A few hours later we heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the sea between Corsica and Nice, only a few miles away from his flat in Antibes, killing, I believe, all on board. One of the passengers on the flight was General Cogny, whom Graham knew well from his days in Vietnam.

Examples of that kind are numerous...

SOURCE: Yvonne Cloetta's intro to A World of My Own: a Dream Diary by Graham Greene, page x. I added title to aid searches.

AFTERWORD

Wikipedia says on September 11, 1968, an Air France plane crashed into the sea, killing all 92 people on board, including Graham's friend, General René Cogny. The recorder and debris were siezed by the military and vanished; the original finding, that a fire broke out onboard, has now been debunked as a cover-up; it appears the airliner was shot down by a missile, most likely a French missile--there was a military base nearby.

Was it only reckless incompetence? In Vietnam, Cogny was suspected of assassinating another French officer. This may have been revenge. If so, that's some justice--kill 91 innocents to get one man!

Graham Greene's fiction, full of absurd intrigue, violence, incompetence, and government coverups, is less satirical than it seems. It was his reality--day and night.

--Chris Wayan

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