The Third Man

"Había transcurrido ya una semana desde que hiciera mi visita al cementerio para despedir los restos de Harry. Fue, pues, con incredulidad como lo vi pasar, sin que diera señales de reconocerme, entre la muchedumbre del Strand". ( )

Graham Greene was a prolific writer whose best work has stood the test of time. He liked to divide his fiction between novels with serious themes (The Heart of the Matter, The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American) and lighter fare that he labeled as “entertainments” (Travels With My Aunt, Our Man In Havana). Whatever the form, I have always found his writing to be compelling and frequently brilliant.

As one of his entertainments, the novella The Third Man has an interesting history. Greene wrote the story as the preliminary treatment of a screenplay for a film of the same name, although the book did not actually appear in print until after the movie came out. In fact, Greene himself thought that film version of the story (for which he also received a co-screenwriter credit) was much better than the novella. Regardless, it still works as a stand-alone book and entertaining it definitely is.

The story is set in a post-World War II Vienna that is split into four zones by occupying forces. There is a thriving black-market economy to fill the gaps for shortages in goods ranging from food to tires to medicine. Rollo Martins has come to town at the request of his life-long friend Harry Lime, but arrives just in time for a funeral. Lime, it seems, was the victim of a random car accident, although Martins refuses to accept the situation at face value and pursues the truth at whatever the personal cost happens to be. He soon learns the truth—which involves an unnamed third man who witnessed the apparent accident—which changes everything.

While it does not rank among the best of the author’s considerable catalog of work, The Third Man is nevertheless an atmospheric and highly satisfying reading experience. Greene was equally adept at writing both serious novels as well as thrillers and this novella should be included near the top of the latter category. It is also much shorter in length than most of the author’s other work, which makes it a brief commitment for which the reader will be well rewarded. ( )

In post-WWII Vienna the allies have a quirky hold on the city. ( )

La trama de esta obra se desarrolla en una ciudad europea en ruinas, durante la segunda Guerra Mundial. Este es el escenario en que actúa una banda de traficantes en antibióticos adulterados, cuyo consumo produce la locura o la muerte.

Rollo Martins arrives in Vienna shortly after the end of World War II, when the city is divided into four occupation zones. He has come to take up his old friend Harry Lime's offer of a job, but he arrives instead just in time to attend Lime's funeral. Martins is told that Lime's death was an accidental car crash, but Martins soon decides that this story seems suspect and begins to investigate further.

I have a bit of a history with this story. I speak fluent German and studied abroad in college in Vienna, where I absolutely fell in love with the city and have wonderful memories associated with it. While on our trip, the professors organizing the study abroad took us to (I believe, if memory/Google serves me correctly) the Burg Kino to watch the film version of The Third Man, after which we went on a tour of the Vienna sewer system. This is just to say that, going into this book, I knew both the story and the city in which it's set decently well, and my view of the book's merits (as such) is probably not the most objective one.

Greene's preface states that "The Third Man was never written to be read but only to be seen." To be completely honest, I do think that this story is better seen than read. The edition of the book that I read was an updated ebook celebrating the release of a restored version of the film, and it was really interesting in that it had short video clips from the movie interspersed with the text, as well as the entire screenplay as an appendix. The clips were great for evoking the mood of the film, but in all honesty, the writing itself felt pretty sparse, and I found this book a bit less suspenseful/dramatic than how I remember the film. I'm glad I read it, as it was fun to return to this world and this city, but I think this might be a rare occasion where I'd recommend the film over the book (or at least definitely in addition to the book). ( )