Summary of The Third ManÂ
Rollo Martins, an American writer of Western novels, is offered a job in Vienna by his friend Harry Lime in the years following the Second World War. Upon his arrival in Vienna, Martins learns that Lime was killed in a car accident, and that he was involved in criminal activities, exploiting the chaos in Allied-occupied Vienna to sell diluted penicillin on the black market. Martins embarks on his own investigation to clear his friend’s name.
Reasons to read The Third Man
Graham Greene wrote this novella as a precursor to his screenplay for the cult-film “The Third Man” (starring Orson Welles as Harry Lime). Both the novella and the film provide a fascinating portrayal of Vienna in the immediate post-war period – like Berlin, the Austrian capital was divided into four zones controlled by the Allied powers. Graham Greene was one of the most significant English writers of the 20th century, known for his novels “Brighton Rock”, “The Power and the Glory”, “The Heart of the Matter”, “The End of the Affair”, “The Quiet American”, “Our Man in Havana”, and many more.
Setting: Vienna (Austria)
Original title: The Third Man
Year of publication: 1949
Nr of pages: 160
