Winfred reviewed Orient express by Graham Greene (Penguin classics)
None
5 stars
A masterpiece. If you compare it to usual thrillers of the time (Buchan's 39 steps come to mind) it is so much deeper in character drawing, and so much more realistic and raw compared to golden age detectives, that categorising it as one of Greene's 'entertainments' does grave injustice to the book (although he did so himself). Very strong atmosphere of the period, enhanced by the characters of especially the fugitive murderer, the revolutionary doctor and the jewish merchant. Didn't have the version with Hitchens' introduction which should be well worth reading.