A Midnight Clear [Hardcover]

William Wharton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1982

Reissue of the enduring World War II novel, by the award-winning author of Birdy.

Set in the Ardennes Forest on Christmas Eve, 1944, A Midnight Clear is the story of Sergeant Will Knott and five other GIs ordered to establish an observation post in an abandoned chateau close to the German lines. Here they play at being soldiers in what seems to be complete isolation-until the Germans begin leaving signs of their presence.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"William Wharton has distilled the essence of degradation, of the utter awfulness of battle, into a tense, poetic statement. In its power to surprise and to haunt us, it ranks among the best of our celebrated war stories. I'd put it on the same shelf with Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, it has mythic quality." —Chicago Tribune

"It is a fine book, sad and witty, even profound." —San Francisco Chronicle

"There are surprisingly few 'classic' novels of World War II, A Midnight Clear joins the best.” —Eliot Fremont-Smith, The Village Voice

"It covers but one week in the lives of six men whose time on earth has been too short for them to know much beyond fright, carnal longings, and the proddings of intelligence…It is a modest inquiry into war, youth, and extinction. It is also remarkable." —Thomas R. Edwards, The New York Times

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Review

"Put it on the same shelf with Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage; it has mythic quality." -Chicago Tribune --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 241 pages
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; 1st edition (August 12, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394519671
• ISBN-13: 978-0394519678
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,581,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ten stars. This is a MUST READ book, January 27, 2005

By 

Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Midnight Clear: A Novel (Paperback)

A Midnight Clear is a stunning, poignant, passionate paean to the futility and tragedy of war. The setup is 6 very young, very bright US soldiers sent on a reconnaissance mission to a chateau deep within the Ardennes Forest in France in December 1944. Use of symbolism deepens the book's meaning: the men (read "boys") play chess and bridge (without cards) with deadly passion, one is called Mother because of his mother-hen neatnik qualities, another is called Father because he's a devout Catholic who left seminary cuz he didn't think he was good enough. Their leader is Wont (his name is William Knott, AKA Will Knot, AKA `will not,' thus: won't, usually shortened to Wont), a kid recently promoted to sergeant who hasn't had time to sew his stripes on yet.
So they're in this abandoned chateau in the middle of this isolated forest, burning furniture to try to keep warm, and the dialogue and situations are hilarious and horrible, but mostly hilarious...but this is a book about war, so you know bad stuff is going to happen. Reading the first ¾ of the book, you feel kinda guilty laughing, cuz in the back of your mind, you're wondering which and how many of these kids are going to die.
Then they realize there are 6-8 Germans nearby, and their fear is palpable - until it becomes clear that the Germans are just as young and scared as they are, just as sick of war, and even more importantly, the Germans know they're about to lose the war, and they want to surrender.
The denouement, when it comes, occupies no more than perhaps one single page, maybe just a couple of paragraphs, and the rest of the book becomes a weird, tragic, very believable mythic, religious, mystery play/metaphor sort of thing with the kind of events and writing that keep you riveted to the last sentence.
Highest possible recommendation. I swear it'll eventually become a classic.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 19 Year Olds at War- Far from Home-Freezing and Scared, January 13, 2002

By 

S. Henkels (Devon, Pa United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Midnight Clear: A Novel (Paperback)

A handful of young GI's are stuck in a snowy wilderness somewhere in northern France at the end of the Battle of the Bulge. Christmas time is approaching,and they are hoping and praying for salvation from this truly unpleasant situation. Perhaps holing up somewhere will keep them from from freezing to death, and hopefully the enemy is nowhere near. This strategy backfires when they realize that Germans have found them. Even worse, some monstrous German tanks make a very alarming appearance.Possibly, the German soldiers are as scared and sick of this war as they are...Maybe there's even a way to communicate all this to the enemy, especially as the holiday gets nearer by the day. The rest is a story that should be among the classics, one that Mr. Wharton tells perfectly. Simply, it can't be beat, and the movie was just as good. Both underrated,little known gems.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIVES UPTO EXPECTATIONS, October 3, 2002

By 

Vaughan (Beppu-Shi, Oita-Ken Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Midnight Clear: A Novel (Paperback)

"Vaughan! You have to read this book"
"What book?"
"Ohhh, its called A MIDNIGHT CLEAR... written by the same guy who is responsible for BIRDY!"

The next day I purchase it on AMAZON.

The following day the book comes.

That same day I finish it.

That day is today.

Let me say, that this book was is an amazing piece of work. Its a classic about World War II, but nothing really too in-depth which would really confuse the heck out of me. A simple plot, but a very unique one, that really does play on your emotional side. I kid you not, my heart was pumping so fast at times, and I just couldn't control myself from screaming into the pages! Ahh, a book sometimes does this for me - and this one did it for me.

A group of 5 soldiers, lead by WONT, really don't care about the war, and rather are discovering themselves through eachother. They hope that the enemy isn't too near, and they hope that their daily lives can be as less stressful as possible. This all changes though when a group of German soldiers seem to be in a very playful mood, and start joking around with the Americans. Leaving messages here and there, which all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. But a piece goes missing at the end. Read it!