The Subtle Lure of Defeat

When a group of drifters, actors, rebels and assorted misfits come together in the French Foreign Legion, little do they know where their adventures will lead them, in this swashbuckling adventure, an epic spanning three generations and four continents, and a romance that leaves one reeling after the final pages. As we follow the legionnaires down their road, we are taken to their depths and heights, and are there with them at their final destination, pitted against the elements, police, political intrigue and revenge. This is adventure with a capital A, romance with a capital R and political intrigue with capitals P and I, but there is more going on here, with the psychology of revenge, tenacy, the fight between good and evil, and a perennial: when does one give up? When should one turn back? And, as always, in a story worth its name, who are your real friends, and who are your real enemies?

When we meet Mackay, Pepine, Tod, Luis, James, Laris, Conrado, The Wolf, Noor, Elverina and the others in their age of innocence could we ever imagine the fortunes and misfortunes about to fall on them, no, and yet, they remain as real from the first place to the last, and a quick glance at author notes show that in general, names have NOT been changed...and that is only one of the reasons we find ourselves acknowledging that the writer has phsysically been where he describes, and phsysically experienced at least much of what is so masterfully narrated.

In this tight, paced tale, we also experience just that little bit more, as we discover the mind of the shaman, and shaman trances. It is old hat to say I could not put this book down, but sometimes, when I did, I was given so much to reflect about until I picked the book up again and read late into the next night, and the next. There are snatches of Hemingway in this epic, but also Tolstoy, Dovstoyesky, and W Somerset Maughm. Starlingsson is a writer that has come to challenge the best, and it will be very interesting to see what follows The Subtle Lure of Defeat.

I mentioned the last pages briefly above, but in fact this book does not have one mere ending? How could it, after all? How could a book so intrically woven produce only one simple end? And in that manner Starlingsson has produced a masterpiece that not only is one step ahead of the most dedicated reader, but also lets them go, little by little, and not abruptly, as if he fully realises that a reader cannot just depart from a novel like this by closing the last page and wandering off, without questioning their sanity.

Much has already been said about what is novel and what is actual fact in The Subtle Lure of Defeat, the answer seems self-evident to me, in such beautifully written style, and Starlingsson's portrayal of both men and women show intense psychological understanding and empathy.

Early in the book, we are already attached to Pepine, Luis, The Wolf, and Noor, as we watch the story unfold, and love and frirendship develop, and yet, and yet, they deceive, surprise, torment us each time, making their decisions as people are ont to do.

Starlingsson's actions take place in backgrounds that are as important as his characters. Not for him, or them, the mundacity of the town they grew up in, of the country where they holidayed, no, all of The Subtle Lure of Defeat's scenario takes place in some of the hottest and coldest corners of the earth, and during some of the worst moments of recent wars.

This book changed me. I have been looking at friendship and love in a new light, and have learnt much. I would be most interested to know how it changed you, too, and who in the book you felt empathy for, who you agreed with, despite the odds.

Of the many stories I have read, classics, cults, bestsellers or not, perhaps none have had the powerful ending this book has. I will refrain from saying more about that, but sufice to say it is most well done.

Dettagli