Swift is interesting: one of those writers from circa 1980, he won the Booker fairly early and then never really rose any higher in public perception. He was there with Amis fils, Ian McEwen, even Salman Rushdie, back in the day, but not really now. Scribner, however, seem to have done a substantial reissue of his backlist in these smart, clean paperbacks, and I thought I'd give him a go.
Firstly, you don't really get the title until the end. The revelation is okay, but it's not worth waiting for. Otherwise, the story is presented through a series of monologues, mainly those of Harry Beech, a sixty-four year-old former war photographer, and his daughter Sophie, thirty-six, who is married and living in the US. Sophie is talking to her psychotherapist, Dr Klein. We don't really know who Harry is talking to - himself?
Harry and Sophie have never been close. After her Greek mother Anna died in a plane crash, Sophie has been brought up by her grandfather Robert Beech, MD of Beech Munitions Company, one-armed, holder of a Victoria Cross. Robert, of course, fought in World War I; he was the third son, never expected to take over the family business, but both his brothers died in the trenches. His wife died giving birth to Harry in 1918. Robert and Harry were never close. But the book begins with father and son in a rare moment together, watching the first Moon landing on TV.
Harry served during the second war. He got shifted into intelligence, where he developed his photography. Post war, he documented the Nuremberg Trials, which is where he met Anna.
In 1972 everything changes. Robert Beech and his chauffeur are killed by a terrorist car bomb. Both Harry and Sophie witness the explosion. It is the beginning of their estrangement. Harry, who coincidentally was due to fly to Belfast later that day to photograph the Troubles, gives up journalism altogether. Sophie, due to go to University, goes off to Greece where she meets and marries cheerful Joe. Joe is in the tourist business and in 1982, when the main body of the story is set, runs a company selling Olde England to US tourists.
By 1982 Harry is a specialist in aerial photographer, for field archaeologists, mainly. He has met a much younger woman and plans to marry her. He finally reaches out to Sophie, inviting her to the wedding., Meanwhile, the ridiculous Falklands War happens - such a stunt, such an absurd final convulsion of imperialism, that Harry is reminded of the Trojan War rather than wars he covered in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East. Does that make his half-Greek daughter Iphigenia?
It's a many-layered novel, touching on many themes, but mainly the disintegration of family. It was written in 1988, is very much of his time, but none the worse for that. It was interesting, well-written, and had several compelling male characters. Sophie, however, is just a pampered bitch, therefore the story lacks balance. That is probably its only fault. I was entertained and impressed, always a good combination. I will try more.
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