Rating: 
Summary: A Farcical Tale of Cold War Espionage
Review: It is the age of The Bomb, the Cold War, and the perceived threats of Soviets in Cuba. Against this backdrop, Graham Greene presents his readers with a dark, yet farcical and even humorous tale of deception. The British Secret Service is looking for sources of military and political intelligence in Havana. Mr. Wormold, a simple vacuum cleaner salesman finds himself at the center of it all. He is recruited by the British Secret Service - in a bathroom - to develop a network of informants throughout Cuba. They suspect his position as a salesman has him well connected with all levels of society. After all, everyone needs a vacuum cleaner. Mr. Wormold is offered generous compensation for his services, an offer which is hard to refuse given that he has a capricious young daughter with expensive tastes in things such as . . . ponies. Wormold's alleged network of informants, however, is the product of wishful thinking on the part of his handlers. His friends marvel at his windfall in being asked to supply such secret information. "You are a lucky man, Mr. Wormold," says his friend Dr. Hasselbacher, "That information is always easy to give. If it is secret enough, you alone know it. All you need is a little imagination, Mr. Wormold." Imagine he does, and sets into motion a series of very real events based on a very mythical reality.
Rating:
Summary: Quite good
Review: It's quite a good book. The subject is well chosen and very interesting. It shows the life and behaviour of the agents of the different secret services in Cuba during the revolution of Castro (1958). He describes very well how ignorant the agents of the secret services are and that they are very cruel to get their information. The main person is Jim Wormold. He has a daughter who is very religious. Because his daughter has an expensive way of living he has to take this job as a spy because of the extra money. But he is not very interested in spying, so he decides to invent his subagents and the reports. After having sent the drawings of a vacuum cleaner as a military constructions the other agents want to kill Wormold because they think that he is a very professional and dangerous agent. At the end everything comes out and Wormold has to leave Cuba. I think this book shows us that spying is a rather dangerous job and that also in the secret services not everything is really clear
Rating:
Summary: a fascinating story
Review: Maybe isn't it the most none story of G. Greene but this is a real intresting. He desribe Cuba before the revolution with a great talent and give an idea of the hidden World of the secret agent.
Rating:
Summary: His Best and Most Humorous Entertainment
Review: More successful than most of Greene's "entertainments," this comic spy tale set in pre-Castro Cuba concerns an insignificant little man-a vacuum cleaner salesman to be precise-who, against his better judgment, becomes MI6's "man in Havana." A longtime Havana resident, Englishman Jim Wormold is divorced, but the custodian of his beautiful, Catholic teenage daughter, Millie. One day he is approached by Hawthorne-a hilariously daft MI6 agent, whose speech is littered with upper crust slang-who shanghais him into becoming a spy. Although he is resistant to the whole notion, his best friend (a German named Hasselbacher), suggests he simply manufacture his sources and intelligence and take the ample money. Millie's expensive tastes and his own devotion to her result in his succumbing to this temptation, and he spends a few happy weeks inventing subagents and fake intelligence. For the first time in years he's doing something interesting, and no longer has money worries-in the funniest bit, he submits drawings of vacuum cleaner parts as sketches of a new Cuban weapons installation. Of course, this being Greene, complications arise. He is sent reinforcements from the London office, and must scramble to keep them in the dark as to his deception. At the same time, his inventions seem to be taking on a life of their own as people start dying around him, and somebody seems to think he's a real spy. Integral to all this is the ever-present Captain Seguras, a policeman of some renown as a sadist who seeks Millie's hand in marriage. Although a deep melancholy and tragedy lurks in the background, and there's a rather lame love injected, it remains a delightfully absurd tale, one of Greene's better efforts. One is rather reminded of Joseph Conrad's classic, The Secret Agent, in which an ordinary shopkeeper receives payment as a spy for doing nothing-payments which allow him to keep the company of a beautiful woman-and whose misguided scheme ultimately crumbles around him.
Rating:
Summary: His Best and Most Humorous Entertainment
Review: More successful than most of Greene's "entertainments," this comic spy tale set in pre-Castro Cuba concerns an insignificant little man-a vacuum cleaner salesman to be precise-who, against his better judgment, becomes MI6's "man in Havana." A longtime Havana resident, Englishman Jim Wormold is divorced, but the custodian of his beautiful, Catholic teenage daughter, Millie. One day he is approached by Hawthorne-a hilariously daft MI6 agent, whose speech is littered with upper crust slang-who shanghais him into becoming a spy. Although he is resistant to the whole notion, his best friend (a German named Hasselbacher), suggests he simply manufacture his sources and intelligence and take the ample money. Millie's expensive tastes and his own devotion to her result in his succumbing to this temptation, and he spends a few happy weeks inventing subagents and fake intelligence. For the first time in years he's doing something interesting, and no longer has money worries-in the funniest bit, he submits drawings of vacuum cleaner parts as sketches of a new Cuban weapons installation. Of course, this being Greene, complications arise. He is sent reinforcements from the London office, and must scramble to keep them in the dark as to his deception. At the same time, his inventions seem to be taking on a life of their own as people start dying around him, and somebody seems to think he's a real spy. Integral to all this is the ever-present Captain Seguras, a policeman of some renown as a sadist who seeks Millie's hand in marriage. Although a deep melancholy and tragedy lurks in the background, and there's a rather lame love injected, it remains a delightfully absurd tale, one of Greene's better efforts. One is rather reminded of Joseph Conrad's classic, The Secret Agent, in which an ordinary shopkeeper receives payment as a spy for doing nothing-payments which allow him to keep the company of a beautiful woman-and whose misguided scheme ultimately crumbles around him.
Rating: 
Summary: Graham Greenes novels are boring and suck to say the least
Review: One of the most boring books ive ever read in my life. I see why his novels weren't allowed in the U.S.
Rating:
Summary: Great Greene!
Review: Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene is a twisted spy tale that skewers the spy genre with humor and Greene's classic ability to demystify through the wry metaphor. James Wormold is the single father of an expensive daughter. When he is accosted by Hawthorne, a British spy in the Caribbean, silence is believed to signify assent when it comes to taking on the spying game. However, Wormold doesn't really spy or recruit agents. He makes up the information he sends to London, and creates agents. For his own and his imagined agents imagined expenses, Wormold collects the money and saves it so that he can afford his own daughter. But something is clearly amiss as Wormold begins to realize that SOMEONE believes his cables to be true. There are mysterious deaths in Havana, and London sends staffers to Wormold to help him manage his cables and his agents. The book is great Greene, with a driving plot, sympathetic yet imperfect characters and vague criticisms of authority and religion. It's a great read altogether.
Rating:
Summary: Liked everything except the name Wormold
Review: Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene is a witty tale of Jim Wormold a vacuum cleaner sales man living in Cuba with his Catholic daughter Milly. In the novel Milly befriends a certain Captain Segura who is known for his ruthless torture of prisoners. While spending time with Segura, Milly ventures to a country club where she soon discovers a love for horses and the urgent need to have one of her own. Shortly after asking Wormold for her own horse, which would be quite a burden on a modest vacuum cleaner salesman, Wormold is confronted by a British Intelligence officer Hawthrone. Mr. Hawthorne subsequently makes a proposition to Wormold that if he were to spy on the Cuban government for the British there would be a handsome benefit of $... upwards a month. Mr. Hawthorne later meets with Wormold to discuss what his spying in Havana will consist of. It is explained to Wormold that by using book code he will need to recruit other agents and file reports in London. Wormold is named Agent 59200/5. As Agent 59000/5 he begins by filing false reports of agents he's recruited and military constructions based on vacuum cleaner designs. Soon London is highly interested in the activities in Havana and sends Wormold a secretary named Beatrice. After her arrival officials in Havana are alerted that spies are present in their community. A chaotic witch hunt begins to suppress the individuals responsible at all costs. The characters Wormold created are suddenly real life people, in real life trouble. Wormold, his friends, and his family are suddenly thrown into a great deal of danger.
After reading the fast paced novel I was please that Greene was able to keep my attention for the duration of the piece. The unusual story of a misconstrued spy leads to not only action and excitement, but humor and wit. The novel drips with dramatic irony as the reader can see where the events are heading, but Wormold remains oblivious. By applying such a great contrast in characters Green is able to create conflicts among conflicts as the motives of all the characters intertwine. Besides the entertainment value the piece also carries a wonderful message of love for one's family and the desire to protect them at all costs. The novel surprises the reader on a consistent basis providing for an enjoyable reading experience. Greene does not lack detail, but does not spend time detailing unnecessary subjects. His descriptions of scenes and the feelings of characters is parallel to none. Graham Greene uses a fantastic arrangement of love, action, wit, and humor to create both an enjoyable and imaginative story. After reading the novel it is easy to understand why it is considered a twentieth century classic.
Rating: 
Summary: And to say I was afraid I wouldn't like it...
Review: Our Man in Havana takes place in the late fifties, during the Cold War. It tells the story of Wormold, an English, divorced vacuum cleaner salesman in Cuba. Sales are not very good these days, and when his 17-year-old daughter's latest caprice turns out to be a horse, he knows he can't afford it. That's when he's accosted in the toilets of a local bar by Hawthorne, a cryptic man with an interesting offer: 300$ a month, to become a secret agent. All he has to do is recruit sub-agents and send regular reports to London. Wormold uses the money to buy presents for his daughter, sending fake reports and sketches of an imaginary war machine from vacuum cleaner designs. Very pleased with his work, the MI6 decide to send him a secretary... This was my first encounter with Graham Greene's work. I read this book as a background preparation for the Cambridge Proficiency exam, and even though it's not a genre I am used to (I usually read fantasy), I must say I enjoyed it thoroughly. The story is timeless and could as well have happened nowadays, it's funny and sarcastic, and the characters are extremely human. A great experience!
Rating:
Summary: Quite a good read
Review: Quite a good read I have to say I was quite fond of the book. It's about a salesman in Havana named Wormold, who's living alone with his catholic daughter called Milly. His wife has moved to Florida. He's educating according to his wife's wishes. He's not very rich man but his daughter has extraordinary needs; a horse for example. It happened that one day he meets a stranger who offers him a quite good job. He accepts and more and more you recognize that he's working now for British Secret Service. His old friend Hasselbacher tells him not to recruit any agents to avoid troubles. Consequently he invents a few spies, pretends doing a good job and takes all the money the BSS is sending him. When he runs out of ideas he makes a drawing of a vacuum cleaner (he sells them), sends it to the BSS and declares it as a secret base in Oriente. Now the BSS decides to send him some reinforcement: Beatrice and Rudy. After her arrival she found out that Wormold has a unprofessional plan. Then his imaginary agents begin to die away. Now Wormold can't understand his situation any more. To avoid more death agents he decides to cable a final report (list of all foreign secret agents in Havana) and stop spying. But the whole thing comes out to be a very complicated story.....
|
