What do you think?
Rate this book
The Pledge
A book about the life of War & terror within the U.S.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
14 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Howard Fast
303 books254 followersHoward Fast was one of the most prolific American writers of the twentieth century. He was a bestselling author of more than eighty works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays. The son of immigrants, Fast grew up in New York City and published his first novel upon finishing high school in 1933. In 1950, his refusal to provide the United States Congress with a list of possible Communist associates earned him a three-month prison sentence. During his incarceration, Fast wrote one of his best-known novels, Spartacus (1951). Throughout his long career, Fast matched his commitment to championing social justice in his writing with a deft, lively storytelling style.
Pseudonyms: Walter Ericson, E.V. Cunningham
Pseudonyms: Walter Ericson, E.V. Cunningham
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 22, 2020
When Howard Fast was called before the infamous House of UnAmerican Activities Commission and he tried to make a statement, Senatory Joseph McCarthy told him "write a book!" According to the publicity that goes with the paperback edition I read, "The Pledge" is that book. It's not difficult to see Fast's outrage and disillusionment, but thankfully he uses these emotions to weave an interesting, at times infuriating, story.
Bruce Bacon is covering the famine in India in the waning days of WWII, and he's seeing things, and reporting things, that are not going to be popular back home or with the Allies. From this point on, there is a target on his back, and it only gets worse for him when he falls in love with Molly, a jaded liberal who writes for The Daily Worker.
The Pledge is a searing indictment of HUAC and the American justice system, and gives us some idea of how frightening it was to live in those times if you happened to believe in things that didn't "conform;" things like fairness and equality.
Bruce Bacon is covering the famine in India in the waning days of WWII, and he's seeing things, and reporting things, that are not going to be popular back home or with the Allies. From this point on, there is a target on his back, and it only gets worse for him when he falls in love with Molly, a jaded liberal who writes for The Daily Worker.
The Pledge is a searing indictment of HUAC and the American justice system, and gives us some idea of how frightening it was to live in those times if you happened to believe in things that didn't "conform;" things like fairness and equality.
September 11, 2017
Sometimes freedom of speech and freedom of the press are more myth than reality in a democracy--even when, yes, that democracy is the United States of America. A glaring example was the McCarthy Era, when anyone slightly suspected of not wholeheartedly approving of the status qup and government policy was likey to be brought before the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities.
This is what the protagonist of The Pledge, an Amercan journalist named Bruce Nathanial Bacon, learns after his attempts to uncover a story about an Indian famine in 1945. During the war years he worked in Europe as a correspondent, writing for the New York Tribune, and gained himself a considerable reputation and readership. After the Allied victory, Bruce wants to get out of Europe, but not necessarily to go straight home. Hearing a rumor that the British, who fear that Assam and India may soon be penetrated by the Japanese and welcomed as liberators, have cornered the rice supply and contrived a famine, Bruce decides to visit Calcutta. He thinks that after what he's seen in war-torn Europe (having stared into an open mass grave) nothing more can phase him.
But Calcutta does. Venturing out on his own against the advice of other Western journalists, he discovers the heat, stench, and poverty; the filthy pools of water where Bengalis endlessly try to observe a ritual aimed at (hopeless) cleanliness; the sacred cows walking untouched while peasant families pour into the city to die of starvation. Most soul shattering among his discoveries are the sleeping streets "carpeted by human beings" and in the morning "the human skeletons that had died during the night."
Bruce is a healthy, six foot tall white, middle-class American male and as if that guilt is not enough to bear, he learns that Calcutta can rip away the thin veneer of indifference that war had forced onto him. At night he cries.
There is another kind of awakening taking place around Bruce, but he is unaware until too late. He comes across it first in U.S. Army Sergeant Hal Legerman, a friendly guy who tries to help him research his story. Legerman introduces him to Chatterjee and Ashoka Majumdar, two Indian intellectuals who verify the rice scandal. Chatterjee and Majumdar happen to be Communists, though not atheists. So, too, is Legerman--we discover later. And so too is Molly Maquire, a red-headed reporter whom Bruce meets much later.
Communism, as an ideology, was espoused by a wide assortment of people--or skirted delicately when not embraced--as a result of the tremendous killing in the two world wars. The values of mankind were openly questioned by thinking people. Communism is only significant in this novel as an attempt by many to re-envision world ethics and order for the sake of avoiding war, inustice and killing. Bruce never identifies as a Communist; he rejects the philosophy. It is ironic that so many who affect him ARE Communists, for that is the tie that proves so unfortunate for him.
Believing in his country, in democracy, truth and justice, Bruce comes back to America to write his story. Not only is it rejected but he eventually loses his job. He is made to understand that he has done the unthinkable by impugning any wrongdoing to Britain, a U.S. ally. Bruce soon finds himself an enemy of the state. While governments depict issues in black and white, journalists interpret the shades of gray. Journalists end up being the vanguards of the freedom of speech that is the hallmark of democracy.
And this was written back in 1990!
Once called in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Bruce knows that not to give information on the woman he loves can have him charged with being a Communist and sentenced to prison. In the years since Howard Fast wrote this dynamic and sad novel, the movie Trumbo highlights the case of other writers who have paid a similar price. It is debatable whether the newest method of disarming free speech is less harmful: calling journalism fake news may be just as damaging to a democracy as demonizing and imprisoning writers.
This is what the protagonist of The Pledge, an Amercan journalist named Bruce Nathanial Bacon, learns after his attempts to uncover a story about an Indian famine in 1945. During the war years he worked in Europe as a correspondent, writing for the New York Tribune, and gained himself a considerable reputation and readership. After the Allied victory, Bruce wants to get out of Europe, but not necessarily to go straight home. Hearing a rumor that the British, who fear that Assam and India may soon be penetrated by the Japanese and welcomed as liberators, have cornered the rice supply and contrived a famine, Bruce decides to visit Calcutta. He thinks that after what he's seen in war-torn Europe (having stared into an open mass grave) nothing more can phase him.
But Calcutta does. Venturing out on his own against the advice of other Western journalists, he discovers the heat, stench, and poverty; the filthy pools of water where Bengalis endlessly try to observe a ritual aimed at (hopeless) cleanliness; the sacred cows walking untouched while peasant families pour into the city to die of starvation. Most soul shattering among his discoveries are the sleeping streets "carpeted by human beings" and in the morning "the human skeletons that had died during the night."
Bruce is a healthy, six foot tall white, middle-class American male and as if that guilt is not enough to bear, he learns that Calcutta can rip away the thin veneer of indifference that war had forced onto him. At night he cries.
There is another kind of awakening taking place around Bruce, but he is unaware until too late. He comes across it first in U.S. Army Sergeant Hal Legerman, a friendly guy who tries to help him research his story. Legerman introduces him to Chatterjee and Ashoka Majumdar, two Indian intellectuals who verify the rice scandal. Chatterjee and Majumdar happen to be Communists, though not atheists. So, too, is Legerman--we discover later. And so too is Molly Maquire, a red-headed reporter whom Bruce meets much later.
Communism, as an ideology, was espoused by a wide assortment of people--or skirted delicately when not embraced--as a result of the tremendous killing in the two world wars. The values of mankind were openly questioned by thinking people. Communism is only significant in this novel as an attempt by many to re-envision world ethics and order for the sake of avoiding war, inustice and killing. Bruce never identifies as a Communist; he rejects the philosophy. It is ironic that so many who affect him ARE Communists, for that is the tie that proves so unfortunate for him.
Believing in his country, in democracy, truth and justice, Bruce comes back to America to write his story. Not only is it rejected but he eventually loses his job. He is made to understand that he has done the unthinkable by impugning any wrongdoing to Britain, a U.S. ally. Bruce soon finds himself an enemy of the state. While governments depict issues in black and white, journalists interpret the shades of gray. Journalists end up being the vanguards of the freedom of speech that is the hallmark of democracy.
And this was written back in 1990!
Once called in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Bruce knows that not to give information on the woman he loves can have him charged with being a Communist and sentenced to prison. In the years since Howard Fast wrote this dynamic and sad novel, the movie Trumbo highlights the case of other writers who have paid a similar price. It is debatable whether the newest method of disarming free speech is less harmful: calling journalism fake news may be just as damaging to a democracy as demonizing and imprisoning writers.
October 26, 2014
This book was so difficult to read, because it was about a shameful time in American history, when certain people were hounded by the government, falsely accused and labeled communists. They lost their jobs, and some were even sent to prison. Mr. Fast knows whereof he writes, because he was on of those persons.
Made we just want to weep.
Not much changes under the sun. We do not learn from history, do we.
It is certainly a worthy read.
Made we just want to weep.
Not much changes under the sun. We do not learn from history, do we.
It is certainly a worthy read.
August 27, 2011
A little slow to start, but the book was very enjoyable and the characters well developed. My only real criticism was the ending (which I will not ruin for others).
As a side note, I went looking for information on Howard Fast and was sorry to learn that he passed away in 2003.
As a side note, I went looking for information on Howard Fast and was sorry to learn that he passed away in 2003.
March 27, 2014
I enjoyed this book very much. I like Fast's writing and this was a very interesting subject.
I did not, however, like the ending. It just didn't seem right, not real. For this reason I gave it three and not four stars.
I did not, however, like the ending. It just didn't seem right, not real. For this reason I gave it three and not four stars.
January 21, 2019
Very interesting story dealing with McCarthyism in America.
August 18, 2024
Βαθμολογία: 9/10
Δεύτερο βιβλίο του Χάουαρντ Φαστ που διαβάζω, μετά το "Η ομολογία του Τζο Κούλεν" που διάβασα τον μακρινό Νοέμβριο του 2015, το οποίο μου άρεσε, με βάση το σχόλιο που είχα γράψει τότε, αλλά χωρίς να με πείσει απόλυτα, τώρα όμως τα πράγματα είναι κάπως διαφορετικά, μιας και το "Η υπόσχεση" μου άρεσε πραγματικά πολύ, χωρίς να το περιμένω σε αυτόν τον βαθμό: Άλλωστε, ο Φαστ το έγραψε στα γεράματά του, ποτέ δεν έκανε ιδιαίτερα μεγάλη επιτυχία, και στην Ελλάδα κυκλοφόρησε σε έκδοση τσέπης (πόσο μου αρέσουν αυτά τα παλιά Bell!). Πρωταγωνιστής της ιστορίας είναι ο Αμερικανός δημοσιογράφος και πολεμικός ανταποκριτής Μπρους Μπέικον, η ζωή και η καριέρα του οποίου θα εκτραχυνθούν, μετά από μια αποκάλυψη που θα κάνει για έναν λιμό στην Ινδία, για τον οποίο υπεύθυνη είναι η Μεγάλη Βρετανία, σύμμαχος της ίδιας του της χώρας. Με λίγα λόγια, θα μπει στο μάτι πολλών, το FBI θα τον κυνηγήσει σαν... Κομμουνιστή, θα αντιμετωπίσει διώξεις από την ίδια του την κυβέρνηση, την οποία είχε κάποτε περί πολλού. Μην ξεχνάμε, ότι τότε Χούβερ Και ΜακΚάρθι (και όχι μόνο) είχαν στήσει ένα κυνήγι μαγισσών και έψαχναν Κομμουνιστές ακόμα και στις τουαλέτες νηπιαγωγείων (που λέει ο λόγος). Αρκετά πολιτικοποιημένο μυθιστόρημα, χωρίς βέβαια να γίνεται ιδιαίτερα διδακτικό, σίγουρα ο Φαστ λέει κάποιες σκληρές αλήθειες, ενώ παράλληλα λέει και μια ωραία ιστορία, ενδιαφέρουσα και με χαρακτηριστικές σκηνές, με πολύ καλή σκιαγράφηση των βασικών χαρακτήρων, με άψογη ατμόσφαιρα, και με ωραίες περιγραφές σκηνικών και καταστάσεων που εύκολα μεταφέρουν τον αναγνώστη σε εκείνα τα περίεργα χρόνια, λίγο μετά τη λήξη του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Ναι, πολύ μου άρεσε τούτο βιβλίο, το βρήκα εξαιρετικά καλογραμμένο, οξυδερκές και ενδιαφέρον, σίγουρα χαίρομαι που το διάβασα.
Δεύτερο βιβλίο του Χάουαρντ Φαστ που διαβάζω, μετά το "Η ομολογία του Τζο Κούλεν" που διάβασα τον μακρινό Νοέμβριο του 2015, το οποίο μου άρεσε, με βάση το σχόλιο που είχα γράψει τότε, αλλά χωρίς να με πείσει απόλυτα, τώρα όμως τα πράγματα είναι κάπως διαφορετικά, μιας και το "Η υπόσχεση" μου άρεσε πραγματικά πολύ, χωρίς να το περιμένω σε αυτόν τον βαθμό: Άλλωστε, ο Φαστ το έγραψε στα γεράματά του, ποτέ δεν έκανε ιδιαίτερα μεγάλη επιτυχία, και στην Ελλάδα κυκλοφόρησε σε έκδοση τσέπης (πόσο μου αρέσουν αυτά τα παλιά Bell!). Πρωταγωνιστής της ιστορίας είναι ο Αμερικανός δημοσιογράφος και πολεμικός ανταποκριτής Μπρους Μπέικον, η ζωή και η καριέρα του οποίου θα εκτραχυνθούν, μετά από μια αποκάλυψη που θα κάνει για έναν λιμό στην Ινδία, για τον οποίο υπεύθυνη είναι η Μεγάλη Βρετανία, σύμμαχος της ίδιας του της χώρας. Με λίγα λόγια, θα μπει στο μάτι πολλών, το FBI θα τον κυνηγήσει σαν... Κομμουνιστή, θα αντιμετωπίσει διώξεις από την ίδια του την κυβέρνηση, την οποία είχε κάποτε περί πολλού. Μην ξεχνάμε, ότι τότε Χούβερ Και ΜακΚάρθι (και όχι μόνο) είχαν στήσει ένα κυνήγι μαγισσών και έψαχναν Κομμουνιστές ακόμα και στις τουαλέτες νηπιαγωγείων (που λέει ο λόγος). Αρκετά πολιτικοποιημένο μυθιστόρημα, χωρίς βέβαια να γίνεται ιδιαίτερα διδακτικό, σίγουρα ο Φαστ λέει κάποιες σκληρές αλήθειες, ενώ παράλληλα λέει και μια ωραία ιστορία, ενδιαφέρουσα και με χαρακτηριστικές σκηνές, με πολύ καλή σκιαγράφηση των βασικών χαρακτήρων, με άψογη ατμόσφαιρα, και με ωραίες περιγραφές σκηνικών και καταστάσεων που εύκολα μεταφέρουν τον αναγνώστη σε εκείνα τα περίεργα χρόνια, λίγο μετά τη λήξη του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Ναι, πολύ μου άρεσε τούτο βιβλίο, το βρήκα εξαιρετικά καλογραμμένο, οξυδερκές και ενδιαφέρον, σίγουρα χαίρομαι που το διάβασα.
October 6, 2025
A love that lasts
Howard Fast has written more books and short stories and articles, then seem imaginable in a lifetime. I have read many of them, but none that I have read come close to the brilliance and power of The Pledge. It should be required reading. I’ve read thousands of books in my lifetime, few have left me as emotionally enthralled as this.
Howard Fast has written more books and short stories and articles, then seem imaginable in a lifetime. I have read many of them, but none that I have read come close to the brilliance and power of The Pledge. It should be required reading. I’ve read thousands of books in my lifetime, few have left me as emotionally enthralled as this.
July 23, 2017
Great history lesson along with a good story. Interesting picture of the McCarthy Era and the accusations of communism
October 21, 2017
Excellent story.
August 30, 2019
A very good novel about the time of Joseph McCarthy and the infamous HUAC.
April 23, 2022
This book educated me about a period of time I knew little about, while weaving a story of meaning underneath nonsensical cruelty and life beneath death both mass and individual.
June 4, 2016
Spoiler alert ahead:
I want to give this book 5/5 but I can't. It was so riveting, engaging, educational, enlightening, and made me want to learn more about this time period in history that I obviously knew little about. I identified with the story in it and the protagonist, and related a lot in the story to things I see going on in my country today, and up until this afternoon, it would have been 5/5 and then I got to the end and OMG that sucked! I hate terrible sad endings, it just made me angry at the author, made me throw down the book in disgust because how could he do that to me, as a reader, when i was so emotionally invested in the character?!?!? I highly recommend this, with the caveat that people dont expect a happy ending. Because then you'll be disappointed like I was.
I want to give this book 5/5 but I can't. It was so riveting, engaging, educational, enlightening, and made me want to learn more about this time period in history that I obviously knew little about. I identified with the story in it and the protagonist, and related a lot in the story to things I see going on in my country today, and up until this afternoon, it would have been 5/5 and then I got to the end and OMG that sucked! I hate terrible sad endings, it just made me angry at the author, made me throw down the book in disgust because how could he do that to me, as a reader, when i was so emotionally invested in the character?!?!? I highly recommend this, with the caveat that people dont expect a happy ending. Because then you'll be disappointed like I was.
Read
April 14, 2008Fiction
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews