Graham Greene

Graham Greene (1904 – 1991) 

Graham Greene exemplifies the thorny path of faith in the century that produced two world wars, the nuclear bomb, and more martyrs for the Catholic faith than all twenty previous centuries combined. However, unlike Merton, Greene explored this torturous route as a layman and one of the twentieth century's greatest novelists, essayists, and critics.

Greene was born into a family of respected academics. Despite (or due to) the fact that his father was headmaster at his prestigious private school, Greene was bullied and teased mercilessly and found refuge only in literature. At Oxford, he read history, dallied with Communism, and tried to write poetry. In 1926, while a struggling writer, he converted to Catholicism before marrying Vivien Dayrell-Browning. Success came to Greene in the 1930s with novels like The Man Within and Stamboul Train.

Greene’s literary career soared in the 1940s and never really left the stratosphere in terms of his exploration of the darker side of the human soul and his obsession with spies and espionage. While those two themes formed the bedrock of Greene’s oeuvre for decades, Catholic themes such as sin, infidelity, contrition, and redemption run like a spiritual connecting thread throughout all his works. His great novels include The Power and the Glory, Brighton Rock, Our Man in Havana, The Third Man, The Fallen Idol, and The Comedians. Almost all of Greene’s films were made into successful films.

Greene always rejected the label of “Catholic Author” and instead thought of himself as a writer who happened to be Catholic. And yet, despite his own failures, infidelities, and shortcomings as a husband, father, and Catholic, novels carry deep within them great spiritual power that reflects the belief of a man who, as he said of himself, did not believe in his disbelief.

The Graham Greene tile was created in 2022. Our 12" X 12" signed and numbered reproduction is created on stretch canvas and is suitable for matting and framing.