Graham Greene

"The Quiet American" (1955) is set during the early stages of the Vietnam War and follows a cynical British journalist and an idealistic American operative whose paths collide in Saigon. The novel is widely regarded as a prophetic critique of American intervention in Southeast Asia.

Yes, Greene wrote the original screenplay for "The Third Man" (1949), directed by Carol Reed and starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten. Greene wrote a novella of the same name as preparation for the screenplay, and the film is considered one of the greatest of all time.

Greene converted to Catholicism in 1926, and Catholic theology, sin, and moral conflict are central to novels like "The Power and the Glory" (1940) and "The Heart of the Matter" (1948). He is often classified as a Catholic novelist, though his characters typically struggle with faith rather than embody it cleanly.

Greene was reportedly shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times but never received the award, which many critics have called a significant omission. He did, however, receive the Order of Merit from Queen Elizabeth II and remained one of the most widely read British novelists of the 20th century.