Krishna
is is a book about the German sweep across France during World War II and told from the perspective of the French. While there is some war descriptions, it is not as brutal as, say, All Quiet On The Western Front or even Empire Of The Sun. It focuses more on the civilian suffering caused by the German invasion.
This in fact is more like Dubliners by James Joyce, which we have reviewed and hated. Pointless vignettes that tell of an atmosphere and a timeframe but does not have any coherent plot in it. This is another
Monsieur Pericand is a devout man and his wife is equally upright. They have great faith in France's ability to repel German invaders in the war but Pericand comes home agitated one day, claiming that the Germans would be at their door in Paris shortly. He urges his wife and five kids to move out to her parents' place. They are rich but the money is tied in the name of Pericand Senior, a senile and ageing man who is still alive.
The vain and arrogant author Gabriel Corte lives like a royal constantly admired by his official mistress Florence.
Pericand is asked to take some children from an Orphanage to a safe place. He finds that he hates them as they have 'so much sin in them' and that they do not see the 'light of the lord'. He despises them - even though he does not even despise the 'atheists and sinners who come to him for redemption'.
Just a matter of personal preference : I find the descriptions and dialogs of French authors (like Albert Camus for example in The Plague) odd and different from other authors. Personally, not my favourite style, even in books I otherwise like, but then I realize it is a purely personal preference.
Michauds, the husband wife team worked for a bank in Paris. The husband was in accounts for a number of years and the wife joined on a temporary basis after she lost her job as a song teacher. They both had to work to just make ends meet and their son was called up to the front. The threat of German bombing meant that senior executives of the bank had already been evacuated from Paris but the employees were still hanging on.
Suddenly the whole town seems to decide to evacuate with chaotic scenes reminiscent of that other novel we reviewed, The Plague, which, in spite of describing a slow progression of events, was fascinating as it took you through the tribulations of a city caught in a helpless situation. The similarities with this book end there.
In what feels like simply vignettes, we move on to Charles Langelet, an antique dealer who reluctantly vacates his apartment to a distant villa. And then Gabriel Corte, who refuses a hotel room when it is scarce and opts to sleep in the car, angering his mistress Florence. Finally the story returns to the Pericands. The boss Corbin ditches them for the last minute ride in his car and orders them to take a train. Train stations are overloaded and so they realize they now need to walk all the way to the new city!
They are taken by an army truck to a town where they are told trains run but in the midst of utmost domestic calm there are air raids and carnage all around. Even the train station is bombed and a woman who traveled with the Pericaunds lies dead, her skull broken open by a bomb.
Gabriel the author and Florence travel. For the first time, he is mean to her, shocking her. In addition, he is very cold to his fellow travelers who 'don't have the class that he does'. He insults the lady with a bandage on the head whose sister has a child who had not eaten in a couple of days. When he feels hungry he pays a lot of money to get food when everyone is starving. He puts it in a basket and comes back to the car, when he is assaulted (hit on the face) and the basket is taken away. We learn that it was done by Jules, brother of the girl Aline who had a child and who was weak and hungry and so could not feed the baby.
Gabriel and Florence quarrel, make up, and then lose their car. They move around, torn by hunger and finally find their car and their servants.
Meanwhile, Hubert, the son of Pericand's and Rene plan to run away and join the army to fight for France. Rene does not appear but Hubert joins and stands helplessly in the midst of crossfire, knowing that he has no weapons to fight with and what's more, even the French army does not want his 'help'.
Noe the priest Philippe takes charge of the children who are defeatist and listless. They go near an expensive looking chateau and try to rest at night in the garden. The priest is alerted to a couple of people trying to break into the house and runs over to admonish them. He is attacked, beaten and the rest of the children join in the melee. Brutalized, he falls down and thrown into the mud. He dies there, gruesomely injured. Realistic depiction but not graphic. This may be the only section of the book that holds your undivided interest. But even here, much prior to the attack, his debate about whether he himself is good or evil is fairly boring.
The story is also made of vignettes. Yes, it gives the condition of the French people after France was swiftly defeated by the Germans and does not veer into politics. But like some others we have reviewed (Dubliners comes to mind) this is simply a collection of events that happened to people. Unless you are interested in this level of detail, do not read this book. It serves no other purpose except to show you the perspective of a defeated populace and how they coped with the chaos following the defeat.
Jean-Marie survives the war too. He is injured but finds refuge in a peaceful farm and recovers.
The Angellier family watches with dismay as the Germans occupy the town. They take their valuables. A German soldier lodges with them and the town is frowning at the soldiers, since they are the enemy and surprised at the young men in uniforms in their village.
Just more boring details, in my opinion.
The next part of the book is about the Angelier family. The matriarch has her son held as a prisoner of war and her daughter in law Lucille was not happy with her husband. There is a German officer who stays in the house and seems to be attracted to Lucille. Lucille is not averse to him but does not want to cheat on the husband. The mother in law treats the German with an icy courtesy but he seems to be civil enough to her.
Right under their noses, Lucie agrees to stash Benoit, who had shot a German officer and escaped. It seems to excite her mother in law, Madam Angerlier, to strike a blow for France.
She rejects his open professions of love, even if she is tempted as her marriage has been absolutely joyless.
More of the same kind of guff pours in. Momentarily arresting, but overall to no point.
2/10
-- Krishna