Solidly Okay

review - Created: 2026-04-09

‘But you do believe, don’t you,’ Rose implored him, you think it’s true?’ ‘Of course it’s true,’ the Boy said. ‘What else could there be?’ he went scornfully on. ‘Why,’ he said, ‘it’s the only thing that fits. These atheists, they don’t know nothing. Of course there’s Hell. Flames and damnation,’ he said with his eyes on the dark shifting water and the lightning and the lamps going out above the black struts of the Palace Pier, ‘torments.’ ‘And Heaven too,’ Rose said with anxiety, while the rain fell interminably on. ‘Oh, maybe,’ the Boy said, ‘maybe.’

Brighton Rock follows the law of popular crime fiction: there should be a fast-paced and interesting story. This story is of Ida Arnold, who pursues the young gangster Pinkie Brown (“The Boy”). On another level, the novel is considered serious fiction. It explores themes of nature, existence and God. Characters are straightforward, but their philosophies are not. The most intriguing was Catholic Guilt. In particular, the contrast between the religious good and evil, with the secular right and wrong.