A Noble Profession

By Pierre Boulle

1960

First Published

3.60

Average Rating

217

Number of Pages

6H37M

Audio Length

In this provocative new novel, Pierre Boulle probes with a sharp scalpel the psychological anatomy of a spy - a man who sacrifices his country, his honor, and even his own life to an heroic image. In a story of intrigue and adventure as ingenious and gripping as anything in The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Mr. Boulle takes us from the aristocracy of British Intelligence and the German Secret Service to such ungentlemanly pursuits as torture, murder, and long-simmered revenge. The action revolves around Cousin - an intellectual author who prides himself on his own objectivity but who actually sees the world through the dreams of his own imagined superiority. World War II gives Cousin the chance to show that superiority by volunteering for espionage - a job, he feels, that is for gentlemen, and the arduous responsibilities of which only an aristocrat can assume. The heroic image to which Cousin sacrifices everything - including, at last, himself - is his own. A NOBLE PROFESSION is Boulle at his best - a sardonic, ironic, brilliant performance that adds a new and shining portrait to this master storyteller's wryly etched gallery of false heroes, charlatan saints, and vengeful patriots.

Avg Rating

3.60

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

25%

4 STARS

30%

3 STARS

26%

2 STARS

19%

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Pierre Boulle

Author · 12 books

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. Pierre Boulle (20 February 1912 – 30 January 1994) was a French novelist best known for two works, The Bridge over the River Kwai (1952) and Planet of the Apes (1963) that were both made into award-winning films. Boulle was an engineer serving as a secret agent with the Free French in Singapore, when he was captured and subjected to two years' forced labour. He used these experiences in The Bridge over the River Kwai, about the notorious Death Railway, which became an international bestseller. The film by David Lean won many Oscars, and Boulle was credited with writing the screenplay, because its two genuine authors had been blacklisted. His science-fiction novel Planet of the Apes, where intelligent apes gain mastery over humans, was adapted into a series of five award-winning films that spawned magazine versions and popular themed toys.