Ways of Escape

Ways of Escape is the second volume of autobiography by British novelist Graham Greene, first published in 1980.^[1] The book concentrates more on the author's work than his life, blurring the line between the two.^[2]

Overview

Ways of Escape is the autobiography of a writer rather than a man. Instead of recounting the details of his life he gives the histories of his novels. How they came to be written, what he had intended to convey in those novels and whether or not he believed he succeeded. He also details the sources of his characters and the ways in which he sought to disguise those characters in order to protect the originals. There are plenty of anecdotes detailing various escapades around the world, though the way Greene describes them it is as though he were struggling to stave off terminal boredom rather than merely have a good time. Sometimes mildly heroic, often seedy, with these stories of his life he describes his lifelong ennui, his frequent bouts of depression and his endless search for meaning in a life he often appears to view as meaningless. The reader is left with the impression that the author lived a very interesting and varied life but not a happy one.^[3]

References

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Works by Graham Greene and their adaptations

Bibliography

Novels

• The Man Within (1929)
• The Name of Action (1930)
• Rumour at Nightfall (1932)
• Stamboul Train (1932)
• It's a Battlefield (1934)
• England Made Me (1935)
• The Bear Fell Free (1935)
• A Gun for Sale (1936)
• Brighton Rock (1938)
• The Confidential Agent (1939)
• The Power and the Glory (1940)
• The Ministry of Fear (1943)
• The Heart of the Matter (1948)
• The Third Man (novella; 1949)
• The End of the Affair (1951)
• The Quiet American (1955)
• Loser Takes All (1955)
• Our Man in Havana (1958)
• A Burnt-Out Case (1960)
• The Comedians (1966)
• Travels with My Aunt (1969)
• The Honorary Consul (1973)
• The Human Factor (1978)
• Doctor Fischer of Geneva (1980)
• Monsignor Quixote (1982)
• The Tenth Man (1985)
• The Captain and the Enemy (1988)
• No Man's Land (2005)

Travel books

• Journey Without Maps (1936)
• The Lawless Roads (1939)
• In Search of a Character (1961)
• Getting to Know the General: The Story of an Involvement (1984)

Autobiography

• A Sort of Life (1971)
• Ways of Escape (1980)
• Getting to Know the General: The Story of an Involvement (1984)
• A World of My Own: A Dream Diary (1992)

Plays

• The Living Room (1953)
• The Potting Shed (1957)
• The Complaisant Lover (1959)
• Carving a Statue (1964)
• The Return of A. J. Raffles (1975)
• The Great Jowett (1981)
• Yes and No (1983)
• For Whom the Bell Chimes (1983)

Story collections

• Twenty-One Stories (1954)
• A Sense of Reality (1963)
• May We Borrow Your Husband? (1967)
• The Last Word and Other Stories (1990)

Short stories

• "The End of the Party" (1929)
• "Proof Positive" (1930)
• "The Basement Room" (1936)
• "Across the Bridge" (1938)
• "Alas, Poor Maling" (1940)
• "The Blue Film" (1954)
• "The Destructors" (1954)
• "A Shocking Accident"
• "The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen"
• "The Last Word"

Films

• Orient Express (1934)
• The Future's in the Air (1937)
• The New Britain (1940)
• 21 Days (1940)
• This Gun for Hire (1942)
• Went the Day Well? (1942)
• Ministry of Fear (1944)
• Brighton Rock (1947)
• The Fallen Idol (1948)
• The Third Man (1949)
• The Heart of the Matter (1953)
• The End of the Affair (1955)
• Loser Takes All (1956)
• Saint Joan (1957)
• The Quiet American (1958)
• Our Man in Havana (1959)
• The Comedians (1967)
• Travels with My Aunt (1972)
• The Human Factor (1979)
• The Honorary Consul (1983)
• Monsignor Quixote (1985)
• The End of the Affair (1999)
• The Quiet American (2002)
• Brighton Rock (2010)

Other

• Brighton Rock (play)
• Shades of Greene

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