The Year Is '42 : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: False advertising
Review: I try to read every WW2 era novel I can get my hands on, particulartly those from non-american viewpoints. This means I read action-thriller, non-fiction, plain fiction, etc. I am very pleased when a book includes much more than just battle scences and international intrigue. This novel however did not seem to be what it claimed in the dust jacket.

Bielski's writing style is a bit different than some may be used to, but that did not necessarily take away from a wonderful and exciting storyline -- for the first half of the book. After that, it seems like she forgets why she was originally writing the story and goes off talking about something completely unrelated. This would have made sense if the storylines had been brought together at some point, but they were not.

No mention of the characters or events from the first half of the book until the final 3 or 4 pages; and then it seems almost as an afterthought, as if trying to tie up loose ends. The end result left me with too many unanswered questions, and really no desire to see them answered by this writer.

If you like artsy books that lead to nowhere, then this is for you. This story could have easily been done in any other year other than the year '42, and the reader would walk away feeling the same exact way.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: Nella Bielski's new novel will be noted for its ingenious plotting, concision of style, and use of historical scenes. But just as a life isn't a only series of discrete events but also a not completely comprehended network of perceptions, notions and emotions, this novel adds up to much more than its wonderfully handled novelistic elements. In this story, the historical and political forces of Europe, mainly during World War II, play upon the characters, moving them about; the characters push back with what is in their nature. It is their natures that are inevitable, not their fates. The same holds true for the voice telling this story. It withholds from us the too easy gratifications of character analysis and categorization; it offers the more rich pleasures of the feeling of experience, with its limitations and exertions. I approached this novel mainly because John Berger co-translated it -- and if you're familiar with his remarkable essays and novels, you'll also enjoy sensing his hand at work here.

Rating:
Summary: Voilà un grand tour de force!
Review: This compact immersion into the souls of three principal characters struggling in the most hellish time of a still living generation leaves you bewildered that its author is simply too young to have lived these moments. You feel the sweat under the covers of a feverish student while her grandparents debate who can enter her room, you see the look of a bartender that lingers too long on a pair of his customers, you worry at a school boy's simple remark. It is the intensity of this environment that makes every moment a mystery. It is the deftness of the narrative voice which modulates with every character it describes that makes your heart pound when a door closes, not in the quiet of your home, but only in the narration.
It is so remarkable a book, that I am going to dust off the French dictionary which hides somewhere in our home, and tackle the work in the language in which it was written.
Merci bien Madam. Grace a vous, nous vivons un grand moment!
Alan Grosbard