Sillitoe's second novel couldn't be more different from his first, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. One thing they do have in common, I suppose, is the compressed timeframe. Aside from the unnecessary thirteenth chapter, The General (1960) takes place over three or four days.
A war is raging in an unspecified part of Europe. A symphony orchestra has been sent by train to entertain frontline troops, only to be ambushed and taken prisoner by the enemy. The enemy do have a name, the Gorsheks, and they seem to me to represent the Russians - the initial capture is by Cossack-style cavalry who are gunned down for taking prisoners by a middle-ranking officer. The officer takes the orchestra to the General, who delays their mass execution. Standing Orders dictate No Prisoners. The General enquires about making an exception. The reply is machine-like and unequivocal: execute them immediately. But still the General delays. He gets the orchestra to play for his officers. He searches for a way out of his dilemma.
The General is a parable, rather than a character study. It is about the incongruity of war and art, the battle between logic and sentiment. It is well done and quite entertaining. Apparently Sillitoe wrote many more novels over his lifetime, none of which I have ever heard of (save, of course, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner which is a novella and also something of a parable). I'm guessing he continued in the mode of The General, not Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
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