The Absolutist by John Boyne

How does one begin to review The Absolutist by John Boyne (The Boy in the striped pyjamas)? To say I am, forgive me while I use a World War one descriptive, shell shocked, would be an understatement. Sitting quietly in the corner of the living room merely an hour after finishing the book, subdued lighting my only company and a book jacket design I find hard to tear myself from, I gorge in its simplicity, its effectiveness, its evocativeness. Breath-taking.

The British Army, by the end of “The Great War”, had dealt with 80,000 cases of shell shock – a severe and debilitating trauma by any measure.

September 1919: twenty-one-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver some letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian’s brother Will during the Great War, but in 1917 Will laid down his guns on the battlefield, declared himself a conscientious objector and was shot as a traitor, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.

But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan’s visit. He holds a secret deep in his soul. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage.

As he recalls his friendship with Will, from the training ground at Aldershot to the trenches of Northern France, he speaks of how the intensity of their friendship brought him both happiness and self-discovery as well as despair and pain.

The Absolutist is a novel that examines the events of the Great War from the perspective of two young soldiers, both struggling with the complexity of their emotions and the confusion of their friendship.

Set across six parts, the book looks back at two very short time periods – 1916 and 1919 – and it’s only in the concluding part do we gain closure in Thatcher’s memorable 1979. Each part weighs in at approximately 50 pages and it took me a while to realise the book was devoid of chapters. That said, I do wonder if the addition of breaks and chapters within each part would have had a detrimental effect on the rhythm – I rather believe it would have for –although unusual – I never felt the need for an interlude. Page after page would scurry on by and before I knew it I was half way through the book, eager as I was to find out what would happen to the protagonist.

Published by Transworld The Absolutist is available from Amazon and Kindle.

With a narrative so intoxicating and thought provoking I found it hard to put the book down, Boyne effortlessly transporting me to the sodden, rat infested, lice ridden trenches of Northern France. Taking time to appreciate the circumstances and live life through a teenager stuck in a trench he has no desire to be in is a sobering thought. It was never a case of living day by day or hour by hour, one command from a superior officer to go “over the top” and chances are you knew your time was up – all for the sake of capturing or re-capturing a few inches of land – until the next assault – Tristan lived his life in fear of that one simple command.

The Absolutist is a lugubrious tale examining a relationship with consequences and an unavoidable connection. The three main characters all share a simple bond, a bond that isn’t complete until Tristan’s train visit to Norwich in 1919 when he calls on Will’s doting sister.  Tristan has a secret to share but is uncertain how to reveal it and Boyne does a remarkable job of teasing information and just as one part finishes, he leaves you breathlessly hanging until you are reacquainted with the time period further down the track. Boyne writes at his own pace and I often felt I was along for a ride I had no desire to stop. In fact, despite a satisfying and jaw dropping climax, I didn’t want the book to end, but end it must. The final paragraph is intense, powerful, atmospheric and complete. There’s no conjecture – you know what happens – but whether you close the covers and forget the tale is another matter. I daresay many will be unwilling to forget such a fitting end, the final words still reverberating like a clap of thunder or a shell exploding on the front line.

Tristan is a troubled man. Like so many who fought in Northern France, the battles, the deaths, the guilt of survival, never leave. Cowardice and the life of a conscientious objector are treated with due deference and although a highly emotive subject for those left to pick up the pieces, Boyne strikes a balance between sensitivity and disgust. Boyne attacks the book with an assured empathy and rewarded with a beautiful, if poignant, tale examining the lives of three people brought together by a chance meeting in Aldershot in 1916.

A remarkable and fulfilling story that will shock and surprise you. One not to be missed.

Published by Transworld The Absolutist is available from Amazon and Kindle.