The Captain and the Enemy [Large Print] [Paperback]

Graham Greene (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1990

Greene's last novel, a lonely boarding-school student encounters a secretive stranger who introduces himself simply as "the Captain". The boy is taken to London by the stranger and raised in odd and touching circumstances by Liza, a young woman with close but unexplained ties to the Captain. It is only when the boy grows to manhood that he will learn the shocking truth about the Captain's allegiances and activities, and will begin to understand the true nature of love.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Victor Baxter was adopted, possibly kidnapped, at age 12 into a strange family as a substitute for a child who died. As he grows older, he becomes involved in some of the suspicious enterprises of his foster father, "The Captain," an apparent gunrunner. PW called this novel "exquisitely understated, moving and graced by humorous touches."
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

The master’s hand is clearly at work -- The New York Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 245 pages
• Publisher: G K Hall & Co (January 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816149321
• ISBN-13: 978-0816149322
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,625,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing novel of love and its mysterious ways, February 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Captain and the Enemy (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

One of the last novels by Graham Greene, "The Captain and the Enemy" was written in 1988, just three years before the death of the master. Although his prose is as always enjoyable, a little detached and sentimental at the same time, in the novel there seems to be an indication that Greene was aware of the shortcomings of the old age. The books is written in a form of a careless memoir with too many holes in it, no doubt intended ones, considering the contents, but now and then Greene ventures into the reflexive mode of general narration, and I couldn't help but have an impression that I listened to an old man's voice of admission. For a writer, it must not have been easy, but then Greene kept writing all his life, and virtually all of his literary heritage has been revered to this day; a wonder the man had never won the Nobel Prize for literature - another proof that one should not hold too much value in such awards.

In a way, "The Captain and the Enemy" is full of contradictions, whether intended or not, but on the other hand, this small book incorporates all lifelong passions of Graham Greene, where yet again he touches the multidimensional subjects of interest from yet another viewpoint. The book starts in a humorous way, to quickly transform into a good-natured and intriguing story of a small boy whose life is one great patchwork, him not having a fixed place in the world, with all family connections never materializing themselves. The mother - dead as long as he remembers; the father, or 'The Devil' as everyone is fond of saying - loses the boy in chess, or was it backgammon? The boy never seems to unveil that mystery which no one bothers to tell him. Then there is the Captain, the winner of the game, whatever it was, and his woman, Lisa. As you shall see when you read the book, there is no other way to call her, but the woman. Never in the center of the storyline, although incredibly essential for one's understanding of the novel, Lisa enters the story as abruptly as she does exit, leaving us virtually scratching our heads. Such is the whole novel, in fact, full of mysteries, secrets, blanks spaces, only some of which shall be filled in eventually.

One of the greatest strengths of the novel is the portrait of the pair, Lisa and the Captain. Although Greene takes infinite care to never really show us them both, or none of them separately for that matter, it seems to me that the key to understanding "The Captain and the Enemy" lies in letting go of the reader's routine, and the yearning for the full explanation, resolution of all threads, explanation one is used to be spoon-fed with. If you accept the fact that the story leaves much to you, all of those blanks to fill in, patchwork to sew together - you are already well-prepared. However, as much as the details are important, the key is to adopt the narrator's viewpoint, or better, the Captain's, if you dare. Why did they live apart from each other all their life, and why it seemed they loved each other dearly, although there's never any real sign of it? Greene was capable of writing a great love story without having his characters ever mention the subject, nor mouth the four-letter word themselves, for that matter. So far away, and so close.

"I brought up the forbidden word. 'Does he love you?'

'Oh, love. They are always saying God loves us. If that's love, I'd rather have a bit of kindness'" [p. 84]

I finished this four-part novel in one day. At first I enjoyed it immensely, but as I read on, I had more and more trouble understanding its real meaning. As the book progresses, we change the scenery and land in Panama of the late 70s, where another part of the Captain's life is revealed, and the book adopts the flavor of an espionage thriller. As I closed the book, I had mixed emotions, and needed to air my head a bit to at least attempt to grasp the full meaning of this novel. Good literature makes you think, and that we can't deny Greene. His novels slowly grow on you, and leave a long-lasting impression and a desire to come back, one day. Which I shall do, and I wish you the same, dear reader.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greene's Last Novel, July 9, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Captain and the Enemy (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

I had read a few negative online reviews of this novel, had looked at the the cover (with King Kong standing there), and I had few hopes. I find the book a remarkable book---and just those qualities that some readers disliked were qualities which impressed me. The fact that some characters, most characters here, are not "fleshed out" is just right, for these people exist in a kind of spare landscape of slim hope and love, and they are no more attached to worldly things or even common social interaction, say, Ahab. As much as anything else here (and perhaps because the world depicted is somewhat vaguely suggested), we get the feel of Graham Greene's deep and mature consciousness, for in fact we are roaming around the inside of his mind more than around any landscape populated with Dickensian people (despite what one of the back-cover reviews says). Greene wrote this novel only three years before he died, and I found it a privilege to be in the company of his maturity, his encroaching despair, his sense of bleakness and crassness, all touched by hints of the power of love. It's a book that deserve more attention, and perhaps you need to be a bit older than younger to appreciate it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Graham Greene's Last Novel, April 4, 2001

By 

IRA Ross (LYNDHURST, NJ United States 07071) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Captain and the Enemy (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

This novel explores the universal human need to be loved and to give love through the eyes of a young boy. The book does not make clear the nature of the relationship of the man (who is called "the Captain") and woman with whom he comes to live as a surrogate son. However, this lack of clarity become the focal point of the story. We, the readers, are invited to share boy's thoughts and feelings of not only the boy's perception of what this couple mean to each other, but also whether they love or even care for him. After all, the Captain is frequently absent and then, seemingly, abandons them. The boy even questions if he has ever been loved by anyone or if he is capable of loving another human being. Years later, when he travels to Central America to meet with the long absent Captain, he uncovers not only the type of work that kept the Captain so often away from home, but also how love and deep feelings for another person may exist without ever being expressed aloud. How sad that so many of us can only see this in retrospect, when it is too late.