A complicated and difficult read and not as entertaining as some of his other books I have read. The narrative follows the anguish of Andrews as he tries to part company with a group of smugglers led by his former friend & father figure, Carlyon. After he tipped off the police about a smuggling delivery in which a police officer was killed, Andrews is on the run from his former colleagues.

During his flight to safety, he seeks shelter with a lovely, lonely woman named Elizabeth. She convinces him to testify against Carlyon and then return to marry her. However, he becomes too frighten to return to her and spends the night with a harlot and then makes the decision to rejoin Elizabeth too late to save the dreams they had.. ( )

The book begins with a man, Andrews, on the run from his best friend, Carlyon, whom he believes wants to kill him.

He comes to a cottage, goes in there for shelter and meets a woman called Elizabeth.

I didn’t much appreciate the book since I found it difficult to find out what exactly what was happening, and what the book really was about.

It turned out that Carlyon and Andrews had been smugglers and the plot was related to that.

Eventually, Andrews falls in love with Elizabeth and she is his main focus.

This is not a book I would particularly recommend since I found it somewhat frustrating to read. ( )

The Man Within is Graham Greene's first published book and it contains the genius of his ability to probe the human spirit and to challenge the Devine.
Francis Andrews is a pliant introspective who sees himself as divided by a cowardly, lustful, brutal self and a "critic" self who is virtuous and reasonable but rarely able to overpower the other. Only when he finds Elizabeth who seems to him saintly because of her devotion to God and her belief in the afterlife does he begin to deal with his own inner demons.
This is a powerfully written novel and like others by Greene it leaves one haunted by characters made real and clinging to one long after the book has been closed.

N-0

This twitching encounter establishes the compunction and the fear which color Greene's career. The meance is in the details; though I suspect Greene's characters would find a surfeit of the sinister within their own natures. ( )