lokroma reviewed Greene on Capri by Shirley Hazzard
Review of 'Greene on Capri' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I admire Graham Greene's work but knew little of him as a person. I know more now, but kind of wish I didn't. Hazzard tells about meeting Graham Greene on Capri in the sixties, where she and her husband went a couple of times a year to write, and where Greene owned a villa. The three of them struck up a friendship that lasted until Greene's death in 1991. She describes Greene as complex and supremely intelligent, but also as mean and sexist. He was often rude to Hazzard and dismissive of women generally, which is evident in some of his novels. I suppose I had chocked this up to the times he lived in, but in Hazzard's telling he seemed to know exactly what he was doing and that the hurtful things he said were not inadvertent.
Hazzard's writing is excellent as I knew it would be, but I'm …
I admire Graham Greene's work but knew little of him as a person. I know more now, but kind of wish I didn't. Hazzard tells about meeting Graham Greene on Capri in the sixties, where she and her husband went a couple of times a year to write, and where Greene owned a villa. The three of them struck up a friendship that lasted until Greene's death in 1991. She describes Greene as complex and supremely intelligent, but also as mean and sexist. He was often rude to Hazzard and dismissive of women generally, which is evident in some of his novels. I suppose I had chocked this up to the times he lived in, but in Hazzard's telling he seemed to know exactly what he was doing and that the hurtful things he said were not inadvertent.
Hazzard's writing is excellent as I knew it would be, but I'm confused about why exactly she valued Greene's company. He lived an active and peripatetic life, and dinners with him were apparently never dull, but I'm disappointed that she let him get away with some pretty egregious remarks (this in reference to critics and commentators): "They're wounded people. I feel that one has to give them special attention, because of their huge disappointment. One has to be specially nice to them...As one is to Indians and women."
Hazzard and Greene both came from privileged backgrounds and hung out with a group of entitled and relatively well off folks. Greene did not mix much with the native residents of Capri and lacked curiosity about them. The picture is of a brilliant and well traveled man who liked adventure, and the conversation and company of other writers. He had a cold demeanor and it felt like Hazzard had to dig to find his good points.
Hazzard does a wonderful job of evoking the beauty and atmosphere of Capri during a time when it was not yet overdeveloped and overrun with tourists, and still attracted expat and vacationing writers who wanted a peaceful place to work. I will continue to read her and Greene's work, and perhaps seeing them as two flawed and very human writers will make this a richer experience.