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(Thank You, Bill, for Another) God Almighty Tome [An Interpolation Upon an Enquiry by Steven Moore] Now it’s for sale, Don’t be deterred. This thousand-page, Half-million-word War effort had To be contrived In breath-taking, Large scale detail, So it could be Desired as A maximal Unholy grail. We college grads And desk-bound males Now type away Inside the whale, So that we can All adulate The moral scope Of Vollmann's tale. Hence, we honour Its mighty length, And shower it With lavish praise. A Novel Calculus "Europe Central" followed closely on the heels of "Rising Up and Rising Down", Vollmann's analysis of the moral calculus of violence. Part of the non-fiction work applied the calculus to the specific circumstances of several persons of interest. This novel, assuming that is a correct descriptor, takes real life people/participants and uses them to construct a narrative about real life events, most of which are the most pivotal events of the twentieth century. It is a huge and hugely ambitious creative and interpretative exercise, if not necessarily or strictly (only) an exercise in fiction. It has more in common with a documentary re-enactment than most literary fiction. Like a documentary, we might know some or all of the facts, what matters is how the issues are personalised and presented to us: "I suppose that when one dedicates oneself sincerely enough to anything, one personalises it." You can think of this novel as a panoramic film in full technicolor. None of this is intended as a criticism. If there is any meaningful role for Post-Modernism, one would be to blur the distinction between fiction and reality. Fictionalised History The historical aspects of the novel are thoroughly researched by Vollmann and his assistants (shades of Andy Warhol?), and therefore presumably reliable, except where he identifies otherwise in the notes and comments, or where he allows himself the freedom of historical or moral judgement. You don't need to have much or any prior knowledge of the events portrayed in the novel to appreciate their significance or the writing. Vollmann places us in the heart of the relevant action. All we have to respect is the importance of these events in world history. If there ever comes a time when their primacy fades, may the gods help civilisation on earth. That said, in the fictional aspects of the reconstruction, Vollmann can't help but inject a few of his own preoccupations (against the historical evidence), and it is here that the novel is weakest and occasionally most gratuitous, but more of that later. It is a relatively minor personal gripe, and one that didn't ultimately detract from my enjoyment of the novel. Doppelgänger States (Non-Fraternal, Non-Identical Twins) The narrative structure of "Europe Central" explores a parallelism between World War II Germany and the Soviet Union. Pretty soon, you realise that there is little difference in the social and personal dynamics in each nation, despite their vastly different socio-political systems. Ultimately, they are both "well-ordered zones". Centralised power works the same way everywhere. (Vollmann recognises that this point has already been made by Vassily Grossman in his novel, "Life and Fate".) Hitler/Stalin wield absolute power, with limited input by those around them. Nobody is prepared to question or contradict them, for fear of reprisal, and reprisal means death. In the case of Germany: "Fate has sent Germany a great genius: Adolf Hitler. We must obey his will." In the case of Stalin: "It's not enough to love Soviet power. Soviet power must also love you." Hitler/Stalin take ultimate responsibility for everything. Vision, strategy, tactics, execution. Especially execution. Gargantuan and Panzercruel Struggle Once Hitler revoked the Non-Aggression Pact in June, 1941, Germany and the Soviet Union were destined to fight to the death, if not with the assistance of allies, then alone. The success of one state and political system would inevitably mean the extinguishment of the other. Germany had conquered most of continental Europe. Britain was under attack. The United States had not entered the war. Churchill was reluctant to start a new western front on the continent, forcing Stalin to fight off Hitler without support. If Germany had prevailed, it would have meant the end of Communism. However, if the Soviet Union could prevail, it would mean the end of Fascism. The Anglo-American nations thought they could sit back and wait for the result. Capitalism Tries to Crash the Party Only when Stalin got the upper hand at Stalingrad and started the march to Berlin did the Allies realise that they would lose Europe to Soviet Communism, if they didn't initiate Operation Overlord at Normandy: "[The Soviets] have a Motherland and [the Germans] have a Fatherland. Their child is Europe Central." Communism in Europe would have meant the loss of a market for Anglo-American goods and services on the continent. Normandy occurred only when it became necessary to protect capitalist interests. Thus, Normandy wasn't primarily one part of a two-pronged attack on Germany, but a preemptive attempt to avoid the global revolution that might have resulted from the successful self-defence of the Soviet Union. Firelit Rapture Vollmann personalises the moral issues by focussing on the lives and dilemmas of a number of key players on both sides of the ideological divide. Ironically, both Fascism and Communism purported to usher in a new cultural era, one which, in the words of Heidegger, would require the old to be burned in order to make way for the new. The Volk, the People, the Proletariat looked on in "firelit rapture". Vollmann explains the moral purpose of the novel in terms of parable: "These stories are not as rigorously grounded in historical fact as my 'Seven Dreams' books. Rather, the goal here was to write a series of parables about famous, infamous and anonymous European moral actors at moments of decision." Some of the protagonists are military, others are creative (musicians, sculptors, poets and translators). Under both ideologies, individual freedom is compromised, ostensibly in the interests of the collective. This might be understandable in the context of the war effort or attempts to defend against a civil war or rebuff a counter-revolution. However, arguably, it would not be tolerable in a modern western pluralistic democracy during a time of peace. Answering the Call Vollmann uses the black-cabled tentacles of the cephalopodic telephone network not just as a vehicle for communication, but as a symbol of the centralisation of political culture and the enforcement of social conformity. Totalitarianism emphasises collective duty at the expense of personal liberty. Vollmann speculates that people start to content themselves with the role of servant rather than aspiring to be their own master: "To regard the fulfillment of duty rather than personal responsibility as the highest virtue, indicates a primal need for yielding oneself up." In the armed forces, there are command structures that ensure that obedience to authority occurs (subject now to the rejection of the Nuremberg defence). Civilians are safe as long as they keep their head down and don't transgress. However, intellectuals and artists are the most problematical. They tend to be individualistic and non-conformist. Vollmann shows us two cultures and contexts in which individualists must bow to the collective, or face dire consequences. Thus, we see Socialist Realism being imposed in the Soviet Union, while in Germany, we see the Nazis attacking Degenerate Art. At least in wartime, outliers are pulled back into the herd. Those who won't or don't comply are ostracised, abandoned, exiled and/or liquidated. Shostakovich's Threat to Cultural Harmony Representative of the creative dilemma is the composer Shostakovich. In the absence of words, you would think that music would be harder to judge in terms of ideological conformity. However, Shostakovich's formal innovation sees him described as a selfish and anti-democratic individualist, a free spirit, a formalist, a revisionist, a right-wing deviationist: "This gets to the root of what makes intellectuals dangerous. We use them to add newness to life, which is what keeps it bearable, but newness shouldn't mutate into utter alienation..." Despite his popularity with the public, Shostakovich becomes alienated from authority. He fails to toe the Party line. He is seen as preoccupied with the "expression of self". His compositions are out of harmony with the remainder of the Party-credentialled fraternity. His works are doubly dissonant and disharmonious. Whistle Blower to the Holocaust One of the German parallels to Shostakovich is the SS officer Kurt Gerstein, a technician who leaks to the Church and the Swiss Consul evidence of the methods of the Holocaust that he is partly responsible for administering. It's not disclosed just how much reliable intelligence the West acquired about the Holocaust before the end of the War. Whatever, the West took no credible action. Gerstein's whistle-blowing attempts weren't appreciated and, tragically for him, did not avoid the death penalty being imposed on him by the Allies. Imaginary Love Triangles Perhaps Vollmann's greatest creative contribution to the historical narrative is his extrapolation of the sex lives of several of the protagonists. In most cases, he acknowledges that his speculation is pure fiction. Indeed, he posits that the key emotional and sexual relationship between Shostakovich and Elena continued throughout the rest of their lives, notwithstanding common ground that it lasted only for a short period relatively early in their lives. Despite the amount of space devoted to Shostakovich, I think Elena is the pre-eminent character of the novel. In many ways, "Europe Central" is the story of a woman, if not the women of Europe. Europa ist Elena überhaupt. She is one third of two separate love triangles, one a heterosexual relationship with two males and, the other, a lesbian relationship with two women. Vollmann's women occupy numerous roles: they oscillate between Joan of Arc, virgin, whore, artist, activist, translator, partisan, judge and executioner: "Do you ever feel that there's a woman somewhere at the centre of things, a goddess?" Men are trapped in their world of power and aggression. Vollmann represents women as some kind of way out, a pathway to individual authenticity. His design for the novel might even be similar to Shostakovich's perception of his music: "It's about...how love could have been if the world weren't full of vile things...I sometimes feel that my love for her is the only thing that's genuine about me." Love and Death This exploration of love as well as tenderness balances the overwhelming detail about the war in the novel. However, it also contributes a more nuanced tone to Vollmann's normal subject matter and style. Of course, Vollmann being Vollmann, he occasionally goes overboard in how he deals with the sexual subject matter. At times, it just seemed to be gratuitous. For example, I couldn't work out how quite explicit private acts between the protagonists could be related by the voyeuristic agent, Comrade Alexandrov, even though, as far as I could determine, he can't possibly have witnessed them. (I assume he wasn't just sexing up the security files!) Still, my concerns about this aspect of the writing didn't detract from the substance of the novel, my enjoyment of it or a sense that it deserved both the National Book Award and five stars. Don't let the war setting or the length of the novel deter you. This is one of the great novels about the twentieth century. ADDED EXTRAS: Abandoned Draft First Paragraph Even then there was something about the nameless Asian girl Ah Kum Elena which rendered her an object of respect obsessive desire. A young girl with jet-black reddish-blonde bangs, it was she who returned his wallet manhood to him. In the hallway of their apartment building, he kissed her cheeks lips nipples. He wanted to tell her that her earlobes breasts were as white and sweet as saccharin Viasma gingerbread. Minutes later, in her bedroom, his manhood love, agony, and strangely erotic pain detonated inside her him. Something came alive in the next room. It was her the squat black mother phone squid octopus. The god of the Signal Corps… Tischfernsprecher, Schwarzes Bakelitgehäuse [Apologies to Van Morrison] William, we were down On our knees, in the days Before rock and roll. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2GpE... Treaty of Versailles A vindictive peace Makes for an even worse war The next time around. Iron Grip The dictator of A state under siege grips it Like a drowning man. Soldier with a Camera One can represent Us all, just as well as the Whole contains the one. Lust in Translation You mustn't Desist, For I insist That you'll be- Witched, By this Funny Cunni- Linguistic Tryst Betwixt Lina and Elena. Gender Central [Vera, Lina, Nina, Elena] Europe is woman, Delicious as gingerbread, Just like Elena. Zoya Russia was Zoya. Between the breasts of Zoya, It won its freedom. Post-Modern Self-Assessment by the Author You besmirch yourself With ugly behavior, then Speak beautiful words. Exegesis Basic format Nice example Of quotation Followed by an Explanation Leading to some Excitation And a starry Incantation Rounded off with Annotation Footnote endnote Ibid op cit Und so weiter. Bill Vollmann Interviewed by Tony Dushane for Bookslut "You know in 'Europe Central' it’s too easy just to say, 'Oh, the Nazis were terrible, the Stalinists were awful.' And that’s true, but where do you go from there? If you can realize the deeper truth, which is not only that were they terrible, but if I were born in that time and place, I probably would’ve been one. And even if I resisted with all my being, I would still have characteristics of one, no matter what I did." http://www.bookslut.com/features/2005... Fanya Kaplán's attempt to assassin Lenin on August 30, 1918 I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIfl1... Fanny was executed without trial on September 3, 1918. Fanya Kaplán's attempt to assassin Lenin II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDpiX... Created by 1.618 Films at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007 Fanya Kaplán's attempt to assassin Lenin III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eiNP... German anti-war artist Käthe Kollwitz http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2014/... The Execution of Zoya Vollmann (or his grubby, voyeuristic amanuensis, Comrade Alexandrov) describes this photo of Zoya after her hanging as "one which presents to us her naked corpse in the snow, her head arched back as if in sexual ecstasy..." SOUNDTRACK: Keith Jarrett - "Prelude and Fugue No 7 in A major" (Dmitri Shostakovich) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bE_OeCL...