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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
France, during and after WWII, examined under a microscope., October 2, 2002
Both suspenseful and revelatory, Moore's story of the search for 70-year-old Maurice Brossard, a man who believes he acted righteously when he killed fourteen Jews chosen at random in Dombey, France, during World War II, reveals as much about the character of France and Frenchmen as it does about the man who killed in her name. Maurice Brossard, as a young man, was a member of the milice, an active supporter of Marshall Petain and his Vichy government. Believing that the Resistance was anti-France, consisting primarily of Communists intent upon destroying the country's traditional values, specifically the old Catholic values of the conservative church, Brossard was, for many years, afforded protection from prosecution. A resident guest in numerous abbeys and convents, he was financially supported by conservative groups representing both the church and political factions, eventually receiving a pardon by the French President.
Now, accused of crimes against humanity, he is on the run, this time not knowing who it is who hunts him. A multitude of brotherhoods, many of them secret, are revealed in all their nefarious dealings as they seek to restore the glorious heritage they believe to be at the very heart of French civilization. Conservative priests, supporters of Pope Pius XII's position during the war, schismatic groups, political organizations opposed to the chauvinism of DeGaulle, police who have crimes of their own to hide, and politicians whose own pasts are far from innocent all have an interest in Brossard`s life--or death. Additionally, Jewish groups, who feel that justice has not been done, seek retribution.
The suspense here is palpable as various groups seek Brossard for their own ends, and the story is full of action, betrayal, and additional murders. What gives this novel depth is that each group fully justifies their positions on ethical, moral, and philosophical grounds. Moore presents a complex story of the complex French character in ways which are unique, and he does so within a framework of a fast-paced, intellectually challenging pursuit. Jewish readers, in particular, will find the language and attitudes reflected here to be especially offensive--and as horrifying as Moore obviously intends them to be. Mary Whipple
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hitler's other willing executioners, November 25, 2000
Moore's novel literally starts with a bang as Pierre Brossard, a 70 year old Catholic Frenchman, outguns an assassin who has been sent to kill him. On the assassin's body he finds a statement from the "Committee for Justice for the Jewish Victims of Dombey", claiming responsibility for the execution of Brossard. It turns out that Brossard has been a fugitive for over forty years, having participated in the murder of 14 Jews in 1944. During that time he has been protected by sympathetic members of the Catholic Church, provided with funds, hiding places, transportation and false papers. At one point, they even secured a presidential pardon for him, but then he was charged with a "crime against humanity", against which the pardon offers no dispensation. But now times have changed and many of those in the Church and in government who protected Brossard have passed on and others simply want him out of the way, lest his prosecution serve as a model for subsequent trials. Moreover, the succeeding generation of officials does not bear any sympathy towards him, so they too are on his trail. What follows is a thrilling chase, as Brossard is pursued by Church, State and the shadowy committee and by "friend" and foe alike. Beyond the basic thriller premise, Moore also offers an examination of the often ignored war guilt of France. Initially it seems possible to feel some sympathy for Brossard and the other aging collaborators, to the extent that they were motivated by anti-Communism and anti-modernism. But as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that, at heart, they were driven as much by genuine hatred of Jews as by any other less repulsive motives. Moore based Brossard on an actual person, Paul Touvier, and the story's essentials, from the assistance of the Church to the presidential pardon, are all historical, though Touvier was captured in 1989 and died in prison. These, of course, are facts that stand in stark contrast to the myth that DeGaulle consciously chose to cultivate instead, of the French people as proud heroes of the Resistance, standing firm against the Nazi oppressor. In fact, just as Jonah Goldhagen's great book Hitler's Willing Executioner's (see review) has forced us to rethink the question of how limited was German responsibility for the Holocaust, it is long past time to reconsider whether Vichy France was truly an aberration or whether it was in some sense a manifestation of French popular opinion. This is especially important in light of the concurrent rise in present day France of both the Muslim population and the extremist Le Pen Party. As France, a nation obsessed by the concepts of Frenchness and French blood, approaches the moment where the classic Gallic Catholic French will be outnumbered by immigrant Muslims, it is necessary to either anticipate the possibility that this will bring genocidal violence or else to, once again, close our eyes and feign surprise when presented with a fait accompli. Brian Moore brilliantly combines a page turning thriller with a thought provoking look at some of these issues. The result is an outstanding novel which, like much of Moore's work, defies the limitations of genre to probe vital moral issues. GRADE: A
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ready for SUSPENSE ? here it is !, January 31, 2001
The setting is southern France, 1989. Pierre Brossard is a man on the run for his life. For over 40 years he has been in hiding, counting on the complicity of the Catholic Church to perpetuate his anonymity. During WWII, Brossard was a member of the "milice" and as part of his duties at the time he personally shot 14 Jews in a clandestine pogrom and subsequently co-operated in the sending of many Jews from France to extermination camps. Through his many connections, Brossard managed at one point to obtain an official political pardon for his war-crimes, but now (in 1989) the charge of "crimes against humanity" has been added... with the result that even some of his strongest supporters have turned against him. There is a renewed interest in his case; he's running out of places to hide... and he has more pursuers than ever before.Moore has written a great meditation on the historical processes and conditions that make war crimes or crimes against humanity so difficult to pursue. Brossard is demonstrative of the expertise with which such "criminals" are able to exploit various forces of compromise, immunity, asylum and refuge. Many questions are subtly raised by this book. The Church here affords a sort of refuge to the retributive justice that the outside world demands (concerning Brossard's obvious past crimes/sins)... but what of Brossard's inner torment? Even if the Church offers (grants) Divine pardon... does the pardon of man/society necessarily follow? Should it? (I hope not). What do we make of priestly absolution when it proves ineffective as conscience-cleanser? Is this question being answered when, with his final breath, Brossard tries to be penitent and sense God's pardon, and all he is afforded is a final look (in his mind's eye) at the people that he has killed? It is a story told by a genius writer, Moore didn't even know how to disappoint a reader. The short quick chapters make you quickly forget whatever else you had to do today... you won't stop flipping the pages till your done. He changes the "I" of his narrator constantly, and never loses the reader for a moment. I've read almost all of his many books and consider this among his very best. This is a book that had significant meaning for the author (a sort of purging of his own shame at his father's conservative Catholoic belief and initial support of totalitarianism during WWII). Moore commented concerning "The Statement" that: "I never thought that novels changed the world. I still don't believe that. But I just thought that this was a story which really should come out." It should.
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