Surprisingly modern for a novel published in 1932. Wikipediatells us this was Greene's "first true success".

The Complete Entertainments by Graham Greene - AbeBooks The Complete Entertainments by Graham Greene - AbeBooks

My audio-version was brilliantly narrated by Michael Maloney, who brings us the different voices and accents to perfection.Although he himself called this one to be an "entertainment" as compared to his other works, The Stamboul Train was anything but that. This is a thriller set during 1930s infused with themes of anti-semitism, communism, love, lust, homosexuality, crime & punishment (justified?). His lips felt dry with a literal thirst for righteousness, which was like a glass of ice-cold water on a table in another man's room. Stamboul Train (1932) is one of Graham Greene's early entertainments, written as a money-making venture and with the intention of being made into a film (which it was).

Stamboul Train (Orient Express) by Graham Greene: Book Review

Grünlich is nothing short of the antagonist, causing most of the problems for the other characters with his amoral actions. He faces no consequences for his unscrupulous behaviour and is last seen taking in the sights of Constantinople. Stamboul Train was filmed as Orient Express in 1934 starring Heather Angel as Coral. It doesn’t seem to be available. Stamboul Train: Alternative CoverGreene has once again created an assortment of memorable misfits: a pushy, possessive, female, English journalist with her attractive, seemingly-flighty, young companion; a shrewd, young Jewish businessman and his colleagues in Constantinople; a mysterious, middle-aged doctor whose past unfolds during the journey; a penny-less dancer in search of love; a proud author, plus other characters acquired along the route. I liked the way Graham Greene has narrated on the Ostend departure setting and how Carleton Myatt sees Coral Musker before leaving the station, how they meet and know each other while traveling on the train. His writing is so effective and powerful that, I think, we would love to follow and imagine the scene as if we were either one them or both. For instance: Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth Railways persisted in crime fiction but lost some of their dangerous agency. They begin to play a neutral role. Railways take Holmes and Watson to crime scenes; they are not usually crime scenes in themselves. The pair depart from every London terminus except Marylebone, and we know the game is afoot when Holmes asks Watson to look up a train time. (But when, in ‘The Adventure of the Retired Colourman’, Holmes asks Watson for the train times to Little Purlington in Essex, Conan Doyle – a somewhat impatient writer – makes Watson answer off the top of his head: ‘There is one at five-twenty from Liverpool Street.’)