Brighton Rock - Graham Greene

To celebrate the end of my self-inflicted Star Wars novel penance, I decided to indulge in some literary fiction to ease back into proper literature. Brighton Rock is my first Graham Greene novel, so I was not sure what to expect, other than that he is generally well-thought of. The book is set in 1930s Brighton and follows the exploits of a vicious young hoodlum named Pinkie Brown, who runs a protection racket around the horse racing circuit. The exact nature of his 'work', like many other important details, is not made explicit, but a regular day in the office appears to be carving people's faces with razor blades to extort money. After killing a reporter and attempting to cover his tracks, Pinkie discovers a crack in his alibi by way of a naive waitress called Rose. Forced to ingratiate himself with her to ensure her silence, he does not realise that another potential witness, a rambunctious do-gooder called Ida Arnold, is personally investigating the murder.

Brighton Rock reads a little like a modern retelling of Dostoyevksy's Crime and Punishment, a classic I never particularly enjoyed. Besides the heavy religious themes of Catholic guilt centred around damnation and salvation, I did have some fun with this novel and appreciated some of the more insightful passages. The squalid working class conditions forcing teenagers into a life of crime offered a bleak social commentary and served to rationalise, although not justify, the desperate actions of the characters. Pinkie is a furiously frigid sociopath who abstains from drink and sex, only finding pleasure in the act of violence. Rose is a poverty-stricken fool waiting to throw herself at the first man who shows an interest, whilst Ida, though a comical simpleton herself, plays the relentless force of justice. The supporting characters are equally slaves to their circumstances, unable to veer from the rails upon which society has placed them. A grim, if predictable underworld novel that still holds some interest.

Rating: 3/5