Frequently excluded from lists of his major works, Graham Greene’s

is often classified as genre fiction, in this case as a spy novel. Such a classification held little literary significance in Greene’s time, despite the example of Joseph Conrad’s

(1907), John Buchan’s

(1915) and Somerset Maugham’s

(1928). However, Greene’s “entertainments” — notably including the highly perceptive Vietnam-novel

(1955) and the comic

(1958) — raised the status of the spy novel through the blending of his fine storytelling prowess with astute commentary on the geopolitical state of the world. Tracy Lee Simmons of the

characterized Graham Greene as writing “thrillers for…

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Citation: Gonzalez, Christopher. "The Ministry of Fear: An Entertainment". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 January 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23517, accessed 24 November 2024.]