The Heart of the Matter

Name: The Heart of the Matter
ISBN: 9787539979755

Graham GreeneJiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House2017

4.3

Word count: 264K words
Series: The Heart of the Matter is a novel by the English writer Graham Greene, published in 1948. Its original English title is The Heart of the Matter; an earlier Chinese translation appeared as The Core of the Problem. It is the most acclaimed of his "Catholic trilogy" and the work Greene himself valued most. The story is set in a British West African colony during the Second World War. Scobie, the deputy commissioner of police, is upright and devoutly self-disciplined. In an environment where his colleagues routinely take bribes, he refuses to join them, and for that reason he is long denied promotion. His wife Louise, unable to bear the pressure of colonial gossip, insists on a holiday in South Africa. Scobie cannot afford the fare and can only borrow from Yusef, a local Syrian merchant. That debt becomes the starting point of a series of compromises: he is forced to retreat again and again between duty and human feeling, and out of pity he draws close to a young woman who has survived a shipwreck, and so betrays his wife. Duty, faith, pity and love weave into a net, and Scobie moves step by step toward an irretrievable end. Greene said of the novel that it "has something corrosive in it, because it touches too much on the weak places in the reader's heart." It asks not "how a bad man does evil" but "how a good man is destroyed by his own goodness." Critics regard it as an important twentieth-century work on conscience, faith and moral dilemma. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was included in the Modern Library's 100 Best English-language Novels of the twentieth century, Time magazine's 100 Best English-language Novels (2005) and the BBC's 100 Greatest British Novels (2015).
ISBN: 9787539979755

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Summary

The Heart of the Matter is a novel by the British author Graham Greene, published in 1948. The most acclaimed of his Catholic Trilogy and the work Greene himself valued most, it is set in a British colony in West Africa during the Second World War. Scobie, the deputy commissioner of police, is a man of integrity and devout self-discipline who refuses to join his colleagues in accepting bribes, and for that reason is repeatedly passed over for promotion. His wife Louise, unable to bear the strain of colonial gossip, insists on a holiday in South Africa. Unable to afford the passage, Scobie borrows the money from a local Syrian merchant, Yusef. That debt becomes the starting point of a series of compromises: forced to yield again and again between duty and human obligation, he is drawn by pity to a young woman who has survived a shipwreck and so falls into betrayal of his wife. Duty, faith, pity and love weave into a net, and Scobie moves step by step toward an irreversible end. Greene described the novel as having something corrosive in it, because it touches too deeply the weak places in the reader's heart. It asks not how a bad man does evil, but how a good man is destroyed by his own goodness. Critics regard it as a major twentieth-century work on conscience, faith and moral dilemma. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was included in the Modern Library's 100 Best English-language Novels of the Twentieth Century, Time magazine's 100 Best English-language Novels since 1923 in 2005, and the BBC's 100 Greatest British Novels in 2015.

Editor's review

这是一本读起来并不轻松、但极难忘怀的小说。格林没有把主人公写成受害者，也没有把他写成圣人：斯考比的所有灾难，几乎都源自他身上那些被称作“美德”的东西——正直、责任感、不愿让别人失望的柔软心肠。读者会跟着他一寸寸退让，看一笔借款如何牵出谎言，一次怜悯如何变成背叛，然后在结尾处突然明白书名“内核”二字的重量。傅惟慈先生的译文沉稳老到，西非殖民地闷热潮湿的气息、殖民者圈子里的流言与体面、主人公内心绵密的独白，都被译得不动声色又层层压迫。适合愿意慢读、习惯在人物心理褶皱里停留的读者。如果你读过《问题的核心》旧译本，不妨把这一版当作与格林重逢的机会。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢英国严肃文学、偏爱心理刻画的读者
对信仰、道德与良知议题有兴趣的读者
读过《问题的核心》想对照新译本的格林读者
写作者与文学研究者，可细看格林的叙事与人物塑造

Not a good fit for

只想看快节奏情节、需要即时爽感的读者
期待轻松治愈、明亮结局的读者
对宗教语境与愧疚主题较为敏感、易受情绪影响的读者

Reading tips

先不急着评判主人公，跟随他的视角读完整段心理变化，会更有体会。
读到借款、背叛等关键节点时，可停下来想一想：如果是我，会在哪一步停下。
可以配合格林生平与其他“天主教小说”对读，理解他的信仰关怀。
全书篇幅不长但密度高，建议分三到四段读完，留出消化情绪的时间。

About the publisher

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1958

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on literary publishing while also covering the humanities, social sciences, and books on art and daily life. Its approximately 1,535 titles in the database span social novels, world history, design, science fiction, classic works, and film and television: they include modern Chinese literary classics by Lu Xun such as A Madman's Diary: The Complete Short Stories of Lu Xun, Call to Arms, Four Generations Under One Roof, and Teahouse, as well as foreign literary memoirs like Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday. In science fiction it offers Asimov's Galactic Empire series, while in architecture and art it publishes Liu Dunzhen's Classical Gardens of Suzhou and design titles from Phoenix Space. Its authors are concentrated among classic writers such as Lu Xun, Zweig, and Asimov, with translators including Liang Xijiang, Zhong Haonan, and Ye Lihua. Its overall character is built on classic works while embracing genre fiction and visual culture. Public information is limited, and this introduction is based on the titles in the database.

FAQ

《命运的内核》和《问题的核心》是同一本书吗？

是同一本书。英文原名 The Heart of the Matter，早期中文译本名为《问题的核心》，2017年江苏凤凰文艺出版社的傅惟慈译本改用今名《命运的内核》。

这本书是间谍小说吗？

不是。格林写过《密使》等谍战题材，但《命运的内核》是他以二战时期英属西非殖民地为背景的严肃小说，重在道德与信仰的内心冲突，没有谍战情节。

没有宗教背景能读得懂吗？

可以。小说的核心是责任、怜悯与自我审判，这些情感并不依赖特定信仰。了解天主教背景会加深理解，但不是阅读门槛。

这本书篇幅与难度如何？

中译本约二十六万字、四百页，体量中等；阅读难点不在文字，而在主人公绵密的自省与压抑的氛围，需要读者有耐心。

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About the author

Graham Greene Author · English · 1904–1991

Graham Greene was a British novelist, playwright and journalist, born in 1904 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and died in 1991 in Vevey, Switzerland. His works often use contemporary political settings to explore moral ambiguity and crises of faith, with a cool tone and humane insight. His notable books include The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, A Burnt-Out Case, Brighton Rock, The Quiet American and A Gun for Sale. The library holds 11 of his works, mostly classified as foreign literature and classics. Greene was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times, and his novels balance popular storytelling with serious themes, leaving a lasting influence on later English-language literature.