"Brighton Rock is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1938, and later made into films, a 1947 film and a 2011 film. The novel is a murder thriller set in 1930s Brighton. The title is a reference to a confectionery traditionally sold at seaside resorts, used as a metaphor for human character.

Charles "Fred" Hale comes to Brighton on assignment to anonymously distribute cards for a newspaper competition (this is a variant of "Lobby Lud" in which the name of the person to be spotted is "Kolley Kibber"). The antihero of the novel, Pinkie Brown, is a teenage sociopath and up-and-coming gangster. Hale had betrayed the former leader of the gang Pinkie now controls. Ida Arnold, a kind-hearted and decent woman, is drawn into the action by a chance meeting with the terrified Hale, whom Pinkie murders in obscure circumstances shortly afterwards. Pinkie's attempts to cover his tracks lead to a chain of fresh crimes and to an ill-fated marriage to Rose, a waitress who has the power to destroy his alibi. Ida pursues Pinkie relentlessly, in part to protect Rose from the deeply disturbed boy she has married.

Although ostensibly an underworld thriller, the book is also a challenge to Roman Catholic doctrine concerning the nature of sin and the basis of morality Pinkie and Rose are Catholics, as was Greene, and their beliefs are contrasted with Ida's strong but non-religious moral sensibility."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Rock_%28novel%29


Used book bought from Better World Books.
Registered with a pre-numbered label on April 16th, 2011.

Reserved for my tax refund RABCK,
to be drawn on July 15th. :)

The book is now in the care of the Post Office,
on its way to oppem in USA.

Enjoy your re-read! :)

Arrived in today's post.
Thank you so very much for sending to me.... I had to read this way, way back when was in school - now at the advanced age of 60++ it seems fitting that should re-read it...
Thanks so very much.

Oppem, the Bookcrosser who previously journalled this book, passed away on June 23, 2012. I had the privilege today of meeting her dear family and "catching" her large collection of registered books. I will release this one soon.

Sending, by request, to Vasha. Enjoy!

To the finder of this book:

This book is gift, no strings attached, from me to you. You may keep it forever, pass it along to a friend, or release it into the wild to be found by someone else.

If you are new to BookCrossing, welcome! Enjoy the site, the book, and the BookCrossing community. I hope you'll join us...it's free! If you do, please consider using me, elizardbreath, as your referring member. You can even remain anonymous if you wish!

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Thanks, and Happy BookCrossing! :)

First published 1938.

The two main characters in Greene’s gripping reflection on the nature of evil are the amateur detective Ida and the murderous Pinkie, a Roman Catholic who chooses hell over heaven. Responsible for two murders, he is forced to marry the hapless Rose to prevent her from giving evidence. A good Catholic, Rose seems to represent Pinkie’s lost innocence. Although Ida is ostensibly the heroine of the novel, her heroism belongs to the blank morality of the detective novel, where the measure of goodness is in the ability to solve the mystery. By contrast, through his contemplation of his own damnation Pinkie’s evil achieves a sense of moral seriousness which Ida’s agnosticism can never obtain. Rose is Pinkie’s counterpart here, sharing his Catholic faith and prepared to corrupt herself in order to protect a man that she believes loves her. For Pinkie, the part he plays in Rose’s corruption will ensure his damnation much more clearly than his role in the murders that punctuate the novel.

Brighton Rock began life as a detective novel, and the mark of that genre remains in Ida’s pursuit of Pinkie. However, the structure of the detective novel merely contains the moral framework seen here. The contrast between Pinkie’s theological morality and its insubstantial counterparts is reinforced using various narrative techniques. Principally, the language through which Pinkie’s contemplation of hell is expressed contrasts vividly with the comparatively frivolous considerations of Ida and the other characters. What finally distinguishes Pinkie’s tragic mode from the generic patterns of the detective story is a critique of commercialized popular culture in which, with the exception of Pinkie, almost every character is associated with the limited imaginative potential of mass culture. — Liam Connell in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Thanks so much for your donation Vasha!

This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the 1001-library bookshelf.

On the swap shelf.

Never Judge a Book by Its Cover Challenge, 2016 Week 11 (Green)