The heart of the matter - Supernormal Reads

320 pages

English language

Published 1971 by Heinemann, Random House UK.

ISBN:: 978-0-370-01443-2

(1 review)

Focusing on a British police officer in an unnamed West African colony, this novel attempts to show, along with the socially restricted lives of colonists in Africa, the effects of sin on a devout catholic. After sending his unhappy wife to South Africa at her request the officer begins an affair with a young woman, a survivor of a shipwreck and now widowed but is unable to end the relationship when his wife returns even though he feels he is committing a mortal sin.

28 editions

ralentina reviewed The heart of the matter by Graham Greene

Old problematic Graham strikes again

5 stars

Set in a generic African colony (probably inspired by Sierra Leone), it's the story of a British policeman, and his struggle to reconcile love, morality and religion. Although religion is at the heart of the matter, Scoobie's sense of responsibility and moral duty are something I could relate to. That is, until the last third of the book, when I just wanted to punch this self-involved bastard in the face. A Catholic may feel otherwise. Beyond this moral issues, what makes the book great is the rest of the matter, so to speak. The life in the colony, its narrowness and banal injustice are described without accusation or analysis. There is nothing particularly postcolonial, let alone anti-colonial, about Green's writing, but also no sense of glory in the empire. I particularly loved the characterisations of the British officers as this pack of snotty boys just out of school. It came …

Set in a generic African colony (probably inspired by Sierra Leone), it's the story of a British policeman, and his struggle to reconcile love, morality and religion. Although religion is at the heart of the matter, Scoobie's sense of responsibility and moral duty are something I could relate to. That is, until the last third of the book, when I just wanted to punch this self-involved bastard in the face. A Catholic may feel otherwise. Beyond this moral issues, what makes the book great is the rest of the matter, so to speak. The life in the colony, its narrowness and banal injustice are described without accusation or analysis. There is nothing particularly postcolonial, let alone anti-colonial, about Green's writing, but also no sense of glory in the empire. I particularly loved the characterisations of the British officers as this pack of snotty boys just out of school. It came across as very realistic.