?s stories. There seems to be no point to them, but they shake the reader and draw out his feelings.
A prime example of Greene?s shock story is ?The End of the Party.? In only a few pages Greene sketches out two young boys, and immediately the reader sympathizes and almost loves them. And then at the end of the story, when one is dead and the other is left devastated and confused, one cannot help but feel devastation and confusion right along with Peter. There is no explanation as to why such a small fright killed Francis, or why Francis? fear still beats inside Peter?s chest, and so the reader feels ?off? and disturbed, and questions the whole story looking for some trace of meaning.
Apparent in his stories is the idea that life is precious and extremely valuable. ?The Wedding Reception? makes this point very bluntly and doesn?t leave much for the reader to guess at. At the end of the story Daintry simply states, ?A man?s dead. He?s irreplaceable too.? Even though this theme doesn?t seem apparent in ?A Shocking Accident,? it is present if one considers the confusion they have at Jerome?s tearless and emotionless response to the death of his father. And then again the puzzlement they experience as Jerome and later his bride-to-be ask about the pig. To the reader the accident is so trivial and senseless, and kills Jerome?s father long before his time, leaving a wasted life behind. The reactions of the reader should cause him to think about what devalues life so in the eyes of the characters.
This theme is again apparent in The Third Man. Harry Lime is willing to illegally distribute a watered down form of penicillin that kills people so that he can have a lot of money. As I read this, Lime?s complete lack of compassion for other humans struck me as hideous. I had a hard time accepting that anyone could be so cold and evil. However, Greene was able to draw me into the scene and make Lime?s cold-heartedness believable. As a matter of fact, Greene handles such hard to believe issues quite well. There is never a sense that the story is too far out to be true. His characters are vivid and his settings are real. I was transported quickly to the worlds of his stories, and was disappointed when I had to leave.
Greene?s style is smooth, yet not simple. The reader must pay attention to what is being read or he may miss important details and key events in the story. His plots are far from shallow, and a lot of wisdom and insight can be gathered from the things he writes. However, his Christianity is very low key. There are very few allusions to God and Christianity in his writing. However, I think that this is what gives depth to his writing; he is not displaying his values in neon lights. Rather they are a part of the story in the same way that they should be a part of a person.

With this anthology of Greene's work, it's clear just how good, and just how often, the author could write. Everything he touched turned to literary gold. If you like Hemingway or Robertson Davies, mysteries or serious fiction, pontifications or potboilers, then Greene is your man. This collection is an impeccable introduction for the uninitiated, and it's a great reference tool for the longtime Greene fanatic. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read. Greene is a brilliant writer who makes the language jump off the page and who is a master storyteller.

I am consistently impressed with the fiction (mostly) contained in the New Canadian Library series, published by McLelland & Stewart. Gabriele Roy's 1945 novel The Tin Flute is certainly no exception. A story of late depression-era Montreal, Tin Flute is almost a laboratory-like setting of individuals beset by grinding poverty, and how they respond. Very much a novel of characters, Roy continually asks the reader whether, as the novel's eventual hero, Emmanuel, muses after volunteering for the army after Hitler's invasion of Poland, "a guy can help himself sometimes by helping other people," or whether the immediate retort of his comrade, "a guy has his work cut out these days looking after himself", is more true. Florentine, the desperately poor waitress who forms the center of Roy's plot, longs for (and eventually becomes impregnated by) the rake Jean, while Emmanuel more chastely pines for her. Roy gives the perfect one-sentence description of Jean: "He could be kind if his kindness caused him no problems." Florentine muses about herself (and I believe Roy asks the reader): "Sweetness brought you nowhere. That's what had ruined them all." Roy's ending to the novel is wonderfully ambiguous, and leaves open the questions of goodness, opportunism, and purpose she raises throughout.

Shortly after it was published, The Tin Flute surprised Canadian readers and was soon widely read and enjoyed internationally. Its author, Gabrielle Roy, reached out to an audience with eloquent, flowing prose, by describing the very depth of the human condition through the Lacasse family.

Briefly: the main character of the novel is the oldest Lacasse child, Florentine. Her poor family, residing in the slums of Saint Henri, Montreal, rely heavily on the wages she brings in as a waitress. Rose-Anna, her mother, struggles to care for her growing family and struggle through tragedy, while the father, Azarius, is unable to maintain a job. Florentine's life is turned upside down when she meets a handsome man named Jean, an affair that is doomed from the beginning. A crushed Florentine turns to Jean's friend, Emmanuel, for his love, although she cannot return it, as she is still torn over her feelings for Jean. In the original French, it was entitled, "Bonheure d'occasion" which cannot be perfectly translated. However, the English title of "The Tin Flute" is very suitable and expresses the message of the novel from the smallest Lacasse child, Daniel -- his only great desire was to have a shiny tin flute, a symbol of all that he would never be able to call his own, in a poverty-stricken existence.

With this groundwork, Roy paints a convincing and enthralling portrait of an impoverished family, troubled love, and mixed ideals in the midst of World War II. It is a novel well worth reading and will leave you with new insight into the human condition and the brutality of poverty. Although some phrases are lost in the translation to English from the original French, the translation is highly successful in being as nearly as effective as the original.

For related themes (although from very different perspectives & times) you may also wish to explore Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

If only more books were written like this! The Tin Flute is the poignant story of a young girl growing up in poverty in the slums of Montreal. It is the 1940's, war is brooding. And we are introduced to a French Canadian family faced with unemployment, too many children, and despair. We suffer as the mother, pregnant again, searches on foot for affordable housing. Her daughter works at the five-and-dime and is inlove with a man who holds contempt for her class and social background.
I have read this story three times. It is without a doubt, one the greatest books ever written of its genre. If you enjoyed "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" or "Angela's Ashes" you will no doubt love this story equally well. It is unforgettable.

Included in this volume is a short story by Michel Tremblay (The Hanged Man) that rivals Poe's Tell-Tale Heart for scariness. Much better than Stephen King ... and much shorter! The story is told in the first person by the guard who stands sentry through the night over the body of a hanged man. He tells of his experiences that evening ...

If you try & cannot locate a copy of this book, email me. I'll call you collect and read you this story ... late at night, in the dark.