Customer Reviews

Men at Arms

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Exile Guy Crouchback returns home to the United Kingdom on the eve of World War II, fully expecting a glorious self-immolation in the cause of all that is right and noble. Instead he is plunked into the middle of a farcical parade where tired gray men do the best they can to lose a war against a dangerous, devouring adversary while underlings move like spastic marionettes beneath bony fingers.

The result is no happy marriage for Guy, though happy marriages have not been his lot. He was married once, to a scheming heartbreaker named Virginia who divorced him for a career as a serial bride. Guy's strict Catholicism forbids him from marrying again, though as the last in his aristocratic line, such a situation means dereliction of duty in the posterity department. Stuck in every sense of the word, like Miniver Cheevy living mostly in the past, he views the onset of war as a means of redemption against the atheistic hordes of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, aligned at the war's outset in the partition of Poland.

After a struggle, Guy finds himself enlisted in an army brigade where the golden mean is one of bare competence, and bureaucratic "banf" trumps all. France falls, and Norway, and the future is decidedly bleak. Whether Britain can ever rally is a point very much in doubt at book's end, though it doesn't seem likely Guy will help much.

That said, the first of Evelyn Waugh's "Sword Of Honor" is actually a pretty funny read most of the way through. The dialogue is crisp and clever; the plot twists ingenuously lurid. Author Evelyn Waugh has obvious fun recalling his own second youth (he enlisted in his mid-30s) and overseeing the zany exploits of his off-kilter comrades. While Guy spends a lot of time in the shadows, his emergence to be the subject of the later books, "Men At Arms" focuses on characters he meets who shed light on the various all-too-human traits of His Majesty's armed forces.

For example, brigade commander Ritchie-Hook is a one-eyed loon obsessed with attack and "biffing" the enemy. "There are no Sundays in the firing-line," he declaims. At one point, angered by his troops' inability at the shooting range, he runs over to the trench beneath the target butts, pokes his head up, and promises a reward to anyone who can nail him. They don't, maybe because they really try.

The book actually belongs to another character, Apthorpe, a strange, "rather rum" fellow who befriends Guy and in time enlists his aid on a mission to keep Ritchie-Hook from making use of Apthorpe's private "thunderbox," a.k.a. port-o-potty. This gets rather involved, with hushed nighttime conferences between Guy and Apthorpe that wind up somehow getting reported to British Intelligence, before the two conspirators' plot stumbles its way to a charged and highly entertaining conclusion.

If "Men At Arms" had ended there, it would be seen as an engagingly comic though perhaps shallow look at military service during the first and least nasty days of World War II, what would be called "The Phoney War." But Waugh, deeply scarred from his own wartime experiences, keeps the story moving into more penetrating territory. The comedy pulls up a bit, though not abruptly, and never completely.

Sometimes, when comedies turn serious, readers can be put off by the sharp change of tone. Yet here, even as laughs fall fainter, the reader's attachment increases, probably because Waugh subtly manipulates audience expectations (for example, by making Apthorpe less and less likeable, and the machinations of Guy's superiors more and more opaque) before messing with the storyline.

Also, Waugh's deeper involvement with all he presents here really shines through. This identification will only grow with the next two volumes, "Officers And Gentlemen" and "Unconditional Surrender," books that draw deeper focus on some real horrors of war only hinted at with "Men At Arms," while enriching characters first illustrated here with broader and less subtle strokes.

Talking about this book being an uproarious military comedy makes one think of something like "Stripes" or "M*A*S*H," which "Men At Arms" isn't by any stretch. It's no laugh riot, but neither is it a dull bore. Actually, it's very bright and invigorating. Like another Anglo-Catholic trilogy written at around the same time, "Sword Of Honour" is intimately concerned with the question of worldly goodness and overcoming the awesome threat posed by evil and doubt. No one is ever going to do with this trilogy what they did with the other and make gigillions with a three-part screen adaptation featuring hobbits and orcs. Yet "Sword Of Honour" with its real-world focus makes for an interesting counterpart to thoughtful readers who wonder what J.R.R. Tolkien drew upon when writing "Lord Of The Rings," or how people living through World War II viewed the conflict before the result was achieved and the mythology took over. "Men At Arms" makes for an inviting opening act.

By the way, a good way for reading this is in the company of David Cliffe's excellent trilogy companion, found at his Evelyn Waugh website at http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/home2.htm.

i've just finished all three novels in the 'sword of honor' trilogy: men at arms, officers and gentlemen and the end of the battle. not being a fan of satire, i've come late to waugh. to call him simply a writer of satire, as many persons do, is a serious literary mistake. these novels have comic and satiric flavors, but actually are quite serious, poignant, painful, and powerful. his technical style is understated and, thus deceptive in its weight.

the main character in all three novels, guy crouchback, is forced onto his privileged knees, and made to crawl to insight into the human condition, primarily to learn that war is only an occasionally more deadly mirror of peace, and that an absence of empathy is the start of it all. danger does not justify privilege for a man or a nation.

these are very sad, funny, wise, and deeply well written novels and i would highly recommend them.

This is the first in the 'Sword of Honor' trilogy of novels by Waugh, describing one man's experience in the British military establishment. At the onset of WWII, divorced thirty-something Guy Crouchback anxiously longs to serve his country in its time of need, but can't find a branch of service that wants him. By the end of this book, his training completed, he begins to wonder if his country (represented by its armed forces) really knows what's good for it. This book is a fairly realistic and often rather lighthearted look at the training received by an officer of the Halberdiers during the early days of WWII, before the true terrors and horrors of that conflict had become apparent. This volume contains some fine portraits and vignettes from British army life, after which an officer's death and the questions of responsibility it raises cause Crouchback to doubt the wisdom of his beloved leaders.

Some of the more humorous moments include the incidents involving Apthorpe's port-a-john (not as disgusting as you might fear), Crouchback's attempted reconciliation with his wife, and the ego-driven absurdities that lead to the Brigadier's reconnaissance mission, but the humor is of the dry British
sort, with few of the belly laughs that make books like Catch 22 so unforgettable. Rather more to the point is the mildly biting satire exposing how ill prepared for war Britain really was at the time, particularly in light of the high price Europe paid for that negligence.

While this reviewer certainly enjoyed the book, its target audience is probably not as broad today as it would have been forty years ago. Veterans of the armed forces who are interested in a nostalgic look back at this era will probably get the most out of it, followed by admirers of the gentle art
of British humor, while on the other hand, women looking for romantic adventure will find very little femininity in the book, and Gen-Xers hoping to read another 'Catch 22' or 'MASH', will likely find the story dry and insipid. So don't go into this book looking for a comedy - it stands better as a fictionalized portrayal of a particular time and place in history.

This is my favourite Evelyn Waugh novel. It is classically perfect and very funny. It is the only one of the Sword of Honour books that is comic, though it has a lot of weight to it. Apthorpe is one of the best characters in literature, funny, tragic sympathetic, annoying, a multi-facetted creation and very memorable. This edition is ideal, with an attractive, decent-sized typeface and printed in black, comfortable and attractive to read. Along with the original hardback it is the best edition I have seen. This is Evelyn Waugh with real gravitas.

In MEN AT ARMS, Waugh writes about the experiences in 1939 and 1940 of Guy Crouchback, the scion of an old aristocratic English family that has lost its money. The backdrop for Guy's experiences is England's dark days at the start of World War II--the Blitzkrieg of Poland, the Twilight War, the Battle of France, Churchill's assumption of power, and the Battle of Britain. In this parlous time, Waugh shows Guy finding a position in the army, training with the Royal Corps of Halberdiers, assuming home guard duties, and then participating in a poorly defined mission in Senegal, as his nation is fighting for its survival. Throughout, Waugh focuses on the small issues of Crouchback's life--the people he meets, the training he receives, the eccentricities and shenanigans of the soldiers--as he tries to do his duty and contribute to the great cause of his country.

In telling this story, Waugh absolutely piles on the irony, which surely culminates in this novel's final few chapters, when Guy finally participates in military action and shows soldierly concern for a hospitalized fellow officer. Ultimately, Waugh's ironies--the huge disconnect between Guy's honorable and decent intentions and his actual experiences--are the true subject of this book, with Waugh showing that, on the soldier's level, war borders on sad and twisted farce.

In MEN AT ARMS, Waugh's primary characters--Crouchback, Apthorpe, and Ritchie-Hook--are soldiers who, within the limits of their personalities, perform their duty. Never do they wonder about soldiering or question the values of the Halberdiers. This is not, in other words, profound literature in which characters grow and question their assumptions. Instead, this is a novel about the absurdity of duty. And, it's probably hilarious, at moments, to Brits, who would be fully attuned to its slightly odd class-conscious characters.

Waugh certainly writes gracefully and with great pace. Further, he is entertaining and manages to keep his story interesting, even though nothing very interesting happens until the very end. While not great fiction, this novel is fun and highly readable and I'm hooked. I believe the next book in Waugh's THE SWORD OF HONOR trilogy is OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN.

Though I can't say that I loved this book, it really grabbed me. As a North American of a younger generation, Waugh's satire of the English obsessions with class and manners is fascinating, as is the glimpse of the last days of pre-WW II society. It is a weird book, though. It ranges from very light - actually kind of silly - farcical stuff to pretty heavy questions about morality, war, and religion. As other reviewers mention, it brings to mind an English version of Catch-22. By showing these mostly upper class officers - and the deeply flawed hero - as bumbling, under-trained, and bound to out-moded tradition, he foreshadows the horror of the war to come. I think it is this sense of foreboding that makes the book powerful. The book also provides a powerful antidote to the stereotypical war stories we've read and seen in films for so long. I am interested to read the rest of this trilogy.

Comedy and Tragedy are the two masks of theatre, and so art. Evelyn Waugh's "Men at Arms" is the first volume of his "Sword of Honour" trilogy, and places the tragedy of war squarely in the comical camp. The tale is not as bumptious as "Decline and Fall" or as mannered and arch as "Vile Bodies" and instead invokes a tone of comfortable middle-age where a hero has accepted himself, and chosen a goal in life (to serve in the Army to defeat the Huns) almost as an afterthought to relief from boredom on a sun-dappled golden Italian coast. Hilarity ensues as he discovers what real army life is like, versus the romantic or practical versions of it.

There is plenty of romanticism, however, with scattered passages invoking the brotherhood of men at arms being an ancient and good thing. But the more telling themes are of Catholicism lightly but faithfully adhered to under circumstances that are always temporary, and that the vast majority of military success and failure is produced by random decisions that are either followed with precision or ignored, and therefore spirit, faithfulness, perseverance, and honor actually are the winning elements....not logistics, tactics, force or might. There is an additional theme of minor points of Catholic theology that serve as delightful McGuffins for plot twists and ironic situations.

The volume also contains a passing reference to the hero reading Graeme Greene's "The Heart of the Matter" and contemplating the character of Scroobie, which for buffs of 20th century English Catholic literature is delightful.

Waugh is an excellent writer of subtle and poignant comic wit. You don't even feel the knife going in, until you are laughing so hard you finally tear your sides.

Few authors explore the juxtaposition of tragedy, reality and farce as frankly and yet compassionately as Evelyn Waugh. His everyman heroes - to include Crouchback, the central character of this tale - seem intuitively to understand and uncomplainingly accept that rather than representing points on a continuum, tragedy/reality/farce exist simultaneously, and that the only thing a good Englishman can do in the face of the chaos that inevitably ensues is to strive to do his duty, preserve his dignity, and maintain a stiff upper lip. Could be that Waugh is just an adept social satirist - but I suspect his insight has a lot to do with growing up British. Goodness knows, in 3000 years of history the English have had ample opportunity to observe how often farce and tragedy coexist. This story provides many, many examples of both in the run-up to WW2, embedded in a tale that may leave you - as it left me - simultaneously laughing and mourning. Excellent read.

i've just finished all three novels in the 'sword of honor' trilogy: men at arms, officers and gentlemen and the end of the battle. not being a fan of satire, i've come late to waugh. to call him simply a writer of satire, as many persons do, is a serious literary mistake. these novels have comic and satiric flavors, but actually are quite serious, poignant, painful, and powerful. his technical style is understated and, thus deceptive in its weight.

the main character in all three novels, guy crouchback, is forced onto his privileged knees, and made to crawl to insight into the human condition, primarily to learn that war is only an occasionally more deadly mirror of peace, and that an absence of empathy is the start of it all. danger does not justify privilege for a man or a nation.

these are very sad, funny, wise, and deeply well written novels and i would highly recommend them.

Better than Anthony Powell's depiction of British military life during WW2, and much better than Catch 22. A shame the Back Bay Books cover is so unnecessarily hideous...