England Made Me (novel) Contents Plot Themes Reception Adaptations Footnotes Navigation menuFantastic FictionBooks: Early Graham Greene - TIMEGreene: A Life in Letters, p. 51New York Times 1935 reviewNew York Times film reviewe
The Man WithinThe Name of ActionRumour at NightfallStamboul TrainIt's a BattlefieldEngland Made MeThe Bear Fell FreeA Gun for SaleBrighton RockThe Confidential AgentThe Power and the GloryThe Ministry of FearThe Heart of the MatterThe Third ManThe End of the AffairThe Quiet AmericanLoser Takes AllOur Man in HavanaA Burnt-Out CaseThe ComediansTravels with My AuntThe Honorary ConsulThe Human FactorDoctor Fischer of GenevaMonsignor QuixoteThe Tenth ManThe Captain and the EnemyNo Man's LandA Sort of LifeWays of EscapeGetting to Know the General: The Story of an InvolvementA World of My Own: A Dream DiaryThe Future's in the AirThe New Britain21 DaysBrighton RockThe Fallen IdolThe Third ManThe Heart of the MatterLoser Takes AllSaint JoanThe Quiet AmericanOur Man in HavanaThe ComediansThe End of the PartyProof PositiveThe Basement RoomAcross the BridgeAlas, Poor MalingThe Blue FilmThe DestructorsA Shocking AccidentThe Invisible Japanese GentlemenThe Last Word
Novels by Graham Greene1935 British novelsNovels set in StockholmHeinemann (publisher) booksBritish novels adapted into films
Graham GreeneStockholmIvar KreugerMalrauxFaulknerHemingwayIt was made into a film in 1973Michael York
First edition (publ. Heinemann)
England Made Me or The Shipwrecked is an early novel [1] by Graham Greene. It was first published in 1935, and was republished as The Shipwrecked in 1953.[2]
It is set in Stockholm (which Greene visited in 1933 to prepare for writing the novel[3]) and concerns the travails of ne'er-do-well Anthony Farrant who finds himself working as a bodyguard to a dubious Swedish financier whose character is loosely inspired by Ivar Kreuger. In typical Greene fashion, the seedy antihero wrestles with his conscience as murky moral dilemmas begin to trouble even his disreputable soul.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Themes
3 Reception
4 Adaptations
5 Footnotes
Plot
Anthony, in his thirties, charming and broke, is back in London from the Far East after being fired from every job, kicked out of every club and left by every woman. His twin sister Kate comes over from Stockholm to rescue him. She is secretary and mistress to Krogh, a self-made millionaire who owns a multinational financial empire. The austere Krogh likes Anthony's devil-may-care attitude and hires him as a personal bodyguard. But Anthony always lets people down. He lets down Kate, who hoped for his company as an antidote to Krogh's, by chasing women. And he lets down Krogh by failing to protect him from an embittered employee, upon which an old associate of Krogh's called Hall beats the man up. Unhappy with the job, Anthony betrays both Kate and Krogh by resigning. When a further betrayal emerges, that Anthony has been leaking secrets of Krogh's private life and business to the press, Hall quietly kills him and tips the body into the sea. Losing brother, lover and job, Kate decides to move on 'like Anthony' heading for Copenhagen. Krogh has lost his right-hand woman and bedmate, but his fraudulent empire continues.
Themes
A strong theme is the questionably close bond between the protagonist, the always ineffectual Anthony, and his twin sister Kate. Their parents are dead and her life as aide and live-in mistress to the crooked tycoon, Krogh, who is no great lover, absorbs her time and energy but leaves her emotionally unfulfilled. By getting Anthony to Stockholm and on Krogh’s payroll, she is hoping for a much closer relationship with her brother, who is charming, unreliable and always broke. His failure to respond, and the unhappy ending, leaves her in an even worse position as Krogh’s artificial empire threatens to unravel.
Reception
In its review the New Statesman said that "Greene arouses responses of curiosity and attention comparable to those set up by Malraux, Faulkner and Hemingway" while The Daily Telegraph termed him never less than "wonderfully readable". The New York Times concluded its review by asserting that "Too often the author of England Made Me seems to be shadow-boxing, not delivering the full punch. But the story is skillfully fabricated, and the suspense so well maintained that any one who starts it is certain to go to the end."[4]
Adaptations
It was made into a film in 1973, starring Michael York as Anthony, but the setting was changed to Nazi Germany.[5]
Footnotes
^ Fantastic Fiction
^ Books: Early Graham Greene - TIME
^ Greene: A Life in Letters, p. 51
^ New York Times 1935 review
^ New York Times film review
1935 British novels, British novels adapted into films, Heinemann (publisher) books, Novels by Graham Greene, Novels set in StockholmUncategorized
