Customer Reviews

Night over Day over Night

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In appropriately sparse prose, Watkins tells the story of Sebastian, a Hitler Youth member who signs up for the SS in 1944, when Germany is reeling and the war's outcome appears obvious. His offhand reason for doing so is that when you reached a certain age, you either signed up for the Army, Navy, Air Force, or SS. The Air Force and Navy are nonexistent at this point, and when he heads to the recruiting office, it happens to be the SS recruiter's turn to be there. One gets the feeling that he joins the SS for lack of anything better to do, and perhaps a general case of teenage angst. His father was killed in the war, his mother's gotten a bit weird, he's got an older lover, a proper girlfriend, his best friend is crippled, and we get the sense that like Holden Caufield, he just can't stand anything any more.

At SS training camp, Sebastian makes a few friends, a big doofus of a farmer boy, and a cool upper-class kid. They all sort of drift through a training regimen overseen by two grizzled veterans who survived Normandy and have nothing but derision for the new recruits. Even non-military readers will realize that their training is virtually useless, and they are being prepared as cannon fodder for the final offensive in the Ardennes (aka The Battle of the Bulge). When Sebastian visits home on leave, his emotional distance from everything and everybody is even starker, and it's clear he is even more adrift than when he left. There's a minor subplot of sorts, as Sebastian is tracked down by his older lover, and he tries to run from her obsession with him. The final third of the book takes place during this offensive and is a maelstrom of chaos, killing, looting, and murder. By the end Sebastian has been reduced to a survivor, and little else. Some readers may be troubled with Watkins' entirely human portrayal of an SS soldier, however it's clear many were not believers and joined for any number of reasons. Indeed, the question of why he enlists is a recurring one. At one point in the book, Sebastian pokes fun at another boy from his town who enlists, saying he saw the "Meet Your Comrades in the SS" poster and thought it would be a surefire way to finally make friends. While this may be true, it's no worse than Sebastian's own lack of concrete reason.

If you're interested in this book, I recall reading another book as a kid called "The Black March" written in the late `50s. It purported to be the memoir of an SS recruit's training and service on the Eastern front, and as a kid it was gripping. I don't know if I'd still find it so, and I've since heard it was all a fake by a French pulp writer, but you might want to check it out.

I decided to read six Paul Watkins books in order of publication date. Night over Day over Night was the most satisfying. Tightly written, it builds to a shattering climax that is as believable as it is horrifying. A truly great war novel written from the perspective of young German boys caught up in the absurdities of their training and the conflict itself. Sebastian is a character who should be studied by generations. The other books in order of preference are: In the Blue Light of African Dreams; Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn; The Story of My Disappearance; The Promise of Light; Archangel

There's been a lot said about the best war book, but I can say that this is in the top ten because it is such a splendid story about beliefs in causes that are bright and shiny but truth rubs off the gold and there's just tin underneath. I wish this writer would get more recognition on talk shows and other media. His name just doesn't crop up enough and he has a gift that classical writers posess. So many times you hear about these writers who are the hottest item but they soon fade like the paper of their yellow crumbly pages. Paul Watkins is a classic and I have to force myself not to buy his books until I've finished the one I'm currently reading.

I was amazed that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It is hard for me to read fiction and look with anticipation towards the next page. Yet this book caused me to do just that.

I was very impressed with the humanization of the men who fought for the SS for reasons that we all understand, yet often ignore. Not for hatred, power, or racism. Rather our of obligation, despiration, and duty to their country.

The images painted of this young man as he enters the fold and goes through training is great. Very well done. As his mind is altered through the pains of warlife, and the dubious nature of an older woman, we grow to respect him. He doesn't come off as a hero or an enemy, instead he is just a man in stuck a trying time.

I feel that Watkins has done his best work in this piece. Very well rounded, somewhat romantic, descriptive, and consumable.

This is a very good book- ceratinly Watkins best and arguably the best war novel since "all quiet on the westren front' to which it does share some common features.

The previous reviewers who have referred to teenage anxt have made a very preceptive observation. Sebastians transformation from bored small town hick to member of the SS is just that, but on a big scale. Despite his terrible actions, Westland remains a likeable character- so 5 out of 5 for that alone.

However, where the book comes into its own is its dreamlike prose and graphic descriptions. Small features are highlighted in a quite remarkable way " We were smoking American cigarrettes called Camels". Those of us who have served in the armed forces would agree that the descriptions of operational service capture fighting in a way that few books ever have.

Read it.

This might be Mr. Watkin's best work. Watkins has created a novel so real that it comes across more as an extraordinary diary of personal experience than a novel. Watkins is often praised for his journalist's eye for observation and detail, and he has that here, but this novel also showcases his ability for character development. When you finish reading this book, you will feel as though you have read an authentic first-hand account of the war, and you will wonder what became of the people in this book. Only later, slowly, will you recall that this is a novel, created by Mr. Watkin's astounding imagination...

Sebastian enlists in the SS less than a year before the war will be over. He goes through basic training, an ordinary soldier in ordinary training, doing ordinary exercises, with ordinary hopes and fears. But of course, there's nothing ordinary about any soldier in any war.

The story follows him from country innocence to the evils of war, from hope to damnation. With clear and simple prose, written with such simple artistry, Watkins again delivers an outstanding novel with fully realized characters.

The day will come when people stop saying he follows in the footsteps of Hemingway and admi that Watkins surpasses him.

if you read "archangel" by the same author, you find out what happens to sebastian. read "stand by your god" to find out more about watkins and the background to this book my review? a great book, one i've read many times. a style between the sparsness of hemingway and salinger's disaffected youth, with scenes and characters you can believe without effort. the only gripe is the similarity in parts to "all quiet on the western front" (eg; sebastian and von schwerins final walk) but the book is more relevant to a 21st century audience than "all quiet.." one of my top five "war books". enough said.

I've read Night Over Day Over Night dozens of times, and every time I appreciate it more. Sebastian transforms from a good natured yet slightly jaded high school student to an emotionally dead battle survivor in such a natural and believable manner, and the development in many characters is beyond that found in most novels. It always astonishes me to think that Paul Watkins was but 21 when he wrote the book. Everything about it has an authentic feel; it's hard to believe that Watkins did not live in WWII Germany. The scene between Sebastian and Breder in the woods, and the one where Sebastian is carrying the dying Schwerin on his shoulders, are two of the most memorable I've ever read.

I have always claimed to not be a fan of "war stories," so for ten years, I resisted my father's strong encouragements to read NIGHT OVER DAY OVER NIGHT. What a fool I was! Paul Watkins' first novel captures perfectly the anxieties we all face as we try to figure out "who we are," the backdrop of the Third Reich's waning days providing flavor for the reader as well as fragile though believed comfort for his characters. The climactic battle scenes kept me glued to the book and up way past bedtime as Sebastian Westland's world disintegrated before his eyes. NIGHT OVER DAY OVER NIGHT is a powerfully written, harrowing account of of the evils that war foists on unsuspecting youth, and should be read by everyone. Period.