Added: possible spoiler
A good book doesn't need extravaganza twists, elaborate imaginations, dragons, or bombastic characters.
I read Soldier's Quartet without knowing what to expect. This is not my usual genre, but I also don't shy away from it, many of my top-rated movies belong to the same genre.
I didn't expect to be moved by it, a classic simple story told in a beautiful and engaging way, but I found myself captured and eagerly flipping pages.
The storytelling. Colin presents the story from different eras and sides. They will connect to one another in smooth ways that never feel forced. I remember it's been a while since I read books with similar styles. It works well when an author manages to pull it, and this book is a great example. We are looking at the present-day of a man who tries to find the background story of a mysterious letter that moves him and flashbacks to the reality behind the letter told from different narratives. It could be risky, as we readers are given the revelation of the whole story. But again, the strength of this book is not about the mystery, but the deeper meaning of simple things that are often overlooked in wars, although they are actually the most important factors.
Personally, there is no other more suitable time than now to read this book. (Review written in early March 2022). Devastated by the news about Ukraine, I found myself thinking about why we never really learn anything from history, and the situation out there is the perfect example. Those who declare wars are hardly on the front line, especially in modern times. They are not the ones who suffer, but those 'little,' 'insignificant' lives that only registered as numbers for those playing the game of war. Whenever I see little victories from the defensive side, or to put it bluntly, the side I'm rooting for; I can't help to think about the loss of the souls from the enemy side too. Did they really want to be there? Did they believe in something that is merely propaganda, or were they simply tossed into it? A loss is a loss. There are families and loved ones. There are fears and tears, broken hopes, robbed futures. I always think there are no winners in wars. What do winners celebrate among broken ruins and dead bodies?
A Soldier's Quartet highlights that, revolves around the broken-hearted father who lost his son in the war. It covers everything without leaving anything behind; the pride and patriotism, the crisp idealistic idea of war to the loss of the meaning that one is not even sure what are they fighting about and who the actual enemy and the bad guys are, the lost and devastation of the ones left behind, and the prolonged scar that changes a human forever.
They are all written beautifully, some of the powerful scenes that leave lasting impressions to me: the first time I was shown about the quartet's ceremony of Wolfgang, early in the book and the meeting of Frank and Otto. Imo, these are powerful examples of 'show, not tell.' The quartet ceremony came so early that I was caught off guard, but as I read on, it was well placed, and I went on to understand what the book is trying to convey, just like what I mentioned in the beginning, this is a simple story that is made so special by the way it is written, it's never meant to be a historical mystery or anything else.
There is a scene in one of my top-rated war movies, Saving Private Ryan, that illustrates the similarity to Frank and Otto's meeting. Spoiler for the movie too (I watch this more than two decades ago, but this scene is still fresh in my mind); this group of soldiers is relaxing, joking and talking about their lives back home during the calm time, when something causes the wall of ruins around them to crumble and reveals a group of enemies behind it, who happens to do the same thing, taking a break from war. Everyone raises their weapons and is frightened, shouting, scared for their lives, but no one pulls the trigger because they are just similar ordinary people who end up in the war on different sides and long to go back to their 'actual' lives.
Besides many characters and different narratives, the author provides helpful navigation especially at the beginning of the book when readers are still unfamiliar with the characters and storyline. One of the great examples is the one carefully written as conversations between the main character and his very good-looking neighbor :) in playful banters, a nice bookend in the beginning and end between these two characters. It also throws in snippets of another war that we have known too well, a powerful message of the continuous horror of that era (or forever?).
The time stamps and the breaks between chapters and the arrangement of the chapters are positioned strategically; we have the privilege to know what the characters of the book don't, but not in the way that it spoils the essence of the story.
Overall, I find this book really well written and touching, it gives me insight into a lot of things that I don't know, including the beautiful settings, cultures, music. Many times I felt I was walking among them, hearing and quietly observing everything. The title is also really fitting in multiple ways.
You know what is still great in life? Picking up a book and loving it.
