GRAHAM GREENE’S TIRED HEART–A REVIEW OF “THE HEART OF THE MATTER”
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Graham Greene, author of novels and stories in multiple genres, is perhaps best known for his writing concerning the “Bad Catholic.” “The Heart of the Matter” is one of his four so called Catholic novels. (Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, The End of an Affair, and The Heart of the Matter) These four explore themes of sin and morality often in the context of Catholicism. Along with Greene’s other protagonists, the policeman Scobie in “The Heart of the Matter” is a deeply flawed human being who struggles–in Scobie’s case in vain– to understand a loving God, their own desires and sin, and a chaotic even evil world. On the last page of “The Heart of the Matter” the tired and cynical priest calls the phrase bad Catholic, “the silliest phrase,” implying that all catholics are bad. Greene then goes on to suggest the folly of assuming we humans can known the mind of God when it comes to deciding the morality of an individual. “For goodness sake, Mrs. Scobie, don’t imagine you–or I–know a thing about God’s mercy. . . .The Church knows all the rules. But it doesn’t know what goes on in a single human heart.” (p. 306)
Greene is a superb writer and master of the character sketch. He “puts you in the picture” with few words and remarkable deftness. But as fluid as the reading of this 1948 classic was, I could not help but feel like I was reading a cliche’. All of Greene’s novels have had multiple stage and screen adaptations and while the themes are eternal and important, Greene’s novels have suffered from over exposure. I knew early on how the novel would end and the theologic issues that would precipitate the internal crisis. This did not stop me from appreciating the expert writer’s style and skill at bringing the novel to completion. Rather, for me “The Heart of the Matter”–my last volume in the Catholic quartet–was well written but sadly, formulaic.
As a matter of taste, if forced to choose a Graham Greene novel from this “catholic” grouping, I’d select “The End of an Affair” or “The Power and the Glory” rather than this novel.