This was the first book that Arthur Koestler wrote in English. It starts at the beginning of World War II when he was living in the South of France, working on "Darkness at Noon". After retreating to Paris, he was imprisoned as an undesirable alien. Even though he had been a crusader against fascism, he and many other anti-Nazis, were treated as enemies and their internment was brutal. The worst of his imprisonment was at Vernet, where prisoners had to sleep without blankets in 20 degrees of frost, and where he finally collapsed during a session of forced labour. Some of his fellow internees were eventually handed over to Nazi executioners. Koestler ponders on the collapse of pride and honour in France and he asks "Was the tragedy of France merely accidental, due to an unfortunate constellation? Or was it due to the still undiscovered, secret laws of the rise and decline of races and nations?"
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Born in Budapest in 1905, educated in Vienna, Arthur Koestler immersed himself in the major ideological and social conflicts of his time. A communist during the 1930s, and visitor for a time in the Soviet Union, he became disillusioned with the Party and left it in 1938. Later that year in Spain, he was captured by the Fascist forces under Franco, and sentenced to death. Released through the last-minute intervention of the British government, he went to France where, the following year, he again was arrested for his political views. Released in 1940, he went to England, where he made his home. His novels, reportage, autobiographical works, and political and cultural writings established him as an important commentator on the dilemmas of the 20th century. He died in 1983.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
...and it works as a memoir, too!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Scum of the Earth (Paperback)
Arthur Koestler's memoir about his experiences during the beginning of the Second World War is interesting from a historical standpoint. Koestler finds himself all over Europe, in and out of internment camps, encountering people from all over of all classes. Koestler's experience is interesting because the way he was treated was not the norm, it was the product of his unique background and situation, but it still represents the wide range of possible experiences during this historically uncertain time. The level that it succeeds on most, however, is a personal one. Koestler is a damn witty, talented author, who knows how to tell a story. Despite the subject matter he finds much work with. One can't help but smile at he way he describes the inbreed locals of a small village or the way he personifies his car. As interesting as the historical and stylistic elements is his description of himself (clearly a flawed man with a drinking problem) and his unlikely relationship with a younger woman he wasn't meant to end up with. It may be a comparatively obscure piece of literature, but it's certainly one worth reading.
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The true story of French concentration camps,
By A Customer
This review is from: Scum of the Earth (Paperback)
The true story of Arthur Koestlers experiences in France immediately before the invasion by Germany. This is a shocking story of a France that we do not hear about in contemporary accounts of WWII. With Germany poised to invade France and nothing that the French could do to stop them the French government decided to appease their new rulers by arresting all refugees from Nazi Europe and putting them into French Concentration camps. Arthur Koester ,a political writer, was one of these refugees that thought he was safe in Paris is a country that was still free of Nazi rule but was soon to find otherwise. His story tells of the French camps where conditions were worse than anything the Nazis were doing and the only way out was bribery and friends in high places. Once released he was still unable to leave the country and the story takes another twist when he discovers that the only way to escape is to enlist in the French Foreign Legion, first of all spending a year in the Italian mountains where his unit was
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What I said for the paperback!,
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This review is from: Scum of the earth,
ONE of the greatest books to come out of the second world war now carries a tragic irony. The reverberations of its author's suicide in 1983 spill over into one's reading of it.
In 1939, Koestler was living in the South of France working on Darkness At Noon. Moving to Paris to enlist with the Allies he was, along with thousands of others who had fought Fascism around Europe, imprisoned as an undesirable alien. Life in the camp, which German emigres testified to being comparable with Dachau, is illuminated by a writer whose humanity, optimism and intelligence shine on every page.
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