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A classic tale of friendship and betrayal
1. LIFE OF THE AUTHOR
Born on the 2 October 1904 in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshie, England - attended local scholl where his father teached - 1922-1926 Balliol College, Oxford - 1926 after graduation started working for the London Times where he met his later wife Vivien Dayrell-Browning - in 1929 his first novel "The Man Within" was published - until 1950 when "The Third Man" was published he wrote a lot of novels, short stories, essays, plays and children´s books - in 1975 he separated from his wife and on the 3 April 1991 he died a peaceful dead in Vevey, Switzerland.
2.THE NOVEL
. PERSONS
Rollo Martins alias Buck Dexter, British author of cheap westerns
Harry Lime, old schoolfriend of Martins and his idol
Colonel Calloway, British police officer and the narrator of the story
Anna Schmidt, actress and Lime´s girl-friend, feigns to be an Austrian but is Hungarian
Dr. Winkler, Lime´s doctor and present doctor at the accident
Colonel Cooler, a friend of Lime
Herr Kurtz, a friend of Lime
Herr Koch, Lime´s caretaker and withness of Lime´s accident
Mr. Crabbin, represantative of the fictious British Cultural Relations Society
Benjamin Dexter, a fictional novelist
Joseph Harbin, a friend of Lime
. PLOT
The story is narrated by Colonel Calloway who reconstructs his police files. Rollo Martins travels after the World War II to the into four zones divided Vienna to visit his old friend Harry Lime. When arriving, Martins finds out that his friend was run over by a car and died on his injuries. At lime´s funeral Martins meets Colonel Calloway who points out that lime was the worsr racketeer in Vienna who´d have been arrested if he had not been killed.
Martins dissents from Calloway because he always regarded Lime as a hero and as an idol. He annot prove it, because Martins has to leave Vienna tomorrow because of lack of money. Fortunately, at his hotel Martins is taken for Benjamin Dexter by Mr. Crabbin, therefore a hotel room is ordered for one week plus expenses, but he must host a lecture and a literary discussion. Thus, he starts his own inquiry at first with Kurtz who explains the accident. But Martins isn´t satisfied and thinks that Lime was murdered. Visiting Schmidt, she tells him the same as Cooler did, but mentions that even the driver was a friend of lime. After that, he visits the doctor to question him, but gets no information. At Lime´s appartement he meets Koch who reveals that he is a witness who did not give evidence. He claims that there was a third man whom he could not identify. Martins wants Koch to give him evidence but Koch refuses to do it and outraged. So Martins visits Cooler who tells the same story as Kuntz and askes him about the third man, but he has not seen a third man. Then he Went back to Schmidt again and tellls her about his latest investigation, so they decide to question Koch again. As they arrived, Koch was murdered, therefore they fled and Martins went back to his hotel where Calloway was waiting. He tries to escape and was driven to the lierary discussion. After the discussion Martins was brought to Calloway. Col. Calloway makes inquiry about Cooler, Kurtz, Dr. Winkler and Koch. Martins asks him about the third man, then Calloway informs him about Lime´s rackets: In those days, only military hospitals were supplied with Penicillin in Austria, thus no civilian doctor or hospital owns it it. As a result Penicillin was stolen and sold to Australian doctors for a lot of money. Finally, an organisation was founded and Penicillin was diluted. The consequences were that it causes veneral diseases and Menengitis. Then he showed evidences that Lime, Cooler, Kurtz, Winkler and Harbin, who vanished, were involved. So Martins gets disillusioned and disappointed about Lime and he wants to leave Vienna as soon as possible. This plan failed because of the Austrian police. Both think that Kurtz or the third man killed Lime, so he tries to find the third man. After the inquiry he visits Schmidt and tells her all about Limne and as leaving her, he meets the third man who is in fact Lime himself. He pursues him to an iron kiosk where he vanished, so he informs Calloway. In the meantime Schmidt was to be arrested by the four powers because of her papers. Martins and Calloway find a door in the kiosk with stairs to the sewer system, which was used for smuggling. Knowing Lime is alive, Martins makes an appointment with him at the Prater´s Great Wheel where he realises that Lime´s character totally changed, that he became a man with no scruples anymore, that he betrays and uses persons, but that he still has certain principles. He is agodless man, possessed by evil and tempted by money. His only aim is earning money, a perversion of values. Visiting Schmidt agaain, she remains loyal to Lime. At Calloway´s office, he is informed that Harbin was in Lime´s coffin and that Winkler and Cooler will be arrested, but nozt Lime and Kurtz. Martins decides to be used for a bait, because he lost his faith in Lime´s friendship. So he makes another appointment with Lime. At the meeting, Lime realises the trap and flees. The police and Martins persecute him through the sewer system and in hte end Martins wounds and shots Lime.
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