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Graham Greene and Tintin

Richard
UK Correspondent
#1 · Posted: 22 Oct 2020 10:33
I thought I'd share this anecdote from a new biography of the writer Graham Greene. In December 1951, Greene was in Vietnam and found himself caught up in an attack from Viet Minh guerilla fighters:
Catholics and Buddhists from the town sheltered in and around the cathedral, bringing with them whatever they treasured – photographs, pots, pans, pieces of furniture. A friend of Greene's from an earlier visit, a Belgian priest named Willichs, had perched in the bell tower and was reading his breviary. With mortars firing and planes dropping bombs and supplies, a distressed Greene, thinking that this day he might die, asked to have his confession heard [...] On this memorable occasion in Phat Diem, he was given as a penance one 'Our Father' and one 'Hail Mary', and the priest handed him a Tintin book so that he would have something to read.

Source: Russian Roulette: The Life and Times of Graham Greene by Richard Greene
Balthazar
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 23 Oct 2020 14:06
That's interesting. I wonder which Tintin book it was, and if Graham Greene appreciated it. (Not sure which one would be most distracting or comforting to read in an active war zone!)
Literalman
Member
#3 · Posted: 16 Nov 2020 00:46
Interesting indeed! I've read most of Greene's books and liked most of those that I read. If I reread them someday I'll probably be looking for any signs of Tintin's influence.

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