Buy new:
$17.70
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$17.70
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 21 hrs 52 mins
In Stock
$$17.70 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$17.70
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$11.08
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
All pages and cover are intact. Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May include "From the library of" labels. Shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set case may be missing. Item may be missing bundled media. All pages and cover are intact. Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May include "From the library of" labels. Shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set case may be missing. Item may be missing bundled media. See less
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 21 hrs 52 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$17.70 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$17.70
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the authors

Graham Greene
+ Follow
Jean-Luc Mercié
+ Follow
See all
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Honorary Consul (Penguin Classics) Paperback – September 30, 2008

by Graham Greene (Author), Mark Bosco (Contributor)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 454 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$17.70","priceAmount":17.70,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"17","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"70","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"lb0kb%2FcnDrgMLOs8xR%2BFCW%2ByGjOiV1LFk0R2Jr2VrYAOZSeIiTdNRmdxVNS2vcCJ9dN%2Bh0XizQkvk5%2BjcT2ysAs8XB5nHJZgoqZHtkN9ylVe9czlgttWvL7CeyDB0qMbcHAIAlfg6cc%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$11.08","priceAmount":11.08,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"08","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"lb0kb%2FcnDrgMLOs8xR%2BFCW%2ByGjOiV1LFCE2Ks%2BmdADWtRMMoUraKxfwo%2FHWaA%2BRumES%2B8mEFFxlOF6NQ92%2FyON9nOFBYqFNjfLm4k%2BI5x2em%2BS9Wo22HLtmTMOXMmzAinZUJoggxEtsFT8kky%2Fg1nH4kTXxDuyoh4rQqghsI7%2FsMlOyzFmHZozjMCKM6Whje","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

In a provincial Argentinean town, Charley Fortnum, a British consul with dubious authority and a weakness for drink, is kidnapped by Paraguayan revolutionaries who have mistaken him for the American ambassador. Dr. Eduardo Plarr, a local physician with his own divided loyalties, serves as the negotiator between the rebels and the authorities. These fumbling characters play out an absurd drama of failure, hope, love, and betrayal against a backdrop of political chaos. The Honorary Consul is both a gripping novel of suspense and a penetrating psychological and sociological study of personal and political corruption. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by Mark Bosco.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Publishing Group
  4. Publication date
    September 30, 2008
  5. Grade level
    12 and up
  6. Reading age
    18 years and up
  7. Dimensions
    5.1 x 0.65 x 7.7 inches
  8. ISBN-10
    0143105558
  9. ISBN-13
    978-0143105558
  10. See all details
Next page
Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Frequently bought together

The Honorary Consul (Penguin Classics)
$17.70
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Orient Express (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
$11.99
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Quiet American (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
$11.39
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Graham Greene (1904-1991), whose long life nearly spanned the length of the twentieth century, was one of its greatest novelists. Educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, he started his career as a sub-editor of The Times of London. He began to attract notice as a novelist with his fourth book, Orient Express, in 1932. In 1935, he trekked across northern Liberia, his first experience in Africa, recounted in A Journey Without Maps (1936). He converted to Catholicism in 1926, an edifying decision, and reported on religious persecution in Mexico in 1938 in The Lawless Roads, which served as a background for his famous The Power and the Glory, one of several “Catholic” novels (Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair). During the war he worked for the British secret service in Sierra Leone; afterward, he began wide-ranging travels as a journalist, which were reflected in novels such as The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, The Comedians, Travels with My Aunt, The Honorary Consul, The Human Factor, Monsignor Quixote, and The Captain and the Enemy. In addition to his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, two books of autobiography—A Sort of Life and Ways of Escape—two biographies, and four books for children. He also contributed hundreds of essays and film and book reviews to The Spectator and other journals, many of which appear in the late collection Reflections. Most of his novels have been filmed, including The Third Man, which the author first wrote as a film treatment. Graham Greene was named Companion of Honour and received the Order of Merit among numerous other awards.

Mark Bosco is associate professor of English and Theology at Loyola University Chicago. He has written on Graham Greene and Flannery O'Connor, as well as on the aesthetics of Hans Urs von Balthasar.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group (September 30, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143105558
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143105558
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 12 and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.65 x 7.7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 454 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. Graham Greene

    Graham Greene

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Henry Graham Greene OM CH (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English novelist and author regarded by some as one of the great writers of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted, in 1967, for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Through 67 years of writings, which included over 25 novels, he explored the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world, often through a Catholic perspective.

    Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Jean-Luc Mercié

    Jean-Luc Mercié

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
454 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ernest Smallman, III
5.0 out of 5 stars Greene Novel
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
Well written and entertaining
Helpful
 Report
Saad Butt
4.0 out of 5 stars "I never told you I had left the Church. How can I leave the Church? The Church is the world. The Church is this barrio, this...
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2009
Verified Purchase
"The Honorary Consul" written in the early 1970s about a botched kidnapping attempt of an American ambassador in Argentina teems with usual Graham Greene characters all of whom are, not coincidentally, lapsed Catholics. The three main characters are Eduardo Plarr, a half English-half Paraguayan doctor who lacks the ability to love and believe in God. Eduardo has ambivalent feelings toward his father who, for safety reasons, sent him and his mother to Argentina when he was a boy. Throughout the book, he appears to be awaiting his father's return who is thought to be imprisoned in Paraguay. Charley Fortnum is the eponymous honorary consul, who is mistakenly kidnapped in the place of the American ambassador. Having been born and raised in Argentina, Charley has never visited England. He is an alcoholic like his father. He constantly seeks the right measure to get drunk. People need water to live; he needs whiskey. Like Eduardo, he too had a distant relationship with his own father and has difficulty imagining himself being one. Leon Rivas, a rebel, ex-priest and a childhood friend of Eduardo, seeks Eduardo's help with itinerary of the American ambassador to facilitate the kidnapping. Leon plans to exchange the ambassador for ten Paraguayan political prisoners including Eduardo's father. Leon has left the church following a dispute with his archbishop over religious teaching. He has tried becoming a lawyer then a revolutionary and feels he has failed. Like most Greene books the dialogue is focused on the characters' beliefs, contradictory teachings of the Catholic Church, political prisoners, adultery, love and the need to have hope. If one prefers something light-hearted from the author, please consider "Monsignor Quixote" and "Travels with My Aunt."
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Connie J. Manning
5.0 out of 5 stars a novel that both enriches you and enlightens you also.
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
Graham Greene was a brilliant writer whose work is timeless. He was concerned with the moral questions of the world,,,,,how does one learn to live, how does one learn to choose the right thing to do in a complicated situation etc. This is an author whose body work can be reread over and over, each time finding something new to ponder and appreciate. In my view, the Nobel committee missed out by not awarding him that honor. I recommend him to anyone who wishes to read something capable of making you both think and to also feel deeply.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Roland Beech
3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable enough but much better Greene books out there
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2024
Verified Purchase
Readable and got through it quickly but not a must read by any means...Our Man in Havana still my favorite by him
Helpful
 Report
N. Johnson
4.0 out of 5 stars A hard man, a good book
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2015
If you're coming to this novel, it's likely due to the fact that you are already familiar with Greene's work. This review takes that into account. If not, read on anyway. The book is still good.

Graham Greene's writing is excellent, and "The Honorary Consul" is no exception. Within a Graham Greene sliding scale, "The Honorary Consul" is not his best (really, too many opinions on what that would be, but this, it is likely agreed, is not) nor is it his worst. Given that preface, however, I often return to my memory of Dr. Plarr and his struggles - as everyone before has noted in reviews before this: love, god, politics, place. Greene handles, as he always does, all of these deftly and superbly. The heat and humidity was so well described, I felt uncomfortable. The politics succinctly put. The morality and higher power issues are certainly explored. But Plarr's inability to love and care no matter what the stakes, regardless of his detached (professional?) compassion for most people he comes into contact with, is so much more advanced and nuanced than when Greene, as far as I can tell, first wrote about it in "A Burnt Out Case." (By this, I mean that Plarr, like Querry before him, really just doesn't care. In many of the other novels I've read, there is at least some touching, human component driving decisions. But not here, as in "A Burnt Out Case" and this novel feels less....wearisome.) Plarr's personal relationships are essentially devoid of anything really personal. His human contact is entirely physically based, with strewn about moments of intellectuality. The appetite for humanity is so cold, that it seems that that is just what is needed. Plarr is a hard man. This may not be the best of his books, but Greene has done a fine job (not that he'll ever need my stamp of approval).
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jose Flores Velasco
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2014
Verified Purchase
It's a great story. Not really that insightful into Argentina unless you've been there (there's more in many names than comes to mind so it's like reading between the lines). Regardless, it really is an entertaining story, a dramatic comedy of sorts. Very worth your while and money.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
satchel
5.0 out of 5 stars great book, not great supplied paperback
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2016
Verified Purchase
Well it's a great book, but while I was reading it it fell apart, so the quality of the paperback had little to do with the quality of the novel.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Mike Brooke
5.0 out of 5 stars 0aVERY MCLEVER THRILLERNE OF HIS BEST
Reviewed in Canada on September 12, 2021
Verified Purchase
A very clever thriller
Report
Steve45
5.0 out of 5 stars eternal classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
I love GG’s sharp, spare prose which conveys a fullest appreciation of the story without long boring bit.
This is a wonderful story and such a prosaic story told so well
One person found this helpful
 Report
ettore giannella
4.0 out of 5 stars Riflessioni interessanti tra coscienza e fede religiosa.
Reviewed in Italy on February 11, 2020
Verified Purchase
I dialoghi e le riflessioni inducono a pensare. Non c'è giudizio aprioristico. Anche i personaggi sono in chiaroscuro, nel bene e nel male, c'è sempre un tratto di umanità e di pietas che li contraddistingue. Le considerazioni su un certo tipo di America: Nord, Centro e Sud puntuali e non preconfezionate.
Report
G. Montanari
4.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in Australia on August 31, 2020
Verified Purchase
Not one of the finest Greene books, but still very good. The usual mixture of action, romance, and great observations. Good as a page turner as well as a high-brow meditation on human frailty.
Report
Roland Umlauft
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it
Reviewed in Spain on November 3, 2013
Verified Purchase
One of the more entertaining books I've read recently. Surely one of Greene's best works! I highly recommend this book.
Report