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The Human Factor (Penguin Classics)
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The Human Factor (Penguin Classics) Paperback - 2008

by Graham Greene; Introduction-Colm Toibin

  • Used
  • Paperback

A morally complex and mature work from amodern master



In this later novel by Graham Greene featuring anew introduction the author continues to explore moral andtheological dilemmas through psychologically astute character studiesand exciting drama on an international stage. In The Human Factor A high-level operative of the British Secret Service acts as adouble agent to benefit his family.

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Penguin Classics, 2008-09-30. Paperback. Used: Good.
Used: Good
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Details

  • Title The Human Factor (Penguin Classics)
  • Author Graham Greene; Introduction-Colm Toibin
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: First
  • Condition Used: Good
  • Pages 288
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Classics
  • Date 2008-09-30
  • Features Table of Contents
  • Bookseller's Inventory # SONG0143105566
  • ISBN 9780143105565 / 0143105566
  • Weight 0.5 lbs (0.23 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.7 in (19.56 x 12.95 x 1.78 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects South Africa, Great Britain
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2008028389
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Summary

Maurice Castle is a high-level operative of the British secret service during the Cold War era. Deeply in love with his African wife who escaped apartheid South Africa with the help of Castle’s Communist friend, Despite his misgivings, Castle decides to act as a double agent passing information to the Soviets. In order to evade detection, he allows his assistant to be wrongly identified as the source of the leaks. But when suspicions remain, Castle is forced to make an even more excruciating sacrifice to save himself. Originally published in 1978, The Human Factor is an exciting novel of espionage drawn from Greene’s own experiences in MI6 during World War II, and ultimately a deeply humanistic examination of the very nature of loyalty. This edition features a new introduction by Colm Tóibín.

From the publisher

Graham Greene (1904-1991), whose long life nearly spanned the length of the twentieth century, was one of its greatest novelists. Educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, he started his career as a sub-editor of the London Times. He began to attract notice as a novelist with his fourth book, Orient Express, in 1932. In 1935, he trekked across northern Liberia, his first experience in Africa, told in A Journey Without Maps (1936). He converted to Catholicism in 1926, an edifying decision, and reported on religious persecution in Mexico in 1938 in The Lawless Roads, which served as a background for his famous The Power and the Glory, one of several “Catholic” novels (Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair). During the war he worked for the British secret service in Sierra Leone; afterward, he began wide-ranging travels as a journalist, which were reflected in novels such as The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, The Comedians, Travels with My Aunt, The Honorary Consul, The Human Factor, Monsignor Quixote, and The Captain and the Enemy. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, two books of autobiography, A Sort of Life and Ways of Escape, two biographies, and four books for children. He also contributed hundreds of essays and film and book reviews to The Spectator and other journals, many of which appear in the late collection Reflections. Most of his novels have been filmed, including The Third Man, which the author first wrote as a film treatment. Graham Greene was named Companion of Honour and received the Order of Merit among numerous other awards.

About the author

Graham Greene (1904-1991), whose long life nearly spanned the length of the twentieth century, was one of its greatest novelists. Educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, he started his career as a sub-editor of The Times of London. He began to attract notice as a novelist with his fourth book, Orient Express, in 1932. In 1935, he trekked across northern Liberia, his first experience in Africa, recounted in A Journey Without Maps (1936). He converted to Catholicism in 1926, an edifying decision, and reported on religious persecution in Mexico in 1938 in The Lawless Roads, which served as a background for his famous The Power and the Glory, one of several "Catholic" novels (Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair). During the war he worked for the British secret service in Sierra Leone; afterward, he began wide-ranging travels as a journalist, which were reflected in novels such as The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, The Comedians, Travels with My Aunt, The Honorary Consul, The Human Factor, Monsignor Quixote, and The Captain and the Enemy. In addition to his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, two books of autobiography--A Sort of Life and Ways of Escape--two biographies, and four books for children. He also contributed hundreds of essays and film and book reviews to The Spectator and other journals, many of which appear in the late collection Reflections. Most of his novels have been filmed, including The Third Man, which the author first wrote as a film treatment. Graham Greene was named Companion of Honour and received the Order of Merit among numerous other awards.

Colm Tibn is the award-winning author of five novels: The South, winner of the Irish Times/Aer Lingus Literature Prize; The Heather Blazing, winner of the Encore Award for best second novel; The Story of the Night; The Blackwater Lightship, which was a finalist for the Booker Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; and, most recently, The Master, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize. His non-fiction includes Bad Blood: A Walk Along the Irish Border; Homage to Barcelona; The Sign of the Cross: Travels in Catholic Europe; and, most recently, Love in a Dark Time. He is also the co-author, with Carmen Callil, of The Modern Library: The 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

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