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Graham Greene – The Lawless Roads | Review

Title: The Lawless Roads

Author: Graham Greene

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 224

Rating: 4*/5

Graham Greene – The Lawless Roads

This book was tricky to rate – I veered between three an four out of five. But there’s a pretty simply reason for that – it can be difficult to read at times, and the small print also makes it feel as though you’re not making much progress. For some people, it might be off-putting, but it’s worth persevering with, especially if you’re interested in the subject matter.

This book is interesting because it tells the real story of what happened when Graham Greene travelled around Mexico in 1938, just before the start of the Second World War. He was there on commission – the Catholic church wanted to find out more about the state of religious persecution in the country. As a result of this, the book has two particular quirks which simultaneously make it harder to read and more intriguing. The first is the references to religion, which might not make much sense unless you, yourself, are a Catholic. And the same goes for Mexican words and place names – unless you pay attention, they all start to sound the same.

But still, if you like to read books that give your brain a workout, give this a try. It’s like travelling, but from your armchair.

Graham Greene

Click here to buy The Lawless Roads.

Agatha Christie – While the Light Lasts | Review

Title: While the Light Lasts

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 213

Rating: 8/10

Agatha Christie – While the Light Lasts

While the Light Lasts is an excellent collection of some of Agatha Christie’s finest short stories, all of which were previously published between 1923 and 1932, during one of Christie’s most prolific and commercially successful periods. Each of these stories is worth reading on literary merit alone, but some are more interesting than others.

Manx Gold, in particular, stands out as one of Christie’s more interesting pieces, written on commission for the Isle of Man. The story contains coded references to the locations of four snuffboxes that were actually hidden on the island, each of which contained a voucher for £100 – quite a lot of money at the time, and hardly to be sneezed at today.

Crossovers like these are rare for even the most inventive of writers, but it’s unusual for Christie to have taken on such an ambitious undertaking. But while Manx Gold might be interesting because of its real-life crossover, the rest of the stories should not be overlooked – Christie is a fantastic writer, and this collection is a subtle reminder of why they call her the Queen of Crime. Excellent work, from the pen of a legendary great.