Graham Greene was (he died recently, didn't he?) in my opinion one of the greatest writers of our time; the 'political' decision not to award him the Nobel Prize for Literature was scandalous (I think some snobs on the board decided he was 'too popular'). Of the books of his which I have read, this is my favourite. His novels can be deceptively simple in plot; in fact, the plot is not the important thing in his books - the characters are. He has an outstanding ability to make the mundane poignant and resonant. His books are not spectacular; in their quiet despair, they are much more real to us than racy plotlines or people of extreme, intense disposition.

There are tragedies in this book; but what is most tragic is the sense of being lost, of 'tomorrow, and tomorrow . . . '. Exceptional.

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