Posted on Bertha....Solid but twitchy

For the time being I have a little loaner of a laptop form one of my friends. Reason being that my own laptop seemed to think that it was alright to keep me wait for 20 mins before it would respond to my pushing a button..... any button. This meant that, at times my blood pressure would rise to totally unacceptable levels and who needs that. So... I have just decided to get myself a totally new little red number! This will mean that in a week or so I will be totally hip and up to date again or at least more up to date than I was.

I have been getting on with a bit of reading this week but also have some catching up to do as three little read ones are screaming to be reviewed. So, without further ado...


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The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene
I do like a good GG book. I love the way he writes. He has pondered the words he uses and the characters he gives you are always a joy to read. This one was quite serious and "deep". It is not a fun filled tale but there are some funny bits in it. I definitely think that cockroach hunting could become an Olympic sport.
In this book we meet Mr Scobie who is straight down the line and incorruptible and we see him slowly fall apart... betray everything he believes in. He loses his love and his faith and that is the end of the man.
Scobie is one of the most interesting fictional characters I have ever met. He is a man who wants to keep things in order, does not mind being alone and takes his religion seriously. He has learnt to live in Africa and he has learnt how the people around him work. He knows not to take anyone at their word and he has also learnt to stay clear of the ever charming Yusef.
Scobie has a wife that does not particularly love him but they have managed to find a way to co-exist. He is a policeman in a West African nation which is trying to keep the Germans from getting their hands on illegal goods and spends some considerable time in keeping the neighbouring French in line. Scobie is not a man that is destined for greatness or success, it seems. He has been moved out of his house and downgraded to a smaller and less prestigious nissen hut. He has been passed up for promotion in favour of an outsider and now his wife wants to get away from the heat and stifling nature of the place he calls home.... and Scobie does not have the money but he is damned if he is going to let Louise down!
Throughout the book we see Scobie deteriorate. He falls in love with a woman and it seems to be his love for her that aids his downfall. In any other author's world Scobie would have probably fallen in love, had a good time and lived cheatingly ever after but not with Greene. As soon as he finds one ounce of personal happiness he is doomed. Actually, his downfall probably starts as soon as he decides not to tell on the Captain of the ship he searches. They get a tip to search a ship and Scobie withholds the letters he finds. He destroys them after he has read them and does not act upon them but it is the first chink in his armour. The fact that there are no consequences for the captain of the ship shows him that Scobie did not carryout his threats to report the letter so Scobie becomes vulnerable. His downfall is then compounded by him falling in love with another woman. Now he has God to answer to as well... not just his own conscience. 
What makes it even more interesting is that Scobie is so affected by his affair and the fact that he knows he is doing something wrong that he finds it hard to go to church and to keep his faith. It seems that this weighs as much on his mind, if not more than the fact that people might consider him to be dishonest.
Another interesting character we meet at the start is Wilson. As he is introduced first I almost assumed that the story would be about him but it isn't. We don't really find out that much about Wilson. He seems to have come out of nowhere, no-one is really sure what he does and what class he belongs to. Turns out he was sent to sniff out the cheats and weasels and for some reason he has it in for Scobie. He thinks Scobie is taking bribes but he cannot prove it. I guess he thinks that no-one can live out there for so long and not be corrupted. He also thinks Scobie treats his wife badly. He even declares his love for her at one point but she does not take him seriously. He does come across like a bit of a drippy, lovelorn kind of guy that just does not fit in anywhere.
The third character that is of some relevance to Scobie is Yusef the Syrian. He is the one that would like be Scobie's friend (just a friend... honest gov'). Part of me actually thinks that this is true part of me thinks that for a man like Yusef being able to corrupt someone like Scobie must be a major accomplishment. I think at times Yusef sees how much of a struggle Scobie's life is for him and he wants to help him. Problem is... he will want something in return. Scobie manages to fend Yusef off for a long time. But when it comes to making his wife happy Scobie has no choice but to go to Yusef for a loan. To be fair to Yusef he does not really use this against Scobie until he is left with no coice but by then Scobie is beyond redemption anyway.
Then we have the object of Scobie's desire... Helen. She is a young woman who came to Africa to be with her new husband. The boat she was on was sunk and she was one of the lucky ones to get rescued. At first she and Scobie seem to be able to just stay friends but they get closer. She is the wife that Scobie would have picked for himself. She is how his own wife was before... before they lost their little child and Africa got inside of them.
For Scobie the affair is both love and torture and in the end he cannot take it any more. He can see no way to please everyone any more and he decides that enough is enough. His love for Helen would take him away from Louise and his love for Louise makes him not want her to know about the affair. The plan for his own demise is cunning, but not quite cunning enough. He dies alright but Wilson and Louise figure out what is going one. Not only that... she knew about the affair and came back to see if she could save her marriage.

So, good read and a bit dark and depressing (not in a bad way though!!) with great writing and very interesting characters.


Title: The Heart of the Matter
Author: Graham Greene
272 pages
Penguin Books
ISBN #0-140-27875-3

Books to be read: 150

International orphans

Having come back from a short holiday I now have three more orphan books that have made their way across the Channel. Only one more crime one and the others are totally different. In due course they will appear on here reviewed and everything.... with bells on.

Off to focus on my documentary on the rise of Hitler now, cannot stop long....

Books to be read: 151