TO MICHEL LECHAT

C.6 Albany, | London, W.1. | 27th October 1958

Dear Dr. Lechat,

I hope you will excuse me writing to you again in English, but my French is too poor to write in that language. I have just got back from Havana and New York where I was able to see Dr. Franck. A fascinating study! I went also to two exhibitions of his pictures which turned out – a little to my surprise – to be of extraordinary interest. He spoke very warmly of you and of your station and confirmed my desire to visit you. My problem is when? I am just starting a film script of my last book with Carol Reed and I don’t expect to finish it until early in the New Year. I gather from Dr. Franck that the time I proposed – the end of January – is about the worst period possible because of the rains. On the other hand I would like to see something of ‘the worst period’. Ideally speaking for my purpose I would like to come a little before the end of the rains and stay on into the beginning of the dry weather. In all perhaps about six weeks, if this would enable me to visit also Imbonga and Wafanya by boat. Would such a long period be asking too much of your hospitality and the hospitality of the other Missions? I warn you that I shall be a rather nervous observer as disease is always a little upsetting to me perhaps because I have been too lucky in my own health until now.

[…]

The book that I have in mind has a leper mission purely as a background and I have no intention, I promise you, of producing a roman à clef. Indeed the reason why I want to visit all three missions if that be possible is to produce some kind of composite picture which will not be a portrait of any one of them. Nor am I looking for any dramatic material. The more normal and routine-like that I can make the background the more effective it would be for my purpose.

I hope you are having a successful stay in Tokyo and I hope very much that I shall be meeting you at Yonda in the fairly near future.

Yours very sincerely,
Graham Greene

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 617