Stamboul Train

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Dr. Richard Czinner, an escaped communist leader and a mysterious school teacher, traveling on a forged British passport to his native Belgrade.

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His main weakness in this book, as others have observed, is that, unlike most of his best books, he’s inclined to stereotypes, but agree with Hitchens that the author expresses no anti-Semitism, though some characters are outed for it. The Turkish gentlemen, drinking coffee, laughed and chattered and shook their small dark feathery heads like noisy, domestic birds, but their wives, so lately freed from the veil, sat silent and stared at the singer, their faces pasty and expressionless". The title is a reference to the name of the setting of the story, the Orient Express, which travels between Paris to Istanbul (‘Stanboul’ being an archaic spelling of Istanbul). Whilst not up there with Greene's best, it is still well written and gives a real sense of being aboard the Orient Express as it crosses Europe from Ostend to Istanbul. A chorus line dancer and a business man begin an affair on the Orient Express, but when the Yugoslavian secret police arrest the dancer, the businessman has to decide what he is prepared to sacrifice to save her.I loved this book even though the version I read was called Stamboul Train, which was the original title I believe. There's something exhilarating about stories set on trains where the carriages are so narrow and the world outside is so wide, even though it is only glimpsed as it speeds by. For more on summarising stories, see How to Write a Novel Synopsis) Stamboul Train: Analysis Outsiders My audio-version was brilliantly narrated by Michael Maloney, who brings us the different voices and accents to perfection. I like Greene, I liked that the book was entertaining, social commentary and political all at the same time, a hallmark of Greene novels. What I didn't like and what really upset me, is the marking out of someone as Jewish. Rant follows! If you are not Christian, not White or not able-bodied you might well identify with it.

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Fictional train journeys are always better than fictional air travel - the lengthy journey giving the writer ample narrative time & scope to introduce plot twists & interesting characters. Greene called his less serious work 'entertainment', still, the three nights journey from Ostend to Istanbul on the Orient Express inevitably brings the writer's usual ethical & political contretemps in the form of issues & mindsets saturated in the 1930s worldview: each stop on the itinerary bringing more trouble from the complications of the related place.

Using the name of the setting is a classic title archetype (see How to Choose a Title For Your Novel) Stamboul Train: Logline I have had rather a mixed experience with Graham Greene - having loved some of his books and not been as keen on others. I feel this is one that, although I am pleased I read it, dragged somewhat. However, it is clear that Greene made an effort to create an entertaining novel, looking for commercial success and there is a lot of action, with people being arrested, escaping and general subterfuge and love affairs.