In
Waiting For Sunrise William Boyd returns to his very best form. The novel’s central character is Lysander
Rief, an individual every bit as intriguing as a Mountstuart or a Todd. Rief is
an actor with an English father and an Austrian mother. He was brought up in
England, but his German is passable and improves, and his French is not bad. He
also possesses a few exclamations in Italian, we learn.
At
the outset, we find him in Austria just before the outbreak of the First World
War. Initially, the impending conflict does not seem to figure but, rest
assured, no self-respecting novelist could let such momentous events pass
without comment. The War does in fact become the principal theatre for the
plot. Initially, however, Lysander Rief is visiting Vienna for purposes of
consultation. He has taken time out from his professional life to seek help
with a slight problem. Like so many of William Boyd’s males, situations arose
when one day Lysander was caught with his trousers down. Readers of William
Boyd’s novels will appreciate that his male characters are rarely backward at
coming forward when trouser dropping is on the agenda. Lysander’s particular
circumstances, however, offer some surprising perspectives on the practice.
Early
on he meets Hettie Bull, a petite English sculptor with a common law artist
partner. She has a few problems of her own, it seems, though these seem hard to
pin down. He also meets a couple of relative smoothies from the British Embassy
who are destined to figure significantly in subsequent events. They offer what
might be described as professional assistance when needs arise. Lysander finds
himself in a few pickles whose solutions depend on external input, and
eventually quite a number of other challenges that originate from that initial input
of assistance. His unconventional departure from Vienna leaves him in debt.
The
First World War breaks out and Lysander enlists. There soon proves to have been
some spice in the Viennese pickle, spice that got Lysander noticed. Assignments
materialise and offers are made that cannot be refused. There is a need for
special training, but even these new skills might prove no match for the
challenges posed by an attractive widow in Switzerland.
Lysander
needs a while to overcome the after effects of his experience Geneva. At first
it seems that the case is complete, but there are more questions to be raised,
questions of contacts closer to home, questions that urgently need answers.
These lead to another task, an assignment that generates even more
complications. And who would have thought that the libretto of a risqué opera
would have caused such a stir? Surely this was no more than an illustration of
Vienna’s peculiar mix of decadence and eroticism at the turn of the twentieth
century. Surely? This was a city, Lysander was told, beneath which ran an
incessant, fast-flowing river of sex. And which city might not?
When
William Boyd is in this superb form, the plot seems to race past with surprises
at every turn. But what it never does is appear in episodic form, via scenes that
apparently materialise merely to move the story along. Throughout, Waiting For
Sunrise is beautifully constructed and integrated, with several aspects of the
action experienced, interpreted and then retold to be reinterpreted, perhaps
differently, before anything comes clear – if anything ever does. The reader
feel that events are really developing through the characters eyes and
experience, and never feels that these people are mere cut-outs being flashed
across a miniature stage.
William
Boyd’s speciality must be his treatment of people like Lysander Rief, talented
men whose self-assurance is significant but internally denied, whose earthy
frailties, given half a chance, usually get the better of their highly
developed but easily suppressed powers of reflection. Lysander Rief, when such
a trousers down moment is in prospect himself reflected on this, “and noted how
the promise of unlimited sensual pleasure blotted out all rational, cautious
advice that he might equally have given himself.” Rief surely has fellow
travellers in Mountstuart or a Todd. For Lysander, there is a fiancé called
Blanche, Hettie the sculptor, a comely wench in a guesthouse, a captivatingly
unattainable widow in Geneva and several dancing girls along the way, not to
mention an alluring mother. The here and now always demands the total attention
of such characters.
Considerations
of style also separate William Boyd’s work from the mere story teller. Not only
does he pepper his text with references and allusions to the historical and
philosophical, he also requires the reader to change point of view. These
characters inhabit the real world we, ourselves, share. They do not live in a
made-up fantasy that seems to exist as a vehicle for the writer’s imaginings.
And, by various devices, all of which make sense in the context of the book’s
plot and revelation, we encounter Lysander Rief both from within and without,
as both a first and a third person. We read about him, and we also read his own
reflections on himself and the events that befall him.
Spying,
espionage and intrigue during the First World War, these are at the heart of
Waiting For Sunrise, and it is the plot that drives the narrative. But this
plot is much more than a string of events. The only way to experience
everything is in context, to join Lysander Rief on his journey of discovery.
Perhaps, by the end, you will know him a little better. Perhaps.
No comments:
Post a Comment