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Nov 2020
10:08am, 12 Nov 2020
42,437 posts
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LindsD
I'm about 60% of the way through, but I just had to come in and say I'm unreasonably annoyed by the misspelling of Luftwaffe. In my copy, it comes twice (at least) with one 'f'. For a book so painstakingly researched, that really boiled my piss. I guess it could have happened in the translation, which, in a way, is WORSE!
*slopes off*
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Nov 2020
10:23am, 12 Nov 2020
54,754 posts
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Diogenes
I didn't notice.
Just did a random check of my edition and found two occurrences of Luftwaffe, in (98 and 106) where it is spelt with 2 'f's
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Nov 2020
10:30am, 12 Nov 2020
42,438 posts
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LindsD
Must just be mine, then. It was in the same fragment. I didn't write down which one.
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Nov 2020
4:59pm, 13 Nov 2020
31,613 posts
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LazyDaisy
So, here's what I think.
This is a novel about writing a novel about a factual event. It felt to me as if Binet couldn't make up his mind - which was more important, the event itself, or the novelist (himself? a fictional novelist?) struggling to be true to the facts while writing a novel. Which begs the question, why not write a factual account and forget about the asides and digressions about his qualms of 'inventing' scenes for a novel? Why cover it in the 'bright and blinding veneer of fiction', as he puts it? I grew very impatient with his wittering about 'might that conversation have happened? I don't know for sure so I can't put it in' - but he *does* put it in. The colour of the Mercedes - black or dark green? WHO CARES? It doesn't actually matter, does it?
Although the novel opens with a description of one of the parachutists, by far the greatest attention is paid to Heydrich. Did Binet realise early on that there was too little known about Gabcik and Kubis to build his account around? I understand why he might fear his readers could be ignorant of the evil personified in Heydrich, but I felt the real fascination was with Heydrich, not the parachutists. To an extent, I felt Binet was being dishonest in his insistence that he was telling the story of the assassination. He was much more exercised by Heydrich's life, not how he died.
It's a shame. The jumbled structure (a mess of notes, really) interferes with what could have been a gripping, well-told account. His description of the final hours in the church is vivid and horrifying; much of his re-telling of Heydrich and co's atrocities makes your blood run cold. I just wish he (or his fictional novelist) could shut up and stop drawing attention to himself. The heroes are the parachutists, not the writer.
Three stars. I'm feeling generous.
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Nov 2020
5:08pm, 13 Nov 2020
54,826 posts
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Diogenes
So, entirely the opposite conclusion to me, LD 
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Nov 2020
5:14pm, 13 Nov 2020
31,614 posts
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LazyDaisy
I think it is a Marmite book, for sure.
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Nov 2020
8:30am, 14 Nov 2020
4,505 posts
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westmoors
LD, very eloquently put. I totally agree but couldn't find the words to express it.
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Nov 2020
8:41am, 14 Nov 2020
54,838 posts
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Diogenes
The colour of the Mercedes - it matters to the character of the author. If a basic fact like that is in doubt, how can we be sure of anything? It’s a more entertaining, novelist way to convey uncertainty and conflicting evidence.
I don’t agree about Binet’s attitude towards Binet. He was right to present him as a rounded character and not just a cartoon monster. His evil flourished because it was developed via efficient administration, hard work, and pragmatism rather than fanaticism. It is a warning that the most dangerous people hide in plain sight.
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Nov 2020
10:54am, 14 Nov 2020
31,626 posts
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LazyDaisy
I can see that it mattered to the author. I just had too little sympathy with the author, be it Binet or a fictional author, for it to matter to me. I would argue that getting hung up on trivia like that demonstrated an inability to see the wood for the trees. It doesn't mean that we will doubt his entire description of Heydrich.
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Nov 2020
11:00am, 14 Nov 2020
31,627 posts
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LazyDaisy
As an aside, I'm surprised, given his extensive research, he didn't turn up the film Operation Daybreak, which is focused entirely on the assassination attempt. It changed the ending - Kubis and Gabcik shoot each other as the waters rise around them - but it shines far more of a spotlight on their heroism. It pops up very occasionally on Film4 or such-like. Having read this novel, I would appreciate another chance to see it, it's some while since I saw it.
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