Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Penguin Classics (2005), Paperback, 224 pages
Description
In London during the Blitz, an amnesiac must outwit a twisted Nazi plot in this "master thriller" of espionage, murder, and deception (Time). On a peaceful Sunday afternoon, Arthur Rowe comes upon a charity fete in the gardens of a Cambridgeshire vicarage where he wins a game of chance. If only this were an ordinary day. Britain is under threat by Germany, and the air raid sirens that bring the bazaar to a halt expose Rowe as no ordinary man. Recently released from a psychiatric prison for the mercy killing of his wife, he is burdened by guilt, and now, in possession of a seemingly innocuous prize, on the run from a nest of Nazi spies who want him dead. Pursued on a dark odyssey through the bombed-out streets of London, he becomes enmeshed in a tangle of secrets that reach into the dark recesses of his own forgotten past. And there isn't a soul he can trust, not even himself. Because Arthur Rowe doesn't even know who he really is.… (more)
Media reviews
Few writers can distill drama from a twisted soul with more skill than Mr. Greene; few experts in the field would dare to combine all the elements you will find in "The Ministry of Fear." The novel begins as a case-history in psychiatry, and ends as a spy hunt, complete with roving Heinkels, pukka
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sahibs, and a pale Austrian beauty who keeps her enigma to the end. Only the Graham Greene fans will know how cunningly this English virtuoso endows his lumber-room items with life. "The Ministry of Fear" is top-hole entertainment and then some -- a guaranteed chiller to beat the first Summer heat-wave. Show Less
If you’re after brilliant writing and an exciting plot and don’t mind dodgy theology then Graham Greene’s The Ministry of Fear is the book for you.
Greene called his novel an ‘entertainment’ but it is clearly much more than that. Despite creating one or two implausible moments in the
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plot, Greene draws us into the action from the very first pages and doesn’t let us go. The descriptive writing is tremendous and the sense of fear is utterly palpable as Arthur Rowe, the novel’s anti-hero, flees for his life after getting caught up with a Nazi spy ring when attending a fête during the darkest days of the London blitz. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member GraemeShimmin
I felt this fell a little between two stools. It seems unsure whether it wants to be a literary novel about the nature of identity and how guilt and the past make happiness in the present impossible, or a fun spy romp. As such, it's very uneven.
Ministry of Fear starts in John Buchan territory, with
Then a plot device intervenes, the hero loses his memory and a different novel takes over, where he is in a hospital that he starts to suspect is not exactly taking good care of him, or its other patients. The characterisation is very well defined as we see how the loss of memory takes the weight off his mind and allows his happy nature to reappear.
Towards the end, the hero's memory starts to return and with it the spy plot is wrapped up and there's a downbeat ending to the psychological plot.
The main problem is that spy plot makes almost no sense at all, relying on coincidences, handwaving and implausibilities and being resolved in a slightly ridiculous manner. The psychological plot is more interesting and there is the core of a good novel there, but the two plots just don't quite pull together into a coherent whole. The trouble is the tone of the psychological plot does not sit well with the much lighter spy plot.
Structurally, it's a mess, but good atmosphere and characters make it an interesting mess. It's worth a read.
Ministry of Fear starts in John Buchan territory, with
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the hero blundering into an enemy spy plot and being forced on the run, pursued by the conspirators and the police, and so far so good, with his character deepening as we discover the hero is depressed due to having assisted his wife's euthanasia. Then a plot device intervenes, the hero loses his memory and a different novel takes over, where he is in a hospital that he starts to suspect is not exactly taking good care of him, or its other patients. The characterisation is very well defined as we see how the loss of memory takes the weight off his mind and allows his happy nature to reappear.
Towards the end, the hero's memory starts to return and with it the spy plot is wrapped up and there's a downbeat ending to the psychological plot.
The main problem is that spy plot makes almost no sense at all, relying on coincidences, handwaving and implausibilities and being resolved in a slightly ridiculous manner. The psychological plot is more interesting and there is the core of a good novel there, but the two plots just don't quite pull together into a coherent whole. The trouble is the tone of the psychological plot does not sit well with the much lighter spy plot.
Structurally, it's a mess, but good atmosphere and characters make it an interesting mess. It's worth a read.
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LibraryThing member Banoo
This was my first Graham Greene and I liked it. It was one of his entertainments. WWII, London's getting bombed, Rowe wins a cake, people are not who they seem and then they are, and I craved cake but not the fruity kind. It's a book of identity... lost identity, made-up identities, mistaken
I liked the London night scenes with the sound of bombs dropping, and then that second of stillness before the 'boom' and the ground shaking... and people, weary, trembling or standing on corners mumbling or turning pasty gray while scuttling down a deserted street, or lost and confused in a public bathroom... Those scenes scared me. I'm pretty sure I would have been living underground all day and night. I liked the way the city changed overnight with buildings disappearing, streets closed, phones that no longer rang when dialed... It was surreal but real. It was nightmarish. I thought those scenes were the best part of the book.
'Is life really like this?' Rowe asked. Mr Prentice leant forward with an interested air, as though he were always ready to abandon the particular in favour of the general argument. He said, 'This is life, so I suppose one can say it's like life.'
'It isn't how I had imagined it.' Rowe said.
I bought a bunch of Greene at a book fair... I'm glad I did. This was a fun little ride.
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identities... and the fear of learning the true identity.I liked the London night scenes with the sound of bombs dropping, and then that second of stillness before the 'boom' and the ground shaking... and people, weary, trembling or standing on corners mumbling or turning pasty gray while scuttling down a deserted street, or lost and confused in a public bathroom... Those scenes scared me. I'm pretty sure I would have been living underground all day and night. I liked the way the city changed overnight with buildings disappearing, streets closed, phones that no longer rang when dialed... It was surreal but real. It was nightmarish. I thought those scenes were the best part of the book.
'Is life really like this?' Rowe asked. Mr Prentice leant forward with an interested air, as though he were always ready to abandon the particular in favour of the general argument. He said, 'This is life, so I suppose one can say it's like life.'
'It isn't how I had imagined it.' Rowe said.
I bought a bunch of Greene at a book fair... I'm glad I did. This was a fun little ride.
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LibraryThing member Fips
Graham Greene originally divided his works into novels and 'entertainments', separating his popular work from those he wished his literary career to be remembered for. In later life, this distinction would be blurred until it was dropped entirely. The Ministry of Fear is one of these earlier works
But as with many of Greene's works, it's the inner conflict which is missing from the silver screen translation. We learn early on that the main protagonist is racked by guilt over the murder – what we would today most likely see only as a mercy killing – of his wife. This concentration on the individual, amid the scaled chaos of the blitz, makes this short novel so interesting. Much of it seems quite dated now, but there is still plenty of relevance in a society trying to come to terms with the issue of euthanasia.
Aside from the juxtaposition of a thrilling little spy plot and the psychological reflections, this short book is also an advert for Greene's art. The writing is simply superb, an absolute pleasure to read, full of inventiveness without the overt self-conceit of trying too hard. Another reviewer pointed out that this short novel took longer to read than he had imagined. I'd suggest that comes as a result of needing to read every word and understand it, not skim over lines of trite, repetitive text as in many other novels. To skim would be to rob oneself of most of the pleasure.
For me, Graham Greene remains the greatest English language novelist never to have won the Nobel Prize. As an entertainment, rather than a novel, The Ministry of Fear lends itself as an excellent introduction to his greater literature.
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labelled an entertainment. Made a year later into a film directed by Fritz Lang, it was written in the middle of wartime, and on the surface is a typical espionage thriller in the tradition of John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps, dealing with a Nazi spy ring operating in London during the blitz. On its own, the plot is gripping enough to carry the book through to the end, and those bits we can regard as 'entertainment' made their way into the film.But as with many of Greene's works, it's the inner conflict which is missing from the silver screen translation. We learn early on that the main protagonist is racked by guilt over the murder – what we would today most likely see only as a mercy killing – of his wife. This concentration on the individual, amid the scaled chaos of the blitz, makes this short novel so interesting. Much of it seems quite dated now, but there is still plenty of relevance in a society trying to come to terms with the issue of euthanasia.
Aside from the juxtaposition of a thrilling little spy plot and the psychological reflections, this short book is also an advert for Greene's art. The writing is simply superb, an absolute pleasure to read, full of inventiveness without the overt self-conceit of trying too hard. Another reviewer pointed out that this short novel took longer to read than he had imagined. I'd suggest that comes as a result of needing to read every word and understand it, not skim over lines of trite, repetitive text as in many other novels. To skim would be to rob oneself of most of the pleasure.
For me, Graham Greene remains the greatest English language novelist never to have won the Nobel Prize. As an entertainment, rather than a novel, The Ministry of Fear lends itself as an excellent introduction to his greater literature.
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LibraryThing member clong
Another effective spy/crime/psychological thriller from Graham Greene. This one is set during the blitz in London, and again the insights into the historical period would pretty much make the book worth reading even if it weren't so well written. The most interesting thing about the book is the
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protagonist. What makes him interesting? He's a wife-murderer, for a start (he killed her out of pity for a debilitating disease). After spending some time in an asylum, he's back out on the street when a chance encounter trips him up in a ring of spies/traitors who are trying to smuggle incriminating pictures out of England. Before long he's back in an asylum, this time with amnesia. The prose is easy to read, and the plot is well constructed. Greene throws in a couple of nice surprises (this is one of those books where neither people nor things are what they initially seem). The dream sequences are particularly impressive. The most unconvincing aspect of the book was again the romance between a young woman and a much older man. Almost as if he were writing for Hollywood, for the next young starlet to be cast against a mature leading man. Show Less
LibraryThing member jcbrunner
This is the weakest Graham Greene title I've read up to now. Despite his own experiences of spying for the Germans during the 1920s and his uncle's dubious pro-German spying activities during the early days of WWII, the story never comes to life. Perhaps it can be seen as a demonstration of the
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absurdity of civilian life during wartime. Not recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member leslie.98
I really like this subgenre of thrillers - where an innocent bystander gets involved with espionage or criminals by mistake or accident. Graham Greene has created a masterpiece of this type including the romance with someone who might not be trustworthy... or is she? Read it and find out!
Even
"Her voice was dry like an old portrait: the social varnish was cracking."
Even
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though Greene himself didn't take his thrillers as serious writing, his skill with words is evident throughout this novel. Just one example:"Her voice was dry like an old portrait: the social varnish was cracking."
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LibraryThing member nigeyb
A perfect book: accessible, clever, beautifully written, evocative, tense, and quietly profound. A palpable sense of dread and unease runs throughout the story set in the early years of World War 2 in England, primarily London.
On one level the book is a simple story of espionage, fifth columnists,
On one level the book is a simple story of espionage, fifth columnists,
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and a hapless man who gets caught up in things he does not understand however there is far more to it than that. The story, which starts at a sinister fete, and rattles along from the word go, also muses on innocence, patriotism, self-delusion, psychology, memory, complexity, love, deceit and heroism. Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
Yet another great "entertainment" by Greene. I love the dark quality he imparts and the "innocent" that he places in fantastic situations. How the protagonist reacts is his forte. Very entertaining.
LibraryThing member aine.fin
Difficult to get into but picked up from the asylum section onwards. A strange book! My first Graham Greene and not sure I'd be keen to read another soon.
LibraryThing member BrokenTune
In that case,’ Rowe said, ‘I keep the cake because you see I guessed three pounds five the first time. Here is a pound for the cause. Good evening.’
He’d really taken them by surprise this time; they were wordless, they didn’t even thank him for the note. He looked back from the pavement
So begins Arthur Rowe's incredible story in which a mix up at a charity fete alters Arthur's life forever and throws him into the midst of espionage, politics, and murder.
The Ministry of Fear is Greene's 11th novel, yet, to me it represents the first of the series of books that forms the basis of my appreciation of his canon of work. Written in 1943, Greene combines elements of mystery and espionage and spices them up with gritty noir and anxieties lived out by the characters against the back-drop of war time London, where trust is mandatory but seldom warranted.
Welcome to Greeneland!
"A phrase of Johns’ came back to mind about a Ministry of Fear. He felt now that he had joined its permanent staff. But it wasn’t the small Ministry to which Johns had referred, with limited aims like winning a war or changing a constitution. It was a Ministry as large as life to which all who loved belonged. If one loved one feared."
He’d really taken them by surprise this time; they were wordless, they didn’t even thank him for the note. He looked back from the pavement
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and saw the group from the cake-stall surge forward to join the rest, and he waved his hand. A poster on the railings said: ‘The Comforts for Mothers of the Free Nations Fund. A fête will be held . . . under the patronage of royalty . . .’So begins Arthur Rowe's incredible story in which a mix up at a charity fete alters Arthur's life forever and throws him into the midst of espionage, politics, and murder.
The Ministry of Fear is Greene's 11th novel, yet, to me it represents the first of the series of books that forms the basis of my appreciation of his canon of work. Written in 1943, Greene combines elements of mystery and espionage and spices them up with gritty noir and anxieties lived out by the characters against the back-drop of war time London, where trust is mandatory but seldom warranted.
Welcome to Greeneland!
"A phrase of Johns’ came back to mind about a Ministry of Fear. He felt now that he had joined its permanent staff. But it wasn’t the small Ministry to which Johns had referred, with limited aims like winning a war or changing a constitution. It was a Ministry as large as life to which all who loved belonged. If one loved one feared."
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LibraryThing member jonfaith
A weird if flawed meditation on morality and sanity in times of acute distress. I should consult my Norman Sherry but this one appears penned with a screenplay in mind.
Personally this conjures a blitz of memories. My good friend Steve once lived with a plucky poet by the name of Jennifer Priest.
Personally this conjures a blitz of memories. My good friend Steve once lived with a plucky poet by the name of Jennifer Priest.
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This all ended in an explosion of jealousy. I went over to comfort both of them in the aftermath. Jennifer was reading Ministry of Fear at the time. I wasn't overly familiar with Greene at the time. Ignoring the emotional distress of the moment, not to mention the broken furniture, she nodded and said, "its all about a cake." Show Less
LibraryThing member grandpahobo
The story is incredibly involved, intricate and moves very slowly and deliberately. The writing is extremely evocative, which makes it a more intense read. I think this requires multiple readings to get the full experience.
LibraryThing member PDCRead
Arthur Rowe has just got out of prison having served time for the mercy killing of his very ill wife and now living in London, mid-way through the blitz. A trip to the local fete is a welcome change from the recent trauma in his life and he wanders round the stalls. He has a go at guessing the
So begins the most traumatic phase in Rowe’s life. The cake contains something that certain people really want back and they are prepared to go to almost any length to hunt him down and retrieve it. Even in his fragile mental state, he realises what is going on and he starts to discover just who is hunting him. Slowly he discovers more of the sinister conspiracy but he can’t go to the police as he is not totally sure of the facts or who is behind it.
Greene has put you in the character of Rowe, revealing limited details as the book unfolds and his position gets more and more perilous. It is a sparsely written book with a clever but bewildering plot. The tension from the war and the situation he finds himself in add to the drama too. I don’t think that I can count it as one of my favourites of his though, as it was a bit too convoluted, but I’d like to see the film version. 2.5 stars overall.
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weight of the cake, before entering a fortune tellers tent. She tells him what the correct weight of the cake is, so he enters a second time and wins it. Leaving the fete with the cake, the organisers try to stop him leaving with it, saying there has been a mistake. He refuses and takes the cake home.So begins the most traumatic phase in Rowe’s life. The cake contains something that certain people really want back and they are prepared to go to almost any length to hunt him down and retrieve it. Even in his fragile mental state, he realises what is going on and he starts to discover just who is hunting him. Slowly he discovers more of the sinister conspiracy but he can’t go to the police as he is not totally sure of the facts or who is behind it.
Greene has put you in the character of Rowe, revealing limited details as the book unfolds and his position gets more and more perilous. It is a sparsely written book with a clever but bewildering plot. The tension from the war and the situation he finds himself in add to the drama too. I don’t think that I can count it as one of my favourites of his though, as it was a bit too convoluted, but I’d like to see the film version. 2.5 stars overall.
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LibraryThing member RonWelton
Arthur Rowe, recently released from a year's solitary confinement in" what wasn't called a prison," for the poisoning of his terminally ill wife, finds himself drawn to a charity fête during the height of the London Blitz where he is mistaken for another and becomes entangled in a bizarre Nazi
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conspiracy. Greene is a master at drawing complex characters and moving them through imaginative plots. The Ministry of Fear is one of his best. The Nazis twice try to kill him: first by using the same poison Rowe used to kill his wife (the irony enrages Rowe), then by bomb (the blast concusses him giving him amnesia, but he manages to heroically save the life of Anna Hilfe. Next the Nazi cell which, preceding the bombing, had tricked him into believing he had stabbed a man to death, places him in a sanitarium run by Dr. Forester whom they had suborned. While there, he finds himself with only the memories of a child and happily enjoys the state of innocence until his compassion for a fellow internee, Major Stone, begins to bring his memory and his sense of adult responsibility back. Taking that responsibility, but still suffering from amnesia, Rowe turns himself into the authorities. There ensues a search for a filmed copy of documents of existential importance to the allied war effort. Rowe also discovers the true Ministry of Fear, "If one loved one feared." Arthur Rowe, now fully restored to his memory finds a stronger self than he left and he finds love through a profound sacrifice. Show Less
LibraryThing member jklugman
The narrative is like a dream; faint, tenuous webs of logic tie together vividly written scenes varying in tone and setting (from a fair, to the offices of a charity group, to a seance, to a bombed-out apartment, to an asylum, etc.). I did not find it terribly compelling, as it rests on dated (and
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to 21st century sensibilities, strange) notions of amnesia and a rather unconvincing love interest. Show Less
LibraryThing member djh_1962
Looking for some context, well, really, explanation, for this bizarre, poorly executed concoction, I turned to Volume 2 of Norman Sherry’s biography only to read the most uncritical description of it as Greene’s ‘most brilliant thriller’. I wondered if I was reading the same book. Even when
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his ‘serious’ books were being praised when his literary reputation was at its height, the ‘entertainments’ (of which this is one) were seen as slight. Well this seems to me worse than slight. An absurd plot with what seem to be the dregs of ideas from other unwritten books thrown in, it just never at any stage convinces, either as a novel or as a worthwhile use of the reader's time. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1943
Physical description
224 p.; 7.74 inches
ISBN
0143039113 / 9780143039112