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wombat929 's review for:
The Tenth Man
by Graham Greene
THE TENTH MAN is a meditative novel pondering the state of the world as it tries to repair itself after the war. At its heart lies cowardice and love, acceptance and desperation.
A few thoughts:
- The book swings wildly from area to area, but each part has its own delicious tension involved in someone deciding how to behave (or not).
- The characters are believable but a bit hyperbolic. It reads like a dramatic play that's a touch too dramatic.
- Despite the tension in the story, I didn't find the book gripping. We know the mind of the protagonist, so his agony about his own role in the world is somewhat muted in our reception of it.
- As always, Greene knows how to craft a story that draws you in and makes the characters feel natural. Superb writing.
- So often, fiction focuses on the flashy side of war. But so much of life for so many around war is the day-to-day dealing of the fact and the aftermath of conflicts. This book draws out that idea skillfully.
Worth a read.
A few thoughts:
- The book swings wildly from area to area, but each part has its own delicious tension involved in someone deciding how to behave (or not).
- The characters are believable but a bit hyperbolic. It reads like a dramatic play that's a touch too dramatic.
- Despite the tension in the story, I didn't find the book gripping. We know the mind of the protagonist, so his agony about his own role in the world is somewhat muted in our reception of it.
- As always, Greene knows how to craft a story that draws you in and makes the characters feel natural. Superb writing.
- So often, fiction focuses on the flashy side of war. But so much of life for so many around war is the day-to-day dealing of the fact and the aftermath of conflicts. This book draws out that idea skillfully.
Worth a read.