Reviews

Orient Express by Graham Greene

8797999's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed this but it's not my favourite Graham Greene novel, felt a bit of a chore to get through it. The characters were mostly unlikeable and it was a bittersweet ending.

The latter portion made up for a dull 3/4 of the book.

anneessdee's review

mysterious

3.25

mwevelan's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The good parts are great, the bad parts are oddly-timed, pages-long plunges into the inner thoughts of characters which feel forced and unnecessary.  Not my favorite GG novel, not my least favorite.

eriynali's review against another edition

5.0

greene at his finest. didn't know till the last page where it was going (the plot, not the train, haha)

cernunnos's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Rather like the steam train of the title it seemed to take Greene a while to build a full head of steam but once he did the ride was quite thrilling: with a chilling murder, a fugitive on the run, ruthless border police, 1930s politics, antisemitism, and conflicts of Catholicism and communism it felt like we'd crossed the border into the familiar territory of Greeneland.  Sadly he seemed to run out of steam and the story just hit the buffers at the end.   Worth reading, if only for the grotesque, drunken predatory lesbian; but not his best.

sandra_buckwell's review

adventurous sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

cseibs's review

3.0

I was in need of a good, character-driven book, and Greene delivered. His ability as a storyteller really shone and his characters felt authentic throughout.

bumsonseats's review against another edition

3.0

enjoyable little book

essjay1's review against another edition

4.0

Very enjoyable, a great train read.

zalindras's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0