Paths of Glory (Cobb novel)
{{Short description|1935 novel by Humphrey Cobb}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Paths of Glory
| image = Paths of Glory - Humphrey Cobb.jpg
| caption = First edition cover
| author = Humphrey Cobb
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre = War novel
| publisher = Viking Press
| release_date = {{start date and age|1935|6}}
| media_type = Print (Hardback)
| pages = 265 pp
| isbn =
| congress = PS3505.O1385 P38
| oclc = 952577067
}}
Paths of Glory is a 1935 war novel by Humphrey Cobb. Set during the World War I, the story tells of the French 181st company, which is sent by the general's order to carry out a reckless attack in no man's land with the purpose to take the strategically important "Pimple", and how the failure is covered up by court martialing "war criminals" for cowardice.{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/12/26/archives/screen-shameful-incident-of-war-paths-of-glory-has-premiere-at.html |title=Screen: Shameful Incident of War; 'Paths of Glory' Has Premiere at Victoria |author=Bosley Crowther |date=December 26, 1957}}
The book was based on the Souain corporals affair, an actual event in WWI when the French Army shot four men for cowardice as an example to others.{{cite book|first=Nicolas |last=Offenstadt|title= Les Fusillés de la Grande Guerre et la mémoire collective|publisher= Odile Jacob|year= 1999|page= 61}}{{cite web|url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/paths-of-glory.html|title=Stanley Kubrick's 'Paths of Glory' Was Loosely Based on a Real-Life Tragedy|first=Todd|last=Neikirk|publisher=War History Online|date=14 October 2022|access-date=28 December 2024}}
Background
Cobb had served for three years during the World War I, including duty on the front lines at the Battle of Amiens in France in 1918.{{cite web|url=https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/one-path-leads-to-another-in-the-trenches-of-the-western-front,12439|title=One 'Path' leads to another in the trenches of the Western Front|first=Hugh|last=Gilmore|publisher=Chestnut Hill Local|date=22 March 2019|access-date=28 December 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://adiamond.me/2024/01/paths-of-glory-humphrey-cobb/|title=Paths of Glory|first=Andrew|last=Diamond|website=adiamond.me|date=5 January 2024|access-date=28 December 2024}} Based on his experiences, Cobb wrote Paths of Glory while working at the Young & Rubicam advertising agency in New York.{{cite news |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-05-05-bk-2040-story.html |title=Wanted: The Real Jim Thompson |date=May 5, 1991}}
Adaptations
In 1935, Sidney Howard wrote the Broadway stage adaptation of Cobb's novel of the same year. With its unsparing depictions of battlefield brutality, the play failed at the box office. As a World War I veteran, however, Howard believed it necessary to show the horrors of armed conflict. Convinced that the novel should be filmed one day, Howard wrote, "It seems to me that our motion picture industry must feel something of a sacred obligation to make the picture."Phil McArdle. [http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-12-18/article/28760?headline=Sidney-Howard-From-Berkeley-to-Broadway-and-Hollywood "Sidney Howard: From Berkeley to Broadway and Hollywood"], The Berkeley Daily Planet, December 18, 2007
The film version of the novel, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas, was released in 1957.{{cite web|url=https://americanlegends.com/Interviews/paths_of_glory.html|title=Stanley Kubrick and Paths of Glory|first=Richard|last=Anderson|publisher=American Legends|access-date=29 December 2024}} Fulfilling Howard's "sacred obligation", Kubrick decided to adapt it to the screen after he remembered reading the book when he was younger.{{cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1633-paths-of-glory-we-have-met-the-enemy?srsltid=AfmBOopNajVGbnQfVVNRJgg-CVWIi691CHTPdIv8QToRdDMY1b3XISVD|title=Paths of Glory: "We Have Met the Enemy..."|first=James|last=Naremore|publisher=Criterion|date=23 October 2010|access-date=29 December 2024}} Kubrick and his partners purchased the film rights from Cobb's widow for $10,000.{{cite web |title='Paths of Glory': Stanley Kubrick's First Step Towards Cinema Immortality |url=https://cinephiliabeyond.org/paths-glory-stanley-kubricks-first-step-towards-cinema-immortality/ |website=cinephiliabeyond |access-date=15 February 2019 |archive-date=February 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035130/https://cinephiliabeyond.org/paths-glory-stanley-kubricks-first-step-towards-cinema-immortality/ |url-status=live }}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|title=Faulkner: A Biography|first=Joseph|last=Blotner|page=587|publisher=Random House|year=1974|isbn=1-57806-732-4}}
- {{cite journal|first=Shampa|last=Iftakhar|title=Paths of Glory: Injustice and Crime against Humanity|journal=International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics|volume=1|number=3|year=2015|pages=208–211}}
External links
- [https://davidsimon.com/forward-paths-of-glory-by-humphrey-cobb/ Introduction: Paths of Glory by Humphrey Cobb] – The Audacity of Despair (Davidsimon.com)
- Jesse Bier: [https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/cobb-and-kubrick-paths-of-glory-as-novel-and-film/ Cobb and Kubrick: Author and Auteur: (Paths of Glory as Novel and Film)] – Scraps from the Loft, 26 January 2017.
{{portal bar|United States|Novels}}
Category:Novels set during World War I
Category:American novels adapted into films
Category:War novels adapted into films
Category:American novels adapted into plays
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