Stamboul Train
Stamboul Train
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The first of Greene's so-called “entertainments” (as opposed to his serious works of literature) Stamboul Train is essentially a character study in search of a plot. First we meet down on her luck showgirl Coral Musker as she sets off on the Orient Express for a job in Constantinople, and Carleton Myatt, a Jewish businessman, as well as Dr Czinner, a Serbian communist who has been living in exile in England as a schoolmaster. There is also a best selling author, QC Savory. At Cologne lesbian journalist Mabel Warren and her companion Janet Pardoe join and finally the thief Josef Grünlich at Vienna.
The lives of these people become intertwined as their journey through a winters Europe continues. Warren is supposed to be interviewing Savory, but sniffs out the bigger story of Czinner returning home. Myatt's act of kindness causes Coral or fall in love with him.
The major turning point of the story is at the out of the way stop at Subotica in Serbia, where another uprising has failed. There is tragedy and racism and anti-semitism and we lose characters along the way. There is little humour in the novel, instead a sense of doom and inevitability pervade the pages.
There is no real resolution to this episodic novel but it's an enjoyable enough read. It's just gossamer thin compared to Greene's weightier works.