Night Over Day Ov Ni

by Paul Watkins

Book Overview

Sebastian Westland graduates from the Hitler Youth to the SS in the summer of 1944 and is sent with other teenagers into the Battle of the Bulge, where his unit is wiped out, he participates in the executions of prisoners, and he experiences total disillusionment with the war.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394570472
• ISBN13: 9780394570471
• Release Date: March 1988
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 293 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Nicely Humanizes German Soldiers

I was amazed that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It is hard for me to read fiction and look with anticipation towards the next page. Yet this book caused me to do just that.I was very impressed with the humanization of the men who fought for the SS for reasons that we all understand, yet often ignore. Not for hatred, power, or racism. Rather our of obligation, despiration, and duty to their country.The images painted of this young man as he enters the fold and goes through training is great. Very well done. As his mind is altered through the pains of warlife, and the dubious nature of an older woman, we grow to respect him. He doesn't come off as a hero or an enemy, instead he is just a man in stuck a trying time.I feel that Watkins has done his best work in this piece. Very well rounded, somewhat romantic, descriptive, and consumable.

Haunting.

This is a very good book- ceratinly Watkins best and arguably the best war novel since "all quiet on the westren front' to which it does share some common features.The previous reviewers who have referred to teenage anxt have made a very preceptive observation. Sebastians transformation from bored small town hick to member of the SS is just that, but on a big scale. Despite his terrible actions, Westland remains a likeable character- so 5 out of 5 for that alone.However, where the book comes into its own is its dreamlike prose and graphic descriptions. Small features are highlighted in a quite remarkable way " We were smoking American cigarrettes called Camels". Those of us who have served in the armed forces would agree that the descriptions of operational service capture fighting in a way that few books ever have.Read it.

Astounding realism in a modern masterpiece

This might be Mr. Watkin's best work. Watkins has created a novel so real that it comes across more as an extraordinary diary of personal experience than a novel. Watkins is often praised for his journalist's eye for observation and detail, and he has that here, but this novel also showcases his ability for character development. When you finish reading this book, you will feel as though you have read an authentic first-hand account of the war, and you will wonder what became of the people in this book. Only later, slowly, will you recall that this is a novel, created by Mr. Watkin's astounding imagination...

Watkins' best

I decided to read six Paul Watkins books in order of publication date. Night over Day over Night was the most satisfying. Tightly written, it builds to a shattering climax that is as believable as it is horrifying. A truly great war novel written from the perspective of young German boys caught up in the absurdities of their training and the conflict itself. Sebastian is a character who should be studied by generations. The other books in order of preference are: In the Blue Light of African Dreams; Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn; The Story of My Disappearance; The Promise of Light; Archangel

Great Novel by a Great Writer

Sebastian enlists in the SS less than a year before the war will be over. He goes through basic training, an ordinary soldier in ordinary training, doing ordinary exercises, with ordinary hopes and fears. But of course, there's nothing ordinary about any soldier in any war.The story follows him from country innocence to the evils of war, from hope to damnation. With clear and simple prose, written with such simple artistry, Watkins again delivers an outstanding novel with fully realized characters. The day will come when people stop saying he follows in the footsteps of Hemingway and admi that Watkins surpasses him.