The Quiet American

So I went and read The Quiet American. It was one of those books I was always going to read/supposed to read/assigned to read but never read. I figured with the whole Bush kerfuffle now was as good a time as any.

Having read it, I don't think that the White House made a mistake at all equating Bush with Pyle. Pyle is a by-the-book, upfront kind of guy (as evidenced by his dealings with Fowler over Phoung), idealistic and in pursuit of world betterment. Sure he gets used by others for their own purposes (General The), but his heart is in the right place and, most importantly, pure. I'd be willing to bet that that meme plays with a fairly significant part of the country.

Of course, all of this assumes that some critical mass of Americans have actually read (and remember) The Quiet American. If not, this is (just another) an example of geeks yelling at each other over something that nobody cares about.

I really liked the book, by the way, and would recommend it to those of you who've never read it, or who don't remember reading it.