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A soldier's tale
A war fiction story which has been used as the basis for a film of the same title.
152 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
M.K. Joseph
15 books4 followersMichael Kennedy Joseph (9 July 1914 – 4 October 1981) was a poet and novelist of the 1950s–70s, one of the most important writers of that period, best known subsequently for his science fiction and the novel A Soldier’s Tale (1976). Diverse in subject and genre, his work combines intellectual with populist elements, international with local interests, and experimentalism of form with a more traditional moral and metaphysical enquiry. His work ranged from I'll Soldier No More, A Pound of Saffron and A Soldier's Tale to the science fiction works The Hole in the Zero and The Time of Achamoth to a historical novel Kaspar's Journey based on the medieval Children's Crusade. The Hole in the Zero includes the first known use of the word "hoverboard".
Joseph was also a Professor of English at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. In 1969, he edited the 1831 text of Frankenstein for Oxford University Press; in 1980 the text was reissued in the World's Classics series.
http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers...
Joseph was also a Professor of English at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. In 1969, he edited the 1831 text of Frankenstein for Oxford University Press; in 1980 the text was reissued in the World's Classics series.
http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 25, 2017
There are very few movies that are as good as the book. A Soldier's Tale by M.K. Joseph is one example of this. And my introduction to this book was by way of the movie.
In September 1994 I was a new immigrant to New Zealand, and gotten a job about six weeks after my arrival, in Auckland. My wife was still down-country with her parents, and I had taken a motel to get settled in. So, because I had nothing to do on my first night in Auckland, I switched on the TV. "A Soldier's Tale" was playing -- a movie filmed on site in Normandy, by New Zealanders. I was riveted! It was a beautiful movie, with a haunting plotline, and haunting characters, with a heart-wrenching ending. WOW.
And it was with some satisfaction that I learned it was based on a book written by a New Zealand author! What better introduction to my new homeland could there be, but to find a great NZ movie based on a NZ book!
So I purchased the book at a local bookshop the next day -- my second evening in Auckland -- and I was riveted again! Beautiful prose, masterfully written. I couldn't put it down!
Most of the book is told by the protagonist, in first-person. Here, MK Joseph took a real risk, because his protagonist was from England, and spoke in lower-class English idioms with an English accent -- and MK Joseph managed to capture that flavor perfectly, without turning the protagonist into a caricature. You could actually imagine Saul Scourby sitting at a campfire, during World War II, and relaying this tale to the author, first-hand -- as if you were there. And it was so realistic it sounded real.
So I was left wondering if this story may have been based on a true event -- something the author had heard told during the war. Impossible to know. But that is how well Joseph's risk paid off. Saul Scourby leaps off the page and becomes real.
Yes, it is a story set during wartime, and it involves soldiers. But it isn't a war story -- tho' the war is the only reason this story could ever happen. Here, Joseph took another big risk, because the story involves the sexual exploitation of women, and rape, and murder, and Saul Scourby -- tho' definitely the protagonist -- isn't a very nice person, even tho' he has some considerable nobility and isn't entirely bad, either. Neither is Belle Pradieux, the object of his affections. You feel sorry for her because she is a victim. But she isn't a particularly virtuous or nice person to know, either.
And the antagonists aren't completely bad, either. Tho' they want to do unpleasant things to Belle, they have some considerable justification for doing so, and Saul's presence interferes with this. And yet, his presence isn't necessarily a good thing for Belle!
There's only one truly likeable character in this book: the slightly dim-witted, naive, but utterly reliable Charlie. If a bomb were to have been dropped on that part of Normandy during the story, only Charlie would deserve to survive the blast, and he'd be the only one you'd mourn if he didn't.
Tho' sex is all through this book, and sex is the cause of all the things that happen in this book, this book isn't actually about sex.
"A Soldier's Tale" is about applied Ethics, and how the various ethical models sometimes cannot reconcile! How do you know when you're doing "the right thing" when nothing good can ever come out of the horrible situation you're in -- particularly when there is no "lesser of all evils" to choose from -- they're all bad? And what happens if everybody's view on the "right thing" is different, valid, and conflicting?
* Belle has ordered her world around Consequential ethics: it's only wrong if something bad happens as a result. Well, something bad does happen -- the worst! She is in turmoil!
* The partisans have ordered their world around Utilitarian ethics: "the greatest good for the greatest number of people." In this case, the "greatest good" involves extra-judicial execution of collaborators which, except for Saul's presence, would include Belle.
* The priest has ordered his world around Deontological ethics: he has the categorical imperative to Always Do the Right Thing, and he is in an irreconcilable conflict because the Right Thing is actually wrong.
* The Yank is an Opportunist who operates devoid of any ethical model.
* Saul Scourby, despite being an unlikable Protagonist, adopts the Aristotelian ethical model to resolve Belle's dilemma. He does what Aristotle's "Great Man of well-tempered habits" would do, for the reasons he gives. And while his solution is ethical, it's disturbing all the same.
* And the likable Charlie operates in his own little ethical bubble, doing nice things, seemingly oblivious to the ethical storm that is raging all around him.
The opening and closing of the book includes matching short poems that -- like the book itself -- haunts you. It's because "A Soldier's Tale" would haunt you if you ever heard it told. Or, if you're like me, even if you watch it on television and then read it.
Good book. Recommended
In September 1994 I was a new immigrant to New Zealand, and gotten a job about six weeks after my arrival, in Auckland. My wife was still down-country with her parents, and I had taken a motel to get settled in. So, because I had nothing to do on my first night in Auckland, I switched on the TV. "A Soldier's Tale" was playing -- a movie filmed on site in Normandy, by New Zealanders. I was riveted! It was a beautiful movie, with a haunting plotline, and haunting characters, with a heart-wrenching ending. WOW.
And it was with some satisfaction that I learned it was based on a book written by a New Zealand author! What better introduction to my new homeland could there be, but to find a great NZ movie based on a NZ book!
So I purchased the book at a local bookshop the next day -- my second evening in Auckland -- and I was riveted again! Beautiful prose, masterfully written. I couldn't put it down!
Most of the book is told by the protagonist, in first-person. Here, MK Joseph took a real risk, because his protagonist was from England, and spoke in lower-class English idioms with an English accent -- and MK Joseph managed to capture that flavor perfectly, without turning the protagonist into a caricature. You could actually imagine Saul Scourby sitting at a campfire, during World War II, and relaying this tale to the author, first-hand -- as if you were there. And it was so realistic it sounded real.
So I was left wondering if this story may have been based on a true event -- something the author had heard told during the war. Impossible to know. But that is how well Joseph's risk paid off. Saul Scourby leaps off the page and becomes real.
Yes, it is a story set during wartime, and it involves soldiers. But it isn't a war story -- tho' the war is the only reason this story could ever happen. Here, Joseph took another big risk, because the story involves the sexual exploitation of women, and rape, and murder, and Saul Scourby -- tho' definitely the protagonist -- isn't a very nice person, even tho' he has some considerable nobility and isn't entirely bad, either. Neither is Belle Pradieux, the object of his affections. You feel sorry for her because she is a victim. But she isn't a particularly virtuous or nice person to know, either.
And the antagonists aren't completely bad, either. Tho' they want to do unpleasant things to Belle, they have some considerable justification for doing so, and Saul's presence interferes with this. And yet, his presence isn't necessarily a good thing for Belle!
There's only one truly likeable character in this book: the slightly dim-witted, naive, but utterly reliable Charlie. If a bomb were to have been dropped on that part of Normandy during the story, only Charlie would deserve to survive the blast, and he'd be the only one you'd mourn if he didn't.
Tho' sex is all through this book, and sex is the cause of all the things that happen in this book, this book isn't actually about sex.
"A Soldier's Tale" is about applied Ethics, and how the various ethical models sometimes cannot reconcile! How do you know when you're doing "the right thing" when nothing good can ever come out of the horrible situation you're in -- particularly when there is no "lesser of all evils" to choose from -- they're all bad? And what happens if everybody's view on the "right thing" is different, valid, and conflicting?
* Belle has ordered her world around Consequential ethics: it's only wrong if something bad happens as a result. Well, something bad does happen -- the worst! She is in turmoil!
* The partisans have ordered their world around Utilitarian ethics: "the greatest good for the greatest number of people." In this case, the "greatest good" involves extra-judicial execution of collaborators which, except for Saul's presence, would include Belle.
* The priest has ordered his world around Deontological ethics: he has the categorical imperative to Always Do the Right Thing, and he is in an irreconcilable conflict because the Right Thing is actually wrong.
* The Yank is an Opportunist who operates devoid of any ethical model.
* Saul Scourby, despite being an unlikable Protagonist, adopts the Aristotelian ethical model to resolve Belle's dilemma. He does what Aristotle's "Great Man of well-tempered habits" would do, for the reasons he gives. And while his solution is ethical, it's disturbing all the same.
* And the likable Charlie operates in his own little ethical bubble, doing nice things, seemingly oblivious to the ethical storm that is raging all around him.
The opening and closing of the book includes matching short poems that -- like the book itself -- haunts you. It's because "A Soldier's Tale" would haunt you if you ever heard it told. Or, if you're like me, even if you watch it on television and then read it.
Good book. Recommended
August 30, 2018
What an introduction to this New Zealand author. Joseph's novel is an insightful and uncompromising look at war and its human toll. Beautiful, tender, and ultimately devastating.
January 3, 2012
The temptation with this gripping novel is to rush through it because you simply have to know how it is resolved. The problem with that approach is that such a rich and complex novel of ideas and exquisite writing, deserves more attention. This is a perfect book for book groups to explore, and an even better one to read and re-read, taking time to ponder the moral ambiguities that underlie the tale.
A Soldier’s Tale by M.K.Joseph (1914-1981) was first published in 1976 but has been recently reissued to great acclaim. It’s the story of a soldier caught up in a moral dilemma not initially of his making. It’s set in Normandy in 1944, when the Germans were in retreat and the Allies were making their way through rural France towards Paris, liberating villages and towns as they did so. During a lull in the fighting two young British soldiers go for a stroll, looking for some loot or a ‘nice bit of crumpet’. They come across a young girl alone in an isolated cottage and Saul has begun his pick-up routine when suddenly the girl freezes in terror. Three men from the French Resistance have arrived to deal with her. She is a collaborator, they say, and not just one who slept with the enemy. They are going to kill her.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/02/07/a-...
A Soldier’s Tale by M.K.Joseph (1914-1981) was first published in 1976 but has been recently reissued to great acclaim. It’s the story of a soldier caught up in a moral dilemma not initially of his making. It’s set in Normandy in 1944, when the Germans were in retreat and the Allies were making their way through rural France towards Paris, liberating villages and towns as they did so. During a lull in the fighting two young British soldiers go for a stroll, looking for some loot or a ‘nice bit of crumpet’. They come across a young girl alone in an isolated cottage and Saul has begun his pick-up routine when suddenly the girl freezes in terror. Three men from the French Resistance have arrived to deal with her. She is a collaborator, they say, and not just one who slept with the enemy. They are going to kill her.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/02/07/a-...
March 8, 2014
A small cast in a tightly written moral tale, judiciously laced with historical mementos. The voice of the central characters is strong and believable and the second and sometimes third hand narrative weaves an at times conspiratorial air which somehow makes the reader complicit in what happens. I guessed at where this was heading about two thirds of the way through and did not feel surprised: more saddened perhaps by what war does to people and what it expects of them. Sometimes both sides are wrong.
June 19, 2013
I was first introduced to this compelling novel of love and war in 1981 by my then English teacher and it has stayed with me ever since. I know this story polarises people but I'm firmly in the "love it!" camp.
October 5, 2021
Maybe I just didn't look properly but there was NO rape warning. I am disgusted. This book shows a soldier taking advantage of a poor woman. I know this expresses the harsh reality of the world, but I don't ever want to be reading something like this ever again, especially without ANY warnings.
December 28, 2010
A different type of story and its approach to the affect of the war on peop;e in France and the soldiers that came during the fighting - the form of justice people took in to their own hands.
November 11, 2011
A sadly compelling story, reading it was like watching a rabbit caught in the headlights of a speeding car - you know it is going to end badly but you can't do anything to stop the inevitable.
November 3, 2013
Gutwrenching story, it made my hair stand on end. Definitely worth reading.
April 26, 2014
An amazing book. The writing superb. A Soldiers Tale is book that will leave you thinking about it long after your finished.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews