![]() Additionally, the prevalence of opium in the novel also proved to be problematic for many readers. Some critics have floated the possibility that Greene based the character of Alden Pyle on CIA officer Edward Landsdale, who served as an uncredited consultant on the 1958 film adaptation of the novel.ĭespite Greene's disclaimers, The Quiet American attracted a lot of controversy for being anti-American novel in that, through the character of Alden Pyle, Greene was accusing Americans of being "baby killers" and ignorant interferers in the violence in Vietnam. Despite these claims, there are still rumors that Greene was inspired to write The Quiet American on a drive to Saigon with an American aid worker who described the need for a "Third Force" in Vietnam. As he writes in the introduction (addressed to Rene and Phuong), "it will pass for both of you one hot Saigon evening." He also makes it clear that the characters are imaginary and not based on anyone specific he had met in Vietnam. While he used his observations as a basis for the novel, Greene has claimed several times that The Quiet American is not intended to reveal or prove any historical truths. ![]() Greene drew upon his own experiences in Indochina as a war correspondent for The Times and Le Figaro in the early 1950s. The Quiet American is an anti-war novel by Graham Greene that was published in 1955 in the United Kingdom and in 1956 in the United States. ![]()
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