Two Good Books 2.0.

Going through my library two (sometimes three) books at a time.

Some books just stick with you for your whole life. Such was the case for me with All Quiet on the Western Front by a fellow called Erich-Maria Remarque. Mr. Remarque had fought in the trenches in WW I, and now this was an almost autobiographical novel about a German soldier, Paul Baumer.

I was first made aware of the existence of this book when I decided that I needed its Classics Illustrated version at the ripe old age of seven or eight. Every Sunday, after church, my father and I would stop at the same newspaper shop sited in one of those new shopping centers, and I was allowed one comic book. I remember they sold for ten cents. That Sunday, for some reason, I decided to pick a grownup one, one without all those comic characters who whacked themselves on the head or set the other guy on fire with absolutely no dire consequences, such as Tom & Jerry, and the Chipmunks and Donald. This one, however cost fifteen cents, a whopping 50% increase on the weekly comic book expenditure!

My father hesitated. “What are you going to do with that?” he asked in French. “Read it, of course,” was my somewhat evasive response. Then it hit me: it was all about the helmet. I needed a model for my early drawings of soldiers. But there was also something else: I was irresistibly attracted by the life of the German soldiers. Some of you may conclude that, in my previous life I had been one. Possible.

Well, it was the first adult book I had ever read. I may have been an old soul. And a German soldier.

So, if you haven’t read All Quiet on the Western Front, maybe you should. If you do, please bear in mind that it was written right after WW I and that it’s the author’s first book. I say this because it’s rather simple in its approach and maybe a bit primary in its emotions. Still, because of what it represents — a pacifist novel about war, arguably one of the very first, it’s worth your time. It’ll take you a few hours at most.

If you like it, perhaps you will like other novels by E.M. Remarque. I read all his books. Some in French, some in English, and some in German. In 1978, my first whole year in Germany, I spent my summer in Washington D.C., learning all about Tropical Medicine — well, I had told my superiors in the Air Force that, even if I was Canadian, I hated the cold, so I guess it’s my fault they sent me there. That’ll teach me. While in “Washnon” as the locals call it, I found, in a downtown used bookstore, a copy of the first English printing of Remarque’s second book, The Road Back (Der Weg zurück). It is by no means a great book, but it must be as rare as can be. I treasure it.

As I grew up and matured, I always kept an eye open for other novels about the German side in both World Wars. Perhaps there was something there about previous lives and all.

So, as a young adult, I was absolutely taken in when I discovered Bomber, a novel by Len Deighton (1969, if I remember well).

It’s the story about a heavy bomber raid set in June 1943. What is great about the book, apart from its immaculate and very thorough research, is that it tells the story from both sides in a rigid respect for the day’s time frame. So, you switch back and forth between the principal characters, something which really annoys some readers. I, however, have no problems with it at all.

Another thing which absolutely annoys my wife (and co-author), is that Mr. Deighton tells the story from a third person omniscient p.o.v. while she prefers the third person attached.

But I enjoy Deighton’s third person omniscient p.o.v. because I can learn many (and there are many) technical details which the author uses to enrich the story. Such as the disintegration, second by second of a fully laden four-engine bomber.

I once wrote the path of a single high-powered bullet through a soldier’s body (…by then however, even if his eyes were still open, his brain had ceased to function for nearly half a second…). The editor hated it. I scratched it out.

The thing about Deighton’s book is that it shows his empathy for ordinary German people which he describes without the cartoony, simplistic Hollywood mentality. Okay, okay, maybe I was on the German side in my previous life. It’s just that I don’t remember.

If you’re going to read this great book, after you finish, you may want to check out Goodbye Mickey Mouse, the second one of Deighton’s fantastic WW II novels. This one is set on the US side and the British side, also in 1943–44, at a time when “The Americans are overpaid, overfed, and over here.” It’s the story of a P-51 (Mustang) pilot and his English fiancée, along with quite a colourful cast of characters.

In this one, there’s the added plus of a beautiful love story. And I’m a definitive sucker for any well written love story. That’s why I try to develop one in every novel I write.

Oh, and it’s third person attached.

Enjoy.

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