The Bridges at Toko-Ri (novel)

The Bridges at Toko-Ri  

1st edition cover
Author(s) James A. Michener
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Fiction
Publisher Random House
Publication date 1953
Media type print
Pages 147pp.
ISBN 0394417801 / 0-394-41780-1

The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1953) is a novella by American author James A. Michener. The book details the experiences of American fighter pilots in the Korean War as they undertake a mission to destroy heavily protected supply bridges in enemy territory. The stresses and sacrifices of men at war are handled with the charm and intimate detail that James Michener was famous for.

Influences

In 1951, Michener, a former Naval officer was on the aircraft carriers USS Essex and USS Valley Forge then offshore in Korea. He was doing a series of articles for The Saturday Evening Post on the Korean air war.[1]The rescue climax of the story echoes the exploits of Lt. John Kelvin Koelsch who was the first helicopter pilot awarded the Medal of Honor and Duane Thorin, a helicopter pilot on the USS Rochester.[2]

Film adaptation

The Bridges at Toko-Ri was made into a film of the same name in 1954 by Paramount Pictures, just one year after the book's publication. Starring Grace Kelly and William Holden, it was directed by Mark Robson, who had also brought Return to Paradise, another Michener book, to screen one year earlier. Commander Marshall Beebe who led the Carrier Squadron when Michener was aboard acted as technical adviser to the film and had a cameo role in the film as a pilot.[3]

  1. ^ p.107 Hansen, James R. ''First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong Simon and Schuster, 2005
  2. ^ Duane Thorin
  3. ^ http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-22/local/me-774_1_war-hero
Novels

The Fires of Spring (1949) • The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1953) • Sayonara (1954) • Hawaii (1959) • Caravans (1963) • The Source (1965) • The Drifters (1971) • Centennial (1974) • Chesapeake (1978) • The Watermen (1979) • The Covenant (1980) • Space (1982) • Poland (1983) • Texas (1985) • Legacy (1987) • Alaska (1988) • Caribbean (1989) • Journey (1989) • The Novel (1991) • South Pacific (1992) • Mexico (1992) • Recessional (1994) • Miracle in Seville (1995) • Matecumbe (2007)
Non-fiction

The Future of the Social Studies (1939) • The Voice of Asia (1951) • The Floating World (1954) • The Bridge at Andau (1957) • Rascals in Paradise (1957) • Japanese Prints (1959) • Report of the Country Chairman (1961) • Iberia (1968) • Presidential Lottery (1969) • The Quality of Life (1970) • Kent State: What Happened and Why (1971) • Firstfruits, A Harvest of 25 Years of Israeli Writing (1973) • Sports in America (1976) • About Centennial: Some Notes on the Novel (1978) • United States of America (1982) • Collectors, Forgers — And A Writer: A Memoir (1983) • All We Did Was Fly to the Moon (1985) • Six Days in Havana (1989) • Pilgrimage: A Memoir of Poland and Rome (1990) • The Eagle and the Raven (1990) • My Lost Mexico (1992) • The World Is My Home (1992) • Writer's Handbook (1992) • Creatures of the Kingdom (1993) • Literary Reflections (1993) • William Penn (1994) • Ventures in Editing (1995) • This Noble Land (1996) • A Century of Sonnets (1997)
Short story collections

Tales of the South Pacific (1947) • Return to Paradise (1951) • Selected Writings of James Michener (1978)
Film, TV and
theatrical adaptations

South Pacific (musical) (1949) • The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1953) • Return to Paradise (1953) • Sayonara (1957) • Until They Sail (1957) • South Pacific (film) (1958) • Hawaii (1966) • The Hawaiians (1970) • Centennial (1978) • Space (1985) • Texas (1994) • South Pacific (film) (2001)