| Lancette Arts Journal Founded in 2000 |
Book Reviews From our Archives |
April 2005 |
The Year is '42 by Nella Bielski, translated from the French by John Berger and Lisa Appignanesi, Bloomsbury, 207 pages, hardcover, $32.95, ISBN 0-7475-7103-1, distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
By Alidė Kohlhaas
It is hard to say just how well the novel The Year is '42 has been translated into English from French, but the result is a fascinating book to read. Its prose is elegant. It draws the reader into a controversial period of history that has been recreated in a totally believable manner. The novel is the work of Nella Bielski, a Ukrainian-born writer who has made France her home for the past 30 years. All of her previous novels are also written in French. The Year is '42, her latest book, takes a unique snapshot — actually three — of 1942 and how the Second World War impacted on three individuals. It is a compassionate look, without cynicism or blame-laying. The credit that it reads so beautifully in English goes to its two translators: Englishman John Berger, who lives in France, and Lisa Appignanesi, born in Poland but raised in Montreal and France, who now lives and works in London.
The novel begins with Karl Bazinger, an officer in the German army stationed in Paris. As he dresses for a day out, he starts to wonder whether his friendship with various French and other nationals will land him in trouble. There is also the nagging fact that he has been overheard speaking English at the home of his most frequent host, something that could well be misinterpreted by the German secret service. Widely traveled, highly educated and a lover of wine and women, he has enjoyed two years in Paris, but now knows that the idyllic time of occupation has come to an end.
Bazinger is particularly concerned about having been asked by the Wehrmacht (Army) to spy on his friends to ensure that the SS won't move in on the army's territory. From an ominous conversation with a superior officer, whom he happens to know from his university days, he learned that all of his movements are observed and known. Within the first few pages of the book his inner struggle between liking his military . . .
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