Graham Greene

Writen in 1938, but seems very contemporary

This study of an alienated young criminal seems very relevant to today's England.

The description of Brighton is also very evocative - recognisable even though Brighton has ostensibly changed so much - but it still has that seedy underbelly, and poverty; and the mystery and dirty glamour that Greene describes so well.

It is the writing and characterisation that is remarkable about this book - though it does have a thrilling plot. Greene really looks into the motivation of his characters, gets inside their heads- and the young criminal, Pinky, is an enduring figure in English literature, and seems like someone you could easily encounter today.

There is something Dostoievskian in Greene's concens with good and evil - guilt and redemption, and with the motivation of marginalised, 'underground' figures.

And, as i said, Brigton is , perhaps, the most important character in the book -a place perfectly suited to Greene's concerns, with the sea a constant presence, and the pier - a transition between the land and the sea, where Londoners partake in mindless escapism, while the menacing ocean swirls just below their feet.

The book is almost worth reading just for Greene's evocative descrptions of Brighton alone, but it is the characterisations - of all the three leading characters, but Pinky especially,that the book is probably, justly, remembered and considered important.

Rabburnout
The Guardian