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Resistance Owen Sheers Books

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Resistance Owen Sheers Books

Wilfred Owen's searing anti war poem has a counterpoint in Owen Seers' beautifully complex and engaging Resistance. Neither is a fan of Horace's concluding observation: "est pro patria mori..." The Great War's greatest literary antagonist chronicled the grinding physical degradation and relentless waste of life war imposes. Owen's poem had the courage to pull back the curtain that had fallen over soldiers' suffering--blunted by nationalistic propaganda-- in a tribute to the dead or wounded that amounted to an aesthetic howl of rage. Nearly a hundred years later another poet, Owen Sheers chronicles the emotional and mental suffering of those on the home front who are literally and figuratively abandoned by their husbands. Men more attuned to Ovid's blandishments and government palaver than to their families' needs and suffering.

Sheers imagines a Britain being invaded in a counterattack when the Allies' own Normandy incursion fails miserably. Four days after a successful German landing 7 men--fathers and husbands--leave their families in the middle of the night to join the Resistance. It is a planned desertion--in the works for years had it become necessary. It also completely blindsides the wives and women they are supposed to care for and love. Sarah, Maggie and five neighbors are left to shift for themselves--without warning and most importantly without understanding why the oaths made to them mean less than an oath to government intelligence services.

Seers is a masterful writer--beautiful, and poetic description is one of the hallmarks of the author's writing which can do equal justice to a beautiful landscape, a filthy soldier, a terrified housewife. As with his most recent work, (I Saw A Man--also superb) there are no simple, easy answers. The morality of this story is complex and to some extent unfathomable as every action seems fraught with positive and negative consequences. Sarah and George their neighbor Maggie and the Wehrmacht Captain Albrecht who comes to occupy a small, Welsh valley, are all beautifully depicted. Old, young, male, female, British, German: each is, as Maggie would say, knocked down from the pedestal of their illusions. All are in the midst of a free fall. It is only to be determined how hard the landing will be.

When a freak winter snow storm seals the occupied and occupiers inside the valley, new attitudes develop, new relationships form. It is wonderfully well done spectacularly equivocal and therefore seemingly honest. Some reviewers have been dismissive of the stories plausibility--unable to fathom an occupation of Britain. I say if Roosevelt and Churchill could imagine the triumph of Fascism, so too should we try. Other reviewers are no fans of ambiguity. That's fine. I like boiled potatoes too. However, anyone who relishes complex flavors; savory as well as sour (there's not lots of sweet in here) will enjoy reflecting upon the provocative questions it asks: how much loyalty is too much to ask? How much is owed to country, to loved ones and to our selves?

I finished the book over a weekend. The slow, languorous pace, the beautiful prose and challenging morality were nothing less than hypnotic. As Willifred Owen exposed the physical toll exacted by war, Owen Sheers reveals the mental and emotional strain inflicted upon not only those who fight and are desperate for a respite, but also upon those that are left behind to ask "what for?" Resisitance is a terrific accomplishment.


Tags : Amazon.com: Resistance (9780571229635): Owen Sheers: Books,Owen Sheers,Resistance,Faber & Faber,0571229638,Alternative histories (Fiction),Love stories,Wales,World War, 1939-1945 - Wales,Fiction General,FictionHistorical - General,FictionLiterary,FictionWar & Military

Resistance Owen Sheers Books Reviews

I was looking for to this book because I loved the idea of it--England losing to Germany in WWII. Overall, it was pretty disappointing. I kept hoping to be engaged with the characters, but it just never really took hold. The German and English characters never convincingly engaged with each other. The writing was oddly cliché and mediocre. I simply didn't believe the motivation of the main protagonist. Three starts for the idea though.
Perhaps the title is a bit misleading as suggested by NY Times reviewer Jess Row. The book is not so much about "resistance" in the classic WWII thriller mode -- no underground partisan night-fighters, blowing up bridges and rail lines and such -- but rather it is about the concept of resistance and the necessity of acquiescence in the face of tough choices. Sarah and Albrecht, the main characters are sane and lovely people, the kind of intelligent, sensitive human beings you wish all your distant relatives were. The other main characters are, for the most part, farm women neighbors of Sarah, in a remote, harsh, beautiful valley in Wales. Two or three of the 6 German soldiers are actually sensitive normal men. The novel is a fascinating hypothetical scenario of reversed history, the unimaginable German occupation of Britain in 1944.

The most gorgeous and heart-wrenching theme is a loving portrayal of community sharing, helping, taking risks, sacrificing and giving to one's friends and neighbors during crisis, upheaval and loss. The isolated German soldiers participate fully in the developing communal saga in this tiny, cut-off community with the husband-less women. Not since Arturo Perez-Reverte's powerful women in "The Nautical Chart" and "Queen of the South" have we seen such backbone, ethics and power in fictional female characters.

What makes NOT knowing what happened to loved ones create a tenacious and fanciful set of explanations? Why do some people move quickly to adapt while others languish in the past remembrance? Why is "resistance" commonly thought -- improbably -- to be a masculine trait? The women in this book put a quick end to that idea. Sheers is a really good writer. He blends detailed and graphic narrative with sparse dialogue. He lets a reader see what is not said, and can paint a portrait of, say, a man and woman sitting on a stone wall, feeling the tension between them build. The denouement happens quickly, near the end of the book, by virtue of an idiotic act of vengeance by a minor and weak character, but through his cowardice, Sheers brings the story to a rapid conclusion.

The book jacket is quite misleading and inaccurate. There is no "traditional" love affair between Albrecht and Sarah whatsoever, only the suggestion of it, and there is no sex at all. The 2 principals don't even touch each other for the first 225 pages! What makes "Resistance" a good story? Ordinary people reconciling their hopes and dreams with reality, that's what. The dozen people who populate the story are you and me, down-to-earth and overwhelmed by their sudden, devastating and unwelcome fate.

Other reviewers are partly right The prose is somewhat clunky, overwritten and overly detailed, and Sheers gets self-aborbed at times in a 2-page aside. There's too much about Bach and other insignificant trivia. Is Sheers a better poet than novelist? It's too early to tell, of course, but if any critic of "Resistance" were to pen his or her first novel as well as Sheers has his first in this story, then there would be little criticism indeed. "Resistance" is a good book, a compelling story. It's hard to put down, easy to pick up, and in the end I really wanted to know what happened to all those who remained behind as well as to Sarah and Albrecht, willing to them success against all odds as they fled. The last lines leave you wanting more.
This book is an interesting alternate-history story set at the end of WWII where the Germans have occupied the UK. The title 'Resistance' is not so much about an active resistance movement as it is about the resistance to internal and external changes that both soldier and civilian are going through.

The book is slow and takes a lot of time setting up imagery in your mind and throughout the book there are flashbacks showing how characters got to where they are which lead up to the beginning of the book. The author does a good job of fleshing out both the Welsh women of the village and the German soldiers. Nobody is two-dimensional in his book. He makes it clear to the reader why each character is doing what they are doing in this story and it sets up motivations and actions for each individual in the book and then it shows how they all intertwine. One of the main characters of the book is Cpt. Albrecht Wolfram who is a well-fleshed out character with motivations and morality far beyond how Germans are normally portrayed in WWII. I found this refreshing and infinitely more interesting than some Nazi-trope villain who only does things out of evil.

Ultimately, this is not a happy story for anyone involved, even though there are glimmers of hope throughout. I found myself thinking about this story long after I put the book down.
Wilfred Owen's searing anti war poem has a counterpoint in Owen Seers' beautifully complex and engaging Resistance. Neither is a fan of Horace's concluding observation "est pro patria mori..." The Great War's greatest literary antagonist chronicled the grinding physical degradation and relentless waste of life war imposes. Owen's poem had the courage to pull back the curtain that had fallen over soldiers' suffering--blunted by nationalistic propaganda-- in a tribute to the dead or wounded that amounted to an aesthetic howl of rage. Nearly a hundred years later another poet, Owen Sheers chronicles the emotional and mental suffering of those on the home front who are literally and figuratively abandoned by their husbands. Men more attuned to Ovid's blandishments and government palaver than to their families' needs and suffering.

Sheers imagines a Britain being invaded in a counterattack when the Allies' own Normandy incursion fails miserably. Four days after a successful German landing 7 men--fathers and husbands--leave their families in the middle of the night to join the Resistance. It is a planned desertion--in the works for years had it become necessary. It also completely blindsides the wives and women they are supposed to care for and love. Sarah, Maggie and five neighbors are left to shift for themselves--without warning and most importantly without understanding why the oaths made to them mean less than an oath to government intelligence services.

Seers is a masterful writer--beautiful, and poetic description is one of the hallmarks of the author's writing which can do equal justice to a beautiful landscape, a filthy soldier, a terrified housewife. As with his most recent work, (I Saw A Man--also superb) there are no simple, easy answers. The morality of this story is complex and to some extent unfathomable as every action seems fraught with positive and negative consequences. Sarah and George their neighbor Maggie and the Wehrmacht Captain Albrecht who comes to occupy a small, Welsh valley, are all beautifully depicted. Old, young, male, female, British, German each is, as Maggie would say, knocked down from the pedestal of their illusions. All are in the midst of a free fall. It is only to be determined how hard the landing will be.

When a freak winter snow storm seals the occupied and occupiers inside the valley, new attitudes develop, new relationships form. It is wonderfully well done spectacularly equivocal and therefore seemingly honest. Some reviewers have been dismissive of the stories plausibility--unable to fathom an occupation of Britain. I say if Roosevelt and Churchill could imagine the triumph of Fascism, so too should we try. Other reviewers are no fans of ambiguity. That's fine. I like boiled potatoes too. However, anyone who relishes complex flavors; savory as well as sour (there's not lots of sweet in here) will enjoy reflecting upon the provocative questions it asks how much loyalty is too much to ask? How much is owed to country, to loved ones and to our selves?

I finished the book over a weekend. The slow, languorous pace, the beautiful prose and challenging morality were nothing less than hypnotic. As Willifred Owen exposed the physical toll exacted by war, Owen Sheers reveals the mental and emotional strain inflicted upon not only those who fight and are desperate for a respite, but also upon those that are left behind to ask "what for?" Resisitance is a terrific accomplishment.