biografii_angl_i_amer_pis / Daniel Defoe

Graham Greene (1904- ), another Catholic convert, has been ob­sessed with the problem of good and evil, and his books are a curious compound of theology and stark modern realism. Greene sees the spiritual struggle of man against a background of 'seedy' town life

(Brighton Rock) or in the Mexican jungle (The Power and the Glory] or in wartime West Africa (The Heart of the Matter). In this last work, and also in the moving The End of the Affair, Greene shows a concern with the paradox of the man or woman who, technically a sinner, is really a saint. Some of his works have conflicted with Catholic orthodoxy (especially in Ireland). The Quiet American, dealing with the Indo-China War, turns to a moral theme-how far are good intentions enough? Greene's lighter novels-' Entertainments', as he calls them-are distinguished by fine construction and admirably terse prose.

It is hard to say how far E. M. Forster (1879-1970) fits into any pattern. His influence on the construction of the novel has been great, but he has no real^£ message', except about the value of individual life, the need not to take too seriously out-moded moral shibboleths (A Room With a View, which affirms passion rather than control). Howard's End and Where Angels Fear to Tread are distinguished by very taut construction and the creation of suspense through incident-Forster does not think a plot very important. A Passage to India-perhaps his finest novel-deals with the East and West duality: can the two really meet? After a long analysis of the differences, expressed in terms of a vividly realised India, against which the puppets of English rulers parade, Forster comes to the con­clusion that they cannot-at least, not yet. Forster's book, Aspects of the Novel, is admirable criticism and entertaining reading.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) is another novelist hard to classify. She dispenses with plot and even characterisation, preferring to analyse in the closest possible detail a mood or thought as presented at a given moment in time. Like Joyce, she uses an interior monologue device to depict' the stream of consciousness' of her characters. Her prose is careful, exqui­sitely light, approaching poetry in its power to evoke mood and sensa­tion. Her view of the novel was a comprehensive one; she did not wish to limit herself to the mere story-telling of men like Arnold Bennett and Hugh Walpole, but wanted to see the novel absorb as many literary devices as possible, even, occasionally, to break away from prose and use verse instead. To many readers her novels do not appear to be works of fiction at all: they seem too static, too lacking in action and human interest-a kind of literary form which is neither true poetry nor true prose, neither completely dramatic nor completely lyrical. Perhaps her best works are Mrs. Dallowa.y, To the Lighthouse, and The Waves. Orlando is a curious work-it presents a picture of English history from the Renaissance to modern times, as seen through the eyes of a character who is, presumably, immortal and, moreover, changes from hero to heroine exactly half-way through the book! Here Virginia Woolf's great literary gifts are to be seen at their most dazzling. Her two books of literary criti­cism- The Common Reader, i and 2-show a penetrating intellect and great good taste.

23