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The Profession A Thriller Steven Pressfield 9780385528733 Books

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The Profession A Thriller Steven Pressfield 9780385528733 Books

Generally speaking, spy/war/espionage novels are among my favorites. I was intrigued by the premise of the book, that being the future war in the Middle East and thought this sounded like a great book. However, I was put off from the beginning by the over-the-top characters and the minute details of battle. Every character seemed to get worse as I read on until I finally stopped roughly half way. I stopped and started the book several times determined to give it a fair shake, but it is just not my cup of tea.

If your are into rough, tough Rambo characters and highly detailed battle descriptions, you will like this book. Sorry, I just could not get into it.


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The Profession A Thriller Steven Pressfield 9780385528733 Books Reviews

Without delving into spoilers or a full-blown synopsis, this book was as much a psychological thriller as an action piece. So many of the elements parallel the stories of Caesar and Alcibiades, and are even explicitly referenced several times, yet the sheer scope of the parallel was somehow lost on me until the entire story wrapped up.

Virtually every major piece of this story has a parallel---literal or symbolic---in the stories of Caesar and the fall of the Roman Republic, and/or Alcibiades and the fall of the Athenian Democracy, from the external conflicts, the American political climate, even the widespread rise of mercenary armies (hint Marian Reforms)

Some of the negative reviews I saw (typically less than a paragraph long) either completely and utterly missed the symbolism, or just didn't care much about it. One of them seemed completely incapable to separate the author from the book's setting, somehow thinking this dystopian future is what Pressfield actually believes.

Some of the more sophisticated negative reviews do have good points; the pacing is odd, and in some cases (particularly towards the end) horrendous; an event that took place less than 10 pages earlier, with no chronological exposition, is described as having happened more than a week ago.

A very nice callback was also in the book, in the form of Gent recalling lessons from his previous mentor, one Vaughn Telamon of Arcadia, Mississippi. If you've read "Tides of War" you'll get it right away.

Along with Pressfield's usual Warrior Ethos theme that occurs in virtually all his previous works, he introduces a new theme that could be badly simplified into "reincarnation" or some degree of "persistant self through history", as it is heavily implied that Gent is re-playing a role "he" has played countless times throughout history, complete with the prologue re-playing itself later on. This is played even greater and more bluntly with Jim Salter, who mentions his personal philosophy involving his position at "the intersection of Necessity and Free Will", which is an instant HEY I RECOGNIZE THAT for anyone who's read "Tides of War" Perhaps stretching this theme a bit, this could be seen as a "sequel" of sorts to "Tides of War".

Ultimately, though, the book is simply too well crafted and narrated for its flaws to drag it down, and if Pressfield never wrote a work of fiction ever again, this would be a spectacular conclusion to his books.
This is really a book with two story lines. The first and obvious presentation examines the potential for military contractors (glorified mercenaries) working for the world's largest banks and multinationals to displace nation state militaries for everything short of all out war. Pressfield injects a good deal of military jargon and creates a false history between today and the mid-21st century when the events of the novel take place. This portion is well done, exhibiting Mr. Pressfield's clear understanding of how militaries operate, and who controls the world. In it -- he also explores the nature of men at war, absent the notion of patriotism. This portion is handled a bit heavy-handedly, and with rather too little subtlety. There is lots of dialogue about it, with troopers actually discussing the issue among one another. This 'band of brothers' ethos and mentality is not often spoken of by actual soldiers -- it is something felt, acknowledged by action, but not openly discussed, especially by seasoned soldiers. Its understood, not analyzed. This is the reason I docked Mr. Pressfield a star (he handled this topic ever so much better in Gates of Fire -- a must read!).

The second theme is a warning about America's political trajectory, drawing the obvious parallels to Rome in the final years of the Republic. The narrative is essentially a recreation of Caesar's crossing the Rubicon and assuming control of Rome, effectively ending the Republic and ushering in the rule of the dictator and eventually the Empire. Again, a bit direct, Pressfield actually connects the dots for us by having the characters argue over the actual analogy to Rome, so not much is left to the reader's imagination -- but very effective and artfully constructed. Unfortunately, this is not likely to be the kind of book that wakes up the nation, but it is well done and spot on.
Generally speaking, spy/war/espionage novels are among my favorites. I was intrigued by the premise of the book, that being the future war in the Middle East and thought this sounded like a great book. However, I was put off from the beginning by the over-the-top characters and the minute details of battle. Every character seemed to get worse as I read on until I finally stopped roughly half way. I stopped and started the book several times determined to give it a fair shake, but it is just not my cup of tea.

If your are into rough, tough Rambo characters and highly detailed battle descriptions, you will like this book. Sorry, I just could not get into it.