An Ice Cream War by William Boyd 10 out of 10
An Ice Cream War by William Boyd
10 out of 10
This excellent book by the talented William Boyd was nominated for the coveted Booker Prize and it is included on The Guardian list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read:
it describes with humor the events of World War I as they unfold in Eastern Africa, although the German troops would eventually be followed by the British as they move into Portuguese territory and then into the West, in Rhodesia and other lands.
The characters are interesting and often amusing, starting with the American Temple Smith, who has a farm in the British colony, near the German lands, sees his property occupied by the Germans, led by his neighbor, Major von Bishop, when he returns with an insurance man, the latter is killed and the American is aghast to find his Decorticator vanished, swearing revenge on the “Hun”.
Felix Cobb is another protagonist, who is spared the first part of the war, because his eyesight is not good enough, therefore he spends time in Oxford and at their ugly mansion, where early on his brother Gabriel is marrying Charis, a young woman who would get close to her brother-in-law later on.
After they marry, the newlyweds are driven by the gardener Cyril – man who would die along with so many in the awful conflict – to the next town, then they sail to France and spend some honey moon days on the coast of France, where their experience is rather outré and unexpected.
Gabriel does not seem to want to make love to his wife on the wedding night, which might be explainable given the exhaustion, but then he does not show any desire on the following night and when he does approach his new consort, it is not to have proper sex, but some kind of awkward intimacy that appears to continue on consequent occasions, reminding yours truly of On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.
One day, Gabriel Cobb reads in the newspaper about the fact that the Austro- Hungarian Empire has entered a conflict in the Balkans, realizes that the war is about to begin for Britain and states to his wife that they need to cut short their honeymoon and return home immediately.
Gabriel would be sent to Eastern Africa, where he arrives after a prolonged, sickening journey to India and then to join the fight against the Germans near Dar Es Salam, in what appears to be an easy landing and victory, but proves difficult and during the clashes, the captain is hurt badly at his leg, as he tried to escape enemies and then he is bayoneted twice in his belly.
He would spend the remaining years of the war in a prisoner of war hospital, where he becomes infatuated with the wife of von Bishop, Liesl, a rather large woman who is working as a nurse and effective manager of the camp, where the British captain gathers some military information, but more in order to assuage his remorse than to do anything with it, until the moment when he is caught as he waited for the woman to take her regular bath, outside her hut.
Captain Cobb is then taken prisoner with the assumption that he was outside the home of von Bishop in order to gather intelligence and when they find the notebook with notes on the German military positions and movements it is considered enough prove that the man was a spy and he thinks he has to escape, asks the help of Liesl and when he gets it he runs North, hoping to join the advancing British forces.
Alas, the commander of the German troops sends von Bishop to catch the escapee, escorted by some local, vicious men, with a reputation of being cannibals and when they do find the man who had actually not been involved in espionage activities, busy as he was with his obsession for Liesl, there is a tragic miscommunication between the pursuing officer and his group, with calamitous consequences.
Meanwhile, Felix has been attracted for a spell by the artist sister of his friend and when that proved to be a failure, he started talking with his sister-in-law, Charis, given that they are both in and near the family mansion, their closeness gives way to an attraction and they have an affair, first in a hotel in the area, but as the man grows more impetuous, their love affair begins to take a toll on the woman, who takes an extreme measure to end it, saying that she had written to her husband and confessed everything, after which she goes beyond the edge.
Felix is desperate to join the army and follow his brother in Africa, where, after he arrives he witnesses the absurdity of a conflict in which he and his comrades are half starved to death, some die eating dead and buried animals that have been killed by the flies, an officer dies killed by friendly fire – the protagonist itself would be severely injured by an absurd man, Wheech- Browning, who is responsible for many senseless acts.
Temple Smith, Wheech – Browning and Felix are in the footsteps of von Bishop, who in turn is chasing after Gabriel, the American trying to exact revenge for his Decorticator – one of the amusing, preposterous aspects of the war- Felix in an effort to reunite with his brother, worried that he may get the letter from Charis, even if Liesl had told him that no letters have been received by the prisoner of war.
The horror of the war is evident in the fate of Gabriel, his wife, Charis, the German von Bishop and evidently the multitude of people who die, many of them – indeed, more of them killed by the Spanish Influenza than the weapons of destruction.
Felix is nearly killed, while in Portuguese territory where he is stationed as a liaison officer, sharing accommodation with a Portuguese officer who speaks no English, the exchanges between the two going through three languages, including French, and using “sim” most often, up to the point where a new artillery piece is demonstrated and the calamitous Wheech-Browning makes a mistake, bombs to death their host and nearly kills his compatriot.
A splendid book and a very happy discovery of a new author that has a few more books on the aforementioned Guardian list, including A Good Man in Africa, which is on the to-read soon agenda.
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