The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall is included on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read and is recognized as one of the outstanding books for children - 9 out of 10

 

The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall is included on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read and is recognized as one of the outstanding books for children

9 out of 10

 

 

Considering that this is a book for children -something I have just found out – I should have enjoyed it less than I did, and maybe I should see a doctor, this could be a sign of decline – Shakespeare said ‘Is second childishness and mere oblivion; Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything’ about the last age…

 

Charles aka Chas McGill is the main character of this novel, a good boy in school, first to raise the hand in class, though his father will at some stage question his judgement, but insist that he had ‘guts’, as opposed to one of the adults in Garmouth (a fictional town), who thinks, like the rest of the locals, that the Germans have landed and he flees

Chas has the habit of collecting pieces from the Nazi planes that are shot down, and he has ‘the second-best collection in the area’, he will use this boast, and modesty in a note that is used to confuse the teacher, Stan Liddel, who is trying to find who has the missing machine gun, and is made to suspect Boddser

 

The latter is one of the villains of the narrative, a boy that is much bigger than Chas and his friends, and bullies, abuses the rest of the kids, also a collector of memorabilia from the wreckage of Nazi equipment, a thief that will get his match, when he opposes David, this Goliath will have the fate of the one from the Bible

When a bomber is shot down, Chas finds that the machine gun is intact, and concocts an elaborate plan to get his hands on it, by using something like a wheel barrow, on which a replica of guy Fawkes is paraded, and the beano will serve to cover the ample gun with efficiency, he hides the piece, and then they will use it

 

He gets help from Cem aka Cyril, he is called Cem from Cemetery, which is the nickname of his father, who operates as an undertaker – he will also have a creative solution for the expected invasion, he will take out the dead from a funeral monument, put them with other departed, and use the place as a shelter for the family

Chas is the leader of the operation in which he involves alongside Cem, Clogger, Carrot Juice, Nicky and Audrey, the latter is the only girl in the group, the one that gives them tea, is there to sooth and offer help when Chas is wounded…trying to use the machine gun, he is catapulted to the floor and then the weapon does not work anymore

 

The situation is made even more complex by the arrival of a…German, this is Rudi Gerlath, a pilot that has had to jump off the destroyed plane – or was he a gunner, I remember there is a dispute over this, in conversation, and I am confused now, besides, I must confess that I did not pay all the attention, realizing perhaps that this is for kids

 

The German thinks of surrendering, he is cold, hungry, but he is also very worried, because he knows how hated the pilots are, in Germany, when those are shot down, the population throws dog shit, stones, and worse, many have been hanged and pitchforks used to perforate them…Rudi does not want any of that

Somehow, he finds a shed, and some food in the rabbits’ nest, which humans feed with bread and remains of meals that serve to keep the parachuted enemy alive, until he stumbles into the fortress built by the children – they could not do it themselves, but they have had an adult doing the heavy lifting, one who has the IQ of a baby

 

They capture the German, feed him, and treat him well, indeed, so humane is the treatment, that when they get used with each other, he can take his Luger pistol and escape, when Nicky falls asleep, but he does not, reluctant to face the unforeseeable, and getting emotionally attached to his jailers, Stockholm syndrome

Spoiler alert, Rudi will in fact be crucial in saving the children, at some stage, after they negotiate a deal, he is to get the boat that Nicky’s father had – Nicky is an orphan now, and so is Clogger, their parents have died in bombardments – and in exchange, he will work on the machine gun, to make it operational again

 

However, once on the vessel, out at sea, the German realizes that the mixed feelings he had had are clear now – he had had doubts over his allegiance, started to feel close to the children, and remote from his side, the Nazis and the rest of them – so he returns to the shore, walks back to the fortress, just in time to interfere

We have a lot of suspense, a few intense scenes are with Boddser, one fight takes place early, and the little David uses some pebbles to win over Goliath, but later on, Boddser corners his much weaker enemy, and pushes his head under the water for half an hour, not continuously, but enough times to hurt a lot

 

Clogger enters the stage, asks the commander Chas if he is to do ‘him in proper’, and then nearly kills the vicious Goliath, a brutal onslaught, which creates revulsion, but Clogger insists it was the only way, or else the villain would have brought the police, exposed them all, as it is, he will be afraid that he can get killed, he will be if there is a next time…

The town population thinks there is an invasion, and the brave children are ready to use their weapon, and when Polish soldiers come looking for them, they are sure these are the Nazis and they open fire on them…

 

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”