Time of Light [Paperback]

Gunnar Kopperud (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2001

Framed by the 9-day Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of 1994, "The Time of Light" is skilfully weaved from historical narration and tales - tales of war and tales of women - as two men talk. Markus, a former German soldier devastated by the outbreak of this new war, seeks atonement from an Armenian priest for his part in the Nazi invasion of Russia. Captured at the Battle of Stalingrad, Markus never returned to Germany, but tried instead to work out his destiny in the country and among the people he feels he has desecrated. His two boyhood friends who fought with him and survive the battle follow different paths, but Markus turns his back on everything, including his wife and son, who ultimately goes in search of his vanished father. Clear-eyed about the savagery of war, harrowing in its evocation of emotion, the novel has much to tell us in the wake of the Rwandan and Kosovan tragedies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

War and its consequences are the subjects of Norway-based journalist Kopperud's dreamlike first novel, set during a 10-day skirmish between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1994. As that conflict unfolds, it triggers the haunted memories of WWII vet Markus Wagner, a German expatriate who participated in the Nazi army's disastrous winter 1942-1943 battle and occupation of Stalingrad. Burdened by the weight of his past, Markus recounts his story to an old Armenian priest, in wide-ranging conversations that touch on everything from Bertrand Russell to the inevitability of war atrocities. Chief among these in Markus's recollection are the torching of a Russian church filled with civilians, and the rape and murder of a village girl. In both cases, Markus is tormented by his own conflicted role. Kopperud spaces the war scenes far apart, with lots of philosophy and history in between. When the memories do come, they are filled with microscopic detail and stark imagery, and they possess a veneer of shimmering beauty, thanks to Kopperud's lyrical descriptions of the most base savagery. "Some stories must either never be told or be told only the way dreams are told," says one character, an Armenian survivor of Turkish brutality, and Kopperud obliges with fanciful, hallucinatory scenes such as one in which a musically gifted German sniper plays a duet in gunfire with his Russian counterpart. While Markus is the book's central figure, the third-person narrative encompasses other viewpoints as wellAmost successfully that of Rachel, the Jewish lover Markus left behind in Norway. Other characters include Manfred and Dieter, fellow soldiers in Markus's unit. Gracefully manipulating fragmented voices and a patchwork narrative, Kopperud crafts a moving modernist meditation on German war guilt and the fundamental nature of good and evil, light and dark. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Against the backdrop of war in 1990s Armenia, a German soldier named Markus seeks atonement for his actions during the Battle of Stalingrad 50 years earlier. As he relates his story to a sympathetic priest, we are delivered back to the time of his service, ending with his capture by the Russians. With a mixture of penitence, self-justification, and opportunism, Markus chooses to desert his wife and young son in Germany to carry on with a new life in Armenia after his release from imprisonment; however, his true burden involves his role as a subversive agent for Russia's interest in the territory, and his story is reflected in the contemporary conflict. This is a very learned first novel from an admired philosopher and journalist, and the author's thoughts on free will, redemption, and the existence of evil are very much in evidence in the characters' mouths, making for slightly stiff reading. Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is evoked, and readers desiring a similar meditation on the immorality of war and other personal crimes should take note.DMarc Kloszewski, Indiana Free Lib., PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury (April 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747553726
• ISBN-13: 978-0747553724
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,500,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary talent, August 28, 2000

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Time of Light (Hardcover)

"I woke this morning to the song of war and the smell of tears. The war must have been going on for a long time: my pillow was wet, very, very wet."

It is a rare event, but a wonderful gift, when one who loves to read discovers an exceptional new Author. "The Time Of Light" by Mr. Gunnar Kopperud is this Author's gift to readers. This historically based novel is perhaps the best book I have read year to date, and certainly would be prominent were I ever to list the finest of what I have been privileged to read.

The quote above is the first sentence in this book; it is spoken by Markus to an Armenian Priest, as the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over a place called Nagorno-Karabakh begins. During their nine days of conversation in 1994, events that have tormented Markus for over 50 years, his unanswered questions, his guilt, and his need to make amends, brings the Priest and Markus together. While they speak, yet another war unfolds its own atrocities, actions are taken by soldiers that may require this meeting be replicated again, 50 years hence when others seek atonement.

Markus and two friends are drafted into service as soldiers for Germany in World War II. They are not Nazis, they never see or serve at the camps, but the level of the war they were a part of, reached an abyss of unprecedented evil so bereft of reason, that even the actions of the individual soldier knew no rules, held no moral code, and destroyed them forever.

Can one be forgiven, who can grant this wish to atone, who was and has been responsible for atrocities throughout History? Black and white issues they are not, they are like the gray paper that Dieter, the only one to return home from the war, covers his entire room with, and then attempts to resolve his demons by listing what he once believed, and what beliefs he now holds. But just as the paper he writes on is ambiguous in color, so too are the absolutes that he hopes to list, to put things in order, to make things right, to give himself some measure of peace.

And the third soldier Manfred, who after 13 years of war and imprisonment, volunteers to be relocated with one of the endless number of ethnic groups that Stalin displaces on a whim across the new "Union". He hopes that distance will be his salvation.

Just as another great writer of the human condition, Mr. John Steinbeck, often did, Mr. Kopperud does not tie everything up neatly for the reader. Who can claim the knowledge of absolute truths, who can dispense the answers that give peace to shattered lives?

In a brilliant moment of torment in the book, and in the midst of a violent storm, both internal and external, Markus wants an answer to his question.

"God!"

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"Have you ever managed to stop anything at all?"

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply excellent novel of war and more!, November 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Time of Light (Hardcover)

I don't have much more to say than what has already been written. I simply wanted to state that this is an excellent novel. I read many, many books, mostly literature dealing with man's conflict in war and the inner struggles that come afterwards. This work stands out from many others in that it does such an excellent job of portraying the lives and minds of truely ordinary Germans after WW2. The characters in this book are not Nazi leaders, war heroes, members of the resistance, or death camp survivors. They are just ordinary German people whose lives were somewhat typical before the outbreak of war. Yet, their lives and experiences afterwards become so complex, and the author does an incredible job or bringing this out,using both overt and subtle techniques.

I couldn't believe the Kirkus Review likened this book to a drawn-out version of other anti-war novels. First of all, the book is rather short as far as novels go. Second, there is much more to this novel than a simple "war is hell" message. The structure of the plot and the conversation between Markus and the priest are very original. The writing is incredible, lyrical but not overly fluffy. Wonderfull dialogue as well.