May 8, 2017
Hostovsky (The Arsonist), a Jewish Czech writer and distant relative of Stefan Zweig, explores madness, heroism, and salvation in this intense, dreamlike novella. The tale follows a married, mild-mannered, teetotaling engineer who in 1939 impulsively travels to Paris from Prague to profess his love for a woman who is not his wife. While he is abroad, Czechoslovakia is invaded, and because the Nazis believe he has absconded with his blueprints for a gunsight, he is forced to remain in exile. After France falls, the engineer hides for two years in the Normandy cellar of an old acquaintance, Dr. Aubin, where he writes to his wife in an introspective, occasionally hallucinatory, and confessional style: “At such times we don’t do much lying to ourselves about our errant footsteps.” Confined to his dark refuge, deteriorating physically and mentally, the engineer is offered the opportunity to escape from his “pathetic observation post” by undertaking a dangerous anti-Nazi operation. The ironical Aubin is a wonderful character, an “eternal mocker” who schemes with resistance conspirators less due to any strong ideological motivation than from a thirst for “righteous adventure.” As he urges his cautious, holed-up charge: “Learn to look at everything as if it were a thrilling play which does not concern you and which will end soon!” This captivating novella dramatizes one man’s existential conflict within the larger, worldwide conflagration.