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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Graham Green wrote The 10th Man and the other material in this volumn in 1944 when he was a contract writer for the MGM Studio which explains why the copy write belongs to MGM and not to the author Mr. Greene. These pages were not published or used at the time and were rediscovered and published with a new introduction by the author in 1985. The first section of the book is made up of sketches for possible movies that Greene wrote for MGM. They read somewhat like short stories and are quite clever. The bulk of the book is a short novel, The 10th Man. In the 10th Man there are thirty French prisoners of the the Nazis locked up together for reasons we don't know. Probably no reason at all. The Nazi official tells the prisoners that because the resistance has killed three people nearby three prisoners will be shot, but the prisoners must decide who the three will be. How do they dicide and what happens to the survivors afterward? Will anything good come out of this atrocity.
This was an enjoyable little novella, and a neat little story that ends nicely with the way things work out. It would have made a great little film. Set in France during the second world war, there are 30 men in a prison room. The prison guard tells them that one in ten men will be shot in the morning; they can decide who will die. So they draw lots, and a wealthy young lawyer draws one of the marked cards. In a panic he offers all his wealth and property to any man who will take his place. One man agrees, and wills are drawn up so that everything will be left to his sister and mother.
After the war the lawyer, now with papers with a false name, is struggling to start life again anywhere. He ends up at the old country home and is mistaken for a tramp looking for food and work. He ends up working for the mother and sister. The sister tells him how much she hates this lawyer, and mistaking him for a fellow ex prisoner, asks him to keep an eye out for the lawyer - she is sure he is going to turn up at some point, and she wants to kill him for what he did to her twin brother.
Then one day there is a knock at the door, and a man claiming to be the lawyer is there. All the sister manages to do is spit in his face. The real lawyer finds out that the imposter is an actor who heard about the story from one of the other survivors and came by on a chance. He decides to try and woo the sister and take over the property, and tells her lies about the odd job man they have hired - no one has realised he actually is the lawyer at this point. Scuffles and arguements follow, and the real laywer is fatally shot in the stomach. So all things come round again.
There's also two synopsis for film plots that Greene must have written at the same time, both of which sounded really good - I would quite like to watch films like those!
After the war the lawyer, now with papers with a false name, is struggling to start life again anywhere. He ends up at the old country home and is mistaken for a tramp looking for food and work. He ends up working for the mother and sister. The sister tells him how much she hates this lawyer, and mistaking him for a fellow ex prisoner, asks him to keep an eye out for the lawyer - she is sure he is going to turn up at some point, and she wants to kill him for what he did to her twin brother.
Then one day there is a knock at the door, and a man claiming to be the lawyer is there. All the sister manages to do is spit in his face. The real lawyer finds out that the imposter is an actor who heard about the story from one of the other survivors and came by on a chance. He decides to try and woo the sister and take over the property, and tells her lies about the odd job man they have hired - no one has realised he actually is the lawyer at this point. Scuffles and arguements follow, and the real laywer is fatally shot in the stomach. So all things come round again.
There's also two synopsis for film plots that Greene must have written at the same time, both of which sounded really good - I would quite like to watch films like those!
When I was in high school I didn’t like to read but there was a list of summer reading books that I had to read at least three books from. Needless to say I found the smallest book and read it. That book was “The Tenth Man”. Since that day more than 20 years ago I have done nothing but hush about how amazing this book was. The concept of the story. The setting. The characters. The twists. Amazing.
I decided to read it again some 20+ years later just to see if I was remembering things through rose colored glasses or not. I was not. This book holds up every bit. You can read the dust jacket and get the story gist so I won’t bore you there. It’s just so solid. And the story surrounding the creation of this short novel is just as interesting.
It’s 157 pages. Seriously, go read it.
I decided to read it again some 20+ years later just to see if I was remembering things through rose colored glasses or not. I was not. This book holds up every bit. You can read the dust jacket and get the story gist so I won’t bore you there. It’s just so solid. And the story surrounding the creation of this short novel is just as interesting.
It’s 157 pages. Seriously, go read it.
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A light and engaging short read. From the sharp, simple style I assume Greene was very popular back in the day. I especially liked the motif of time and clocks throughout.
This will take you 30 minutes to read. In the foreward, Greene says he likes it better than The Third Man.
medium-paced
3.5
Not the best Green but still a solid work written in the usual sharp style.
Not the best Green but still a solid work written in the usual sharp style.
dark
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes