Excellent Second Volume
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First published in 1955, ‘Officers and Gentlemen’ is the second volume in the ‘Sword of Honour’ Trilogy. The book is somewhat more fast-paced and exciting than its prequel, ‘Men at Arms’, and as such makes for an excellent read. The reader follows the novel’s hero, Guy Crouchback, as he returns to the Halberdier barracks following his escapades in Africa. Guy is then posted to the Isle of Mugg in Scotland, where he joins the newly formed Commandos. The brigade is then shipped off to Egypt, and eventually ends up in Crete where they attempt, in vain, to defend the island from a German attack. ‘Officers and Gentlemen’ ends with Guy having come full circle when he arrives once more at the Halberdier barracks almost one year exactly after he left.
The prose in ‘Officers and Gentlemen’ is as excellent as one would expect from a Waugh novel, and one finds oneself unable to stop reading at some points in the story thanks to Waugh’s ability to nurture the reader’s interest. The book’s characters are also exceptionally well constructed and it is a delight to stumble across such eccentric individuals as Doctor Glendening-Rees, an expert in survival techniques who makes a troop of Commando volunteers eat seaweed for a week, and Mugg, the explosives-obsessed Scottish laird.
Waugh’s writing in this book is by no means confined to well-structured prose and memorable characters. Indeed, through Guy Crouchback one is exposed to cynical observation of the often ill-organised army, and to descriptions of the abandonment of Crete which conjure up Apocalypse Now-like images of tired, frightened soldiers caught in the chaos of retreat. ‘Officers and Gentlemen’ also expands on the themes which Waugh hints at in ‘Men at Arms’; those of the virtues of paternalist hierarchy and of tradition. Guy Crouchback’s belief that these virtues still exist is obviously put under great strain by his experiences in Crete and by the alliance between Russia and Britain. An awareness of these themes gives ‘Officers and Gentlemen’ an extra dimension.‘Officers and Gentlemen’ is a very good read. Not only does it offer us an insight into the life of an army officer in war time Britain, but Waugh’s humour and gift for producing beautiful prose make this a superb second volume in the ‘Sword of Honour’ Trilogy.
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Waugh puts you in the picture
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I enjoyed this novel even more than the first in the trilogy. As ever, the dialogue is absolutely brilliant, hilarious at times, and creates extremely memorable, colourful and complex characters. Among my favourites are the amiable Mr Crouchback, Jumbo and the dry yet soulful Ludovic.
However, there is one aspect or theme of the novel I'd like to highlight here, because I think it is the most important in the novel. Book Two is titled, 'In the Picture', and the phrase crops up quite a lot in the novel, usually meaning being filled in about what's happening and what stage the war effort is at. However, the narrator at one point early on in the novel highlights this phrase for comment himself and finds it ironic that this war catch-phrase should come into fashion just when art had begun to lose its realism and 'lucidity'- in other words when the abstract in art had become ascendant. And I think this is a vital clue for seeing one of the main messages of the novel. A good third of the book is set in crete and one gets an intimate sense of the chaos of war through the rattling and shifting narrative. In fact, it's quite possible to get confused during this part of the book. But I think this is one of the successes of the novel- it captures the chaotic experience of war. In this sense, war is where all sanity and lucidity, all narrative with beginning, middle and end, becomes disjointed and loses form. Towards the end of the novel, Guy Crouchback, the main protagonist is recovering from his escape from Crete, and has been mute for a long while, when he reflects: 'Could there be experience without memory? Could there be memory where fact and fancy were indistinguishable, where time was fragmentary and elastic, made up of minutes that seemed like days, of days like minutes? He could talk if he wished to. He must guard that secret from them. Once he spoke he would re-enter their world, he would be back in the picture'. This thought, a reaction to his experience of war, accurately sums up the reader's sense having just read what (s)he has. But by using this phrase in the context of trauma, it also accurately suggests my earlier point, that narrative and meaning dissolves and becomes slipshod during the chaos of war. This I feel is Waugh's main message, soaked as it is in fine and subtle humour and masterful prose. A superb, complex, and as ever thought-provoking novel. Waugh is definitely one of the all time greats.
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