EVIL: AN INVESTIGATION

Ever since the Devil tempted Adam and Eve with the apple (consequently, earning them the wrath of the Almighty and banishment from Paradise), Old Nick has slunk about on the world stage in a host of guises, from the garish to the banal, going about his nasty business - an assassination here, a homicidal rampage there, a mass suicide.

It is a daunting enterprise, tackling a subject as recondite as evil. But Morrow brings to the task all those virtues that make him one of the world's finest living writers: a keen sense of perception and history, a flair for argument and analysis, and - most importantly - an ability to express even the most abstract of ideas with telling precision, in language of the highest order.

Through this 266-page dissertation, Morrow - often described as the "master of the think piece" - discusses evil in all its manifestations, whether elusively metaphysical or in such obvious incarnations as Bin Laden, Jack the Ripper, the Marquis de Sade and Hitler. He talks about the similarities between humour and evil, offers interesting anecdotes to illustrate complex perspectives, sets his eyepiece on some of evil's ambiguities, and tries to understand the pathology of this malign force on both global as well as personal levels - the nature of evil in war, and as it resides in the darker recesses of the id, for example.

In much the same vein as he has handled many of his essays for TIME magazine, Morrow uses rhetoric and elegant prose - and here is where the charm of the book lies. Less theology than philosophy, this tome offers no pat answers to perplexing questions of evil, but it certainly enthuses the everyday reader to cogitate upon a subject that has obsessed theodicists for eons.

On a lighter note: with Morrow hot on his tail, Old Nick had better keep a low profile…

THE COLLECTED SHORT STORIES OF ROALD DAHL

This chunky omnibus is a veritable treasure trove of short fiction by the late Roald Dahl, whose oeuvre serves up the macabre and the mysterious, with generous dollops of black humor and surprises galore.

The compilation is divided into five sections, with the bulk of the stories taken from such best-selling collections as Kiss Kiss, Over to You, Switch Bitch, Someone Like You and More Tales of the Unexpected. There are 48 pieces in all. Many of these carry Dahl’s incredibly delightful sting in the tail, while exploring almost every facet of human nature – from pure greed to vanity and worse.

Dahl writes simply, with a sure grasp of character and plot, but what will strike the reader most, after having taken this literary tour through 760 odd pages is this writer’s astounding imagination. He works his magic with the most common of situations, the most ordinary of people, and one comes away wondering why more writers couldn’t be as creative.

In Kiss Kiss, the first section of the book, we encounter an array of characters - from the murderously kooky old dame in The Landlady to old Mr Foster who comes to a sorry end in the most unexpected of ways in The Way up to Heaven. In William and Mary, William, knocking on death’s door, offers his brain up to science but, in the process, makes himself vulnerable to a vengeful wife hell-bent on getting even. In Parson’s Pleasure Mr Boggis, disguised as a harmless clergyman, sets out to con unsuspecting country folk into selling their rare and valuable furniture – with disastrous results. And there’s Genesis and Catastrophe, where we are given a bedside account of the birth of Adolf Hitler – all the creepier for its lack of embellishment.

In the second part of the book titled Over to You, Dahl weaves stories with threads drawn from his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot. This section has ten tales in all, with Katina being, in this reviewer’s opinion, the most memorable for its poignancy; a story of a little girl who comes under the protective wing of Dahl’s fighter squadron in Greece, but eventually becomes a casualty of war. Madame Rosette is about the flyboys on furlough in Cairo, encountering a virago in the process of exploring that city’s nightlife. Beware of the Dog tells of an RAF pilot who is shot out of the sky and regains consciousness in a hospital he assumes to be British, till he discovers to his dismay that he is on the wrong side of the Channel - in Nazi-occupied France. And Death of an Old, Old Man is an introspective piece about an airman who finds sweet release from war’s travails when he dies at the hand of his enemy.

Switch Bitch, the third section of the collection, comprises four adult stories with sexual themes centred on deception, retribution and desperation. The Visitor is classic Dahl, with the libidinous protagonist getting his comeuppance in full measure. In The Great Switcheroo, a couple of men scheme to bed each other’s spouse without the women knowing, while in The Last Act an emotionally unstable woman flies off the rails even as she tries to get back on track after the untimely death of her husband. In Bitch, the last story in this section, a devious plan to embarrass a woman of standing backfires with delightful consequences for both intended victim and perpetrator.

Someone Like You and Eight Further Tales of the Unexpected, the fourth and fifth parts of this omnibus are loaded with definitive Dahl stories like Taste, Lamb to the Slaughter, Dip in the Pool, Neck and The Bookseller. Dahl’s black humour is very much in evidence throughout, and is sure to amuse one in its exposition of the human condition.

For collectors of fine fiction and fans of Roald, this collection is an investment that’s worth every penny, paisa or peso you spend on it.

Author Profile
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Glamorgan, in 1916 and educated at Repton School. He enlisted in the RAF during World War II and saw action in Libya, Greece and Syria. He took to writing while serving as Assistant Air Attache in Washington in 1942 and earned renown for his highly imaginative children's tales. He died on November 23, 1990, at Buckinghamshire, England

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH

Given its sheer size (more than 1000 pages), The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer might seem daunting to readers accustomed to the average literary quickie. Besides, haven’t we overdosed on the Nazis, courtesy of Hollywood? And, finally, why would anybody want to read a book written more than four decades ago?

Quite simply, it’s a question of interest. Serious students of 20th century history will find in Rise and Fall an enthralling and multifaceted expose of the Nazi movement, the rise of Hitler from anonymity to infamy, and the war as it was being fought – largely from the German perspective.

The book is based on captured Nazi documents, including the diaries of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and General Franz Halder. It also draws on speeches, transcripts of taped telephone conversations, confidential reports and memos, the diary of Italian Foreign Minister Ciano (Mussolini’s son-in-law), evidence and testimony provided during the post-war Nuremberg Trials, and the author’s own first-hand experiences serving as a war correspondent and radio broadcaster in Germany during the years leading up to the war and through the first year of the conflict.

Shirer’s account of the conflagration that consumed Europe for just six years (but with far-reaching consequences for humanity) is as comprehensive as it could possibly get, its narrative supported by lengthy quotes, countless cross-references, and extensive footnotes, and often coloured by the author’s occasionally subjective takes on the various figures who comprised the Nazi pantheon.

Some of Shirer’s detractors have criticised Rise and Fall for not meeting academic standards, while others have roundly condemned his thematic contention that Nazism was a natural by-product of the German character. In support of the book one could argue that it is precisely because it recounts the epic tale of nations locked in combat against the backdrop of crafty politics, that it rises above clinically academic tomes on the same subject and captivates with the dramatic verve of fine fiction.

Rise and Fall is almost universally rated as a great work of history. It received the National Book Award and the Carey-Thomas Award for nonfiction in 1961 and was adapted into a television program for the ABC network in 1966. In a New York Times Book Review, historian Hugh Trevor-Roper accurately described Shirer’s masterpiece as "a splendid work of scholarship, objective in method, sound in judgment, inescapable in its conclusions."

Which brings us to the questions raised at the beginning of this review. The dozens of World War II films made in Hollywood, even taken collectively, offer little more than a unidimensional view of the great war and come nowhere near providing the broad perspective of Rise and Fall. And why read a book first published way back in 1960? Because, among other things, it is a stark reminder than history may well repeat itself unless we remain alert to the signs: the disgruntled revolutionary with psychotic urges, bomb-makers in the basement, despots telling us how to dress; intimations of things to come.

Copyright © Pierre Francis.
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