[Graham Greene] has often been praised for the quality of his observation, but this lies in the creation of an atmosphere appropriate to period, place and characters rather than in what things actually look like.

There are few detailed descriptions of people in the novels: lips, noses, figures are rarely made explicit, and the description of Father Thomas's nose in A Burnt-Out Case has the shock of rarity. Places give off an exotic feeling that is almost invariable, whether it is the river down which Querry moves in the same novel, or the view of boat passengers crossing a "grey wet quay, over a wilderness of rails and points" on the first page of the early Stamboul Train. The river, the quay, fifty other scenes in the novels, have a cinematic effect that is brilliant yet general, offering an overall scene rather than particular observation of the details...