The time of light by

Gunnar Kopperud

Published by Bloomsbury, 2001

Reviewed by Bernard Korbman OAM

war in the name of an ideology. The idealistic gung-ho Dieter and the gentle, musically inclined Manfred, seem to be used almost as a metaphor for the extremes of the ‘German soul’. Juxtaposed against their stories are those of three German girls who are their home-front counterparts.

Framed by the nine-day Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of 1994 between Armenia and Azerbaijan, this story is skilfully woven from historical narration and tales – tales of war and tales of women – as two men talk. Markus, a former German soldier devastated by the outbreak of this new war, seeks atonement from an Armenian priest for his part in the Nazi invasion of Russia. Captured at the Battle of Stalingrad, Markus never returned to Germany, but tried instead to work out his destiny in the country and among the people he feels he has violated. His two boyhood friends who fought with him and survived the battle follow different paths, but Markus turns his back on everything, including his wife and son, who ultimately sets out in search of his vanished father. Lucid about the savagery of war, harrowing in its evocation of emotion, the novel has much to tell us in the wake of the Rwandan and Kosovan tragedies.

Over the nine days of the vicious modern conflict, Markus tells his story. He tells of how he and his two friends, Manfred and Dieter, were transformed into machines of

Markus Wagner went to Russia with the German 6th Army under General Paulus in 1941. He behaved as invading soldiers often do – killing, pillaging and raping. Markus’ memories of his past life, upbringing in a decent German family, engagement to a beautiful Jewish girl and the mixed feelings with which he joins the army at the outbreak of war, show how war degrades the individual and eradicates human feeling. Of the two boyhood friends who survived Stalingrad with him, one goes east to Siberia to build bridges, while the other returns home. Their stories also form part of the novel that weaves past and present, myth and philosophy into a searing story that is a chilling indictment of the horrors of war.

This book is a powerful and lyrical meditation on war and the pity of war.

Gunnar Kopperud was born in 1946 and studied theatre in Strasbourg and at RADA in London. He also has a Masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Oslo. He has worked as journalist for Associated Press and the leading Norwegian daily paper, Dagbladet . He has spent the last few years mainly in Africa, winning acclaim as a fearless and insightful reporter. He lives in Norway.