Stamboul Train
Encyclopedia
Stamboul Train is a novel by author Graham Greene
. A thriller set on an Orient Express
train, it was renamed Orient Express when it was published in the United States.
"In Stamboul Train for the first and last time in my life I deliberately set out to write a book to please, one which with luck might be made into a film. The devil looks after his own and I succeeded in both aims" (from the introduction to the 1974 edition of Stamboul Train).
to Istanbul
.
Although boarding the Orient Express for different purposes, the lives of each of the central characters are bound together in a fateful interlock.
Myatt is a shrewd and practical businessman. Partly out of generosity, he gives the sick Coral Musker a ticket, for which Musker feels grateful and dutifully falls in love with him. She then spends a night with him in his compartment.
Dr. Czinner, an exiled socialist leader, wants to travel back to Belgrade
, only to find that the socialist uprising he was anticipating has already taken place and failed. He decides to go back to Belgrade nonetheless to stand trial as a political gesture. Meanwhile, he is being followed by Mabel Warren, a lesbian journalist who is travelling with her partner, Janet Pardoe. In order to go back to Belgrade, he has to pretend to leave the train at Vienna
so that Warren would not follow him.
When the train arrives at Vienna, Warren, while keeping an eye on Czinner, leaves the train to make a phone call to her office. It is at this time that her bag is stolen by Josef Grünlich, who has just killed a man during a failed robbery. Grünlich then promptly boards the train with her money, while the angry Warren, left behind and worried about losing Pardoe, vows to get Czinner's story through other means.
At Subotica
, the train is stopped and Czinner is arrested. Also arrested are Grünlich, for keeping a revolver, and Musker, who by coincidence is with Czinner when the arrest takes place. A court martial is held and Czinner gives a rousing political speech, even though there is no real audience present. He is quickly sentenced to death.
The three prisoners are kept in a waiting room for the night. They soon realize that Myatt has just come back for Musker in a car. The skilful Grünlich breaks open the door and all three try to escape and run to the car. Unfortunately, only Grünlich is able to do so -- Czinner is shot and Musker hides him in a barn. Czinner dies soon after. When Warren comes back for her story, she happily decides to take Musker back to Vienna: she has long fancied to have Musker as her new partner. But when Musker is last seen, she is having a heart attack in the back of Warren's car, and her ultimate fate is not revealed.
The Orient Express finally arrives at Constantinople, and Myatt, Pardoe and Mr. Savory (a writer) get off. Myatt soon realizes that Pardoe is the niece of Stein, a rival businessman and potential business partner. The story ends with Myatt seriously considering marrying Pardoe and sealing the contract with Stein.
Dr. Richard Czinner: a doctor, school teacher, and a revolutionary socialist leader, is returning to Belgrade after years of exile.
Josef Grünlich: a thief, is fleeing Vienna after a bungled burglary ended in murder.
Carleton Myatt: a Jewish currant trader is travelling on business and faces anti-semitism
from many of his fellow travellers as he travels through pre-World War II
Europe.
Mabel Warren: a journalist, and lesbian, is following the doctor to report on his activities.
Coral Musker: a chorus girl, is travelling to a new job she has been offered.
The novel's minor characters include a writer called Quin Savory, who was alleged to be a defamatory representation of J.B. Priestley
. In the book's final version, the Cockney
novelist does not have much in common with Priestley, but the text had to be rewritten at the last moment.
Looking back on the incident in the context of other problems with the libel laws, Greene explained:
"In this case Mr Priestley, I am sure, really believed that this all-but-unknown writer was attacking him; he acted in good faith" (from the Introduction to the 1974 edition of the book).
and socialism
/communism
.
A major theme in the novel is the issue of fidelity, the duty to others vis-á-vis duty to self, and whether faithfulness to others pays. The theme is most clearly shown in the struggles in the minds of Czinner and Musker.
The novel communicates a sense of unease which in part reflected the author's financial circumstances at the time he wrote it, and partly the gloom of the depression era in England. Greene wrote:
"The pages are too laden by the anxieties of the time and the sense of failure... By the time I finished Stamboul Train the day of security had almost run out. Even my dreams were full of disquiet." (pp. 212-13, A Sort of Life, 1971)
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
. A thriller set on an Orient Express
Orient Express
The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
train, it was renamed Orient Express when it was published in the United States.
Plot introduction
The novel is one of a number of works which the author classed as an "entertainment" so as to distinguish them from his more serious literary works. In 1974, Greene wrote:"In Stamboul Train for the first and last time in my life I deliberately set out to write a book to please, one which with luck might be made into a film. The devil looks after his own and I succeeded in both aims" (from the introduction to the 1974 edition of Stamboul Train).
Plot summary
The novel focuses on the lives of individuals aboard the train as it makes a trip from OstendOstend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
Although boarding the Orient Express for different purposes, the lives of each of the central characters are bound together in a fateful interlock.
Myatt is a shrewd and practical businessman. Partly out of generosity, he gives the sick Coral Musker a ticket, for which Musker feels grateful and dutifully falls in love with him. She then spends a night with him in his compartment.
Dr. Czinner, an exiled socialist leader, wants to travel back to Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, only to find that the socialist uprising he was anticipating has already taken place and failed. He decides to go back to Belgrade nonetheless to stand trial as a political gesture. Meanwhile, he is being followed by Mabel Warren, a lesbian journalist who is travelling with her partner, Janet Pardoe. In order to go back to Belgrade, he has to pretend to leave the train at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
so that Warren would not follow him.
When the train arrives at Vienna, Warren, while keeping an eye on Czinner, leaves the train to make a phone call to her office. It is at this time that her bag is stolen by Josef Grünlich, who has just killed a man during a failed robbery. Grünlich then promptly boards the train with her money, while the angry Warren, left behind and worried about losing Pardoe, vows to get Czinner's story through other means.
At Subotica
Subotica
Subotica is a city and municipality in northern Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
, the train is stopped and Czinner is arrested. Also arrested are Grünlich, for keeping a revolver, and Musker, who by coincidence is with Czinner when the arrest takes place. A court martial is held and Czinner gives a rousing political speech, even though there is no real audience present. He is quickly sentenced to death.
The three prisoners are kept in a waiting room for the night. They soon realize that Myatt has just come back for Musker in a car. The skilful Grünlich breaks open the door and all three try to escape and run to the car. Unfortunately, only Grünlich is able to do so -- Czinner is shot and Musker hides him in a barn. Czinner dies soon after. When Warren comes back for her story, she happily decides to take Musker back to Vienna: she has long fancied to have Musker as her new partner. But when Musker is last seen, she is having a heart attack in the back of Warren's car, and her ultimate fate is not revealed.
The Orient Express finally arrives at Constantinople, and Myatt, Pardoe and Mr. Savory (a writer) get off. Myatt soon realizes that Pardoe is the niece of Stein, a rival businessman and potential business partner. The story ends with Myatt seriously considering marrying Pardoe and sealing the contract with Stein.
Characters
The central characters are as follows:Dr. Richard Czinner: a doctor, school teacher, and a revolutionary socialist leader, is returning to Belgrade after years of exile.
Josef Grünlich: a thief, is fleeing Vienna after a bungled burglary ended in murder.
Carleton Myatt: a Jewish currant trader is travelling on business and faces anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
from many of his fellow travellers as he travels through pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Europe.
Mabel Warren: a journalist, and lesbian, is following the doctor to report on his activities.
Coral Musker: a chorus girl, is travelling to a new job she has been offered.
The novel's minor characters include a writer called Quin Savory, who was alleged to be a defamatory representation of J.B. Priestley
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
. In the book's final version, the Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
novelist does not have much in common with Priestley, but the text had to be rewritten at the last moment.
Looking back on the incident in the context of other problems with the libel laws, Greene explained:
"In this case Mr Priestley, I am sure, really believed that this all-but-unknown writer was attacking him; he acted in good faith" (from the Introduction to the 1974 edition of the book).
Major themes
Greene's "entertainments" usually include discussion of serious issues, and Stamboul Train raises topics such as racismRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
/communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.
A major theme in the novel is the issue of fidelity, the duty to others vis-á-vis duty to self, and whether faithfulness to others pays. The theme is most clearly shown in the struggles in the minds of Czinner and Musker.
The novel communicates a sense of unease which in part reflected the author's financial circumstances at the time he wrote it, and partly the gloom of the depression era in England. Greene wrote:
"The pages are too laden by the anxieties of the time and the sense of failure... By the time I finished Stamboul Train the day of security had almost run out. Even my dreams were full of disquiet." (pp. 212-13, A Sort of Life, 1971)