Les Éditions du Pacifique
29, rue des trois bornes,
75011 Paris, France
+(33) 1 42 22 48 63
bonjour@leseditionsdupacifique.com
20.50€
Plunge into a little-known episode of the Vietnam War with ‘Les Oreilles de jungle’ by the illustrious Pierre Boulle. First published in 1972, this reissue is enhanced by the magnificent illustrations from the Atelier Louvero.
It’s 1968, and the Americans have finally located the Ho Chi Minh Trail through which North Vietnamese forces supply the South. Their strategy involves dispersing sensors camouflaged in the jungle with their plant-like appearance. The goal? To monitor any suspicious movements. However, Vietnamese ingenuity soon counters American technology. A secret war erupts in the heart of the Indochinese jungle, a game of cat and mouse.
In this novel, Pierre Boulle employs pervasive humor to recount a unique episode of the Vietnam conflict. He provides a visionary perspective on a secret program that would only be revealed years later. With his profound knowledge of Indochina, he subtly reveals how the Americans won battles while losing the war.
Pierre Boulle’s unique style is complemented by the captivating illustrations from the Atelier Louvero. In this book, each sketch adds a visual dimension to a novel already rich in detail. A feast for the eyes and the mind!
‘Les Oreilles de jungle’ is an enlightening and indispensable work. It unveils the subtlety of the Vietnamese against American expansionism. Discover the Vietnam War in a different light with this timeless and humanistic work that should not be missed.”
L’Atelier Louvero is a design studio based in Paris. It is composed of an illustrator who holds degrees from the School of Applied Arts Olivier de Serres and the Boulle School. They are passionate about graphic arts, illustration, and travel journals.
Instagram handle: @atelierlouvero
Pierre Boulle spent his childhood in a bourgeois environment in the Avignon area. Practicing hunting and fishing from a very young age, he had a strong connection with nature, which may have contributed to his taste for adventure. He once said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a strong exhilaration as the day of my first rabbit!’
In 1936, at the age of twenty-four, after engineering studies, adventure finally came calling when he was bored with dull jobs. A British plantation offered him a position in Malaysia, a paradise for rubber.
There, in this secretive Asia, he forged the free and determined spirit that would lead him to a life of adventure and writing, blending personal memories, as seen in works like ‘Le Sacrilège malais’ or ‘Le Pont de la rivière Kwai,’ and pure fiction as in ‘La Planète des singes’ (‘Planet of the Apes’). Moving between genres, including novels, memoirs, fantasy, and science fiction, Pierre Boulle’s body of work, comprising over twenty novels, shares a common foundation: a critical description of the ways of life in our societies, with a certain humor and a firm humanism.
