Emil Miller
03-12-2010, 07:37 PM
Sword of Honour may appeal more to British readers as it's primarily concerned with the military activities of British officers during WWII and its ethos is resolutely English upper middle class. But for those who appreciate form rather than content it offers some fine writing.
Based on the author's own wartime experience it vividly describes the organised chaos of a country ill prepared for major conflict and, Waugh, as in A Handful of Dust, uses a blend of comedy and tragedy to underline how it impacted on the class system then in place. The novel records the vicissitudes of Guy Crouchback, the last in line to a very old English Catholic family and opens with him living a disconsolate and aimless existence in a castle in Italy during the 1930s after his wife leaves him for another man.
However, he sees the looming war as a chance to assuage his wounded pride by becoming an officer of an old English regiment of the line where he finds a sense of purpose in the camaraderie of his brother officers; including the fearsome one-eyed Colonel Ritchie-Hook, who looks upon war as a violent sport and cuts off the heads of enemy combattants.
After the fall of France, the regiment stages a couple of raids on enemy territory in France and Africa which end in farce before Guy is transferred to the newly-formed Commandos training on a Scottish island. These are sent to the Mediterranian island of Crete to cover the retreat of British and Commonwealth troops after the German airborne invasion.
Waugh's description of the evacuation of the troops by the Royal Navy is tellingly related in some fine prose writing, as is Guy's disillusionment as he witnesses cowardice and treachery among the men. These scenes are contrasted with how the war affects people on the home front who are experiencing severe shortages of food and subjected to nightly bombing attacks by the Luftwaffe.
Guy escapes from Crete in an open boat and almost dies during the crossing to North Africa where he is nursed back to health before being transferred to a desk job in London. Although deemed unfit for active service, he is sent to join the partisans in Jugoslavia through the machinations of an officer who disgraced himself in Crete and fears Guy's knowledge of the fact.
Throughout the novel, various characters such as Guy's father and his uncle Peregrine intermingle with Guy's ex-wife and his sister who is married to a member of parliament: all of whom are aware that their world is fast disappearing and that things will never be the same again.
A defining moment in the book comes just before Guy leaves Jugoslavia when Madame Kanyi, one of a group of refugees whom Guy has been trying to help says to him: "It seems there was a will to war, a death wish, everywhere. Even good men thought their private honour would be satisfied by war. They could assert their manhood by killing and being killed. They would accept hardships in recompense for having been selfish and lazy. Danger justified privilege. I knew Italians - not very many perhaps - who felt this. Were there none in England?"
" God forgive me, said Guy. " I was one of them."
Based on the author's own wartime experience it vividly describes the organised chaos of a country ill prepared for major conflict and, Waugh, as in A Handful of Dust, uses a blend of comedy and tragedy to underline how it impacted on the class system then in place. The novel records the vicissitudes of Guy Crouchback, the last in line to a very old English Catholic family and opens with him living a disconsolate and aimless existence in a castle in Italy during the 1930s after his wife leaves him for another man.
However, he sees the looming war as a chance to assuage his wounded pride by becoming an officer of an old English regiment of the line where he finds a sense of purpose in the camaraderie of his brother officers; including the fearsome one-eyed Colonel Ritchie-Hook, who looks upon war as a violent sport and cuts off the heads of enemy combattants.
After the fall of France, the regiment stages a couple of raids on enemy territory in France and Africa which end in farce before Guy is transferred to the newly-formed Commandos training on a Scottish island. These are sent to the Mediterranian island of Crete to cover the retreat of British and Commonwealth troops after the German airborne invasion.
Waugh's description of the evacuation of the troops by the Royal Navy is tellingly related in some fine prose writing, as is Guy's disillusionment as he witnesses cowardice and treachery among the men. These scenes are contrasted with how the war affects people on the home front who are experiencing severe shortages of food and subjected to nightly bombing attacks by the Luftwaffe.
Guy escapes from Crete in an open boat and almost dies during the crossing to North Africa where he is nursed back to health before being transferred to a desk job in London. Although deemed unfit for active service, he is sent to join the partisans in Jugoslavia through the machinations of an officer who disgraced himself in Crete and fears Guy's knowledge of the fact.
Throughout the novel, various characters such as Guy's father and his uncle Peregrine intermingle with Guy's ex-wife and his sister who is married to a member of parliament: all of whom are aware that their world is fast disappearing and that things will never be the same again.
A defining moment in the book comes just before Guy leaves Jugoslavia when Madame Kanyi, one of a group of refugees whom Guy has been trying to help says to him: "It seems there was a will to war, a death wish, everywhere. Even good men thought their private honour would be satisfied by war. They could assert their manhood by killing and being killed. They would accept hardships in recompense for having been selfish and lazy. Danger justified privilege. I knew Italians - not very many perhaps - who felt this. Were there none in England?"
" God forgive me, said Guy. " I was one of them."