A Burnt-Out Case by Graham Greene

Every once in a while I need an Africa hit. Maybe it is true of anyone who has had the good fortune to live for an extended time in a place so utterly different from the place they call home. I found this in a great used book store in NYC and bought it because it was cheap and it was Graham Greene. The setting is the late 50's in the Congo at a leproserie run by a Catholic brotherhood. "The" Querry, a renown architect has arrived on a rickety riverboat. He is running from something - fame? notoriety? self? but in typical colonial fashion, he has not run far enough. You can tussle with the themes of religion, beliefs, identity or just soak in the mysterious muggy, earthy air of Africa.I always enjoy Greene's book best when I get them used and I can imagine them emerging from a trunk once carried through the heart of Africa.