The Tenth Man

Although I may have read this many years ago — since the plot evolution when I encountered it was somewhat familiar — I found The Tenth Man absolutely compelling and a reminder of Greene's greatness. No wonder MGM liked this, since it had originally been commissioned for a film. Short, at around 30,000 words (or 100 pages), the action is intense, gripping, and cinematic. At heart, Greene ponders the question of the value of a human life, its tradeability, and then the consequences. Set originally in a prisoner-of-war camp where every “tenth man” from lots drawn, is shot, one offers his future to another (or his descendants) if they swap places. With the wager undertaken, the action shifts to post-war, where the survivor — under an assumed identity — visits his former house, now in the hands of the family of the dead. Greene consciously acknowledges Shakespeare as an influence, but Greene's examination pertains more to guilt and hate than mistaken identity. As ever, the question too of where God might be in all this is discussed. 8/10.

By Graham Greene