Book review

Graham Green “A Burnt-out Case“

One of the most exciting books I have read recently is „A Burnt-out Case“ written by Graham
Green, an English author, playwright and literary critic of the XX century. His works deal with
moral, political and religious issues.
The novel tells about an extraordinary european man, a world-famous architect Querry, who is
disillusioned with his prominence and aptitude. As a result he leaves his previous life and arrives at
a leper colony in the Congo. When he was asked why he chose this place to live in Querry simply
explained that “the boat goes no farther”.
The story of the book contains many different characters. I would review four of them. The main
character, as it was mentioned before, is Querry. He is trying to escape from his identity, but he is
too famous and his attempt ends in failure. Querry‘s legendary churches, his relationships with
women, the story with a girl and her suicide are widely discussed and described in newspapers.
Thus Querry is recognized and has to admit his personality and vocation. Being an architect he is
asked to build a new hospital for lepers. He agrees with reluctance: „I began as an architect and I
am ending as a builder“. Querry is an enigma for neighbourings. He is called a saint as he spents a
whole night with a leper in a dark forest and returns him a believe in life. Querry‘s life between
lepers, his work with them do him a good turn for his own ilness. The other characters are less
important, but also very special. One of them is doctor Collin. He is devoted to his work and to his
patients – lepers. As Querry arrives in the Congo, doctor is the only, who understands him. What is
more, Collin perceives his illnes – Querry is „a burnt-out case“. It means that Querry is
emotionally tired from his vocation and the life he led before moving there. One more character of
the novel is Rycker. He is a contradictory personality. Despite he used to be a seminary student
and always demonstrates his enormous faith, Rycker behaves with his young wife as a tyrant,
seeks popularity through Querry‘s recognition. Rycker‘s wife Marie is also worth being discussed.
She is a victim of husband‘s oppression and only an acquaintance with Querry helps her to change
a life. All these characters are very diverse.They come from different cultures, belong to different
professions and have distinctive features. The only link between them is Querry. His appearance
has a significant influence on their life.
The main attraction of the novel is the variety of themes being rised. The author invites readers to
consider about faith, popularity, suffering. All these issues involve us into the sequence of events
and make us consider which values are of more significance. For example, a true Christian is one
who only incessantly talks about religiuos dogmas, or one who disapproves religion but behaves in
a Christian way? One more factor that makes the novel especially attractive is the writer‘s ability
to create real, deep and true characters.
The novel is written in a past tense. Graham slowly, intelligent and moving analyses Querry‘s
story, his disenchantment with the world.