Pop Fiction with an Idea (The First Casualty - Ben Elton)

Member Name: MagdaDH

Product:	The First Casualty - Ben Elton
Date:	20/02/06 (1140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good context, easy to read, well paced, entertaining

Disadvantages: lack of emotional impact

Ben Elton writes topical thrillers with a message: be it the environment, oil industry, celebrity cult or legalisation of drugs, there is always some underlying theme or idea that is explored.

'First Casualty' seems to be the most ambitious and the least 'of the moment' so far. It is set during the Great War and the theme it explores, is, suitably, the moral conundrums surrounding the war and the anti-war stance taken by the novel's main protagonist, Douglas Kingsley.

Kingsley is a conscientious objector, but not a pacifist: he simply (?) thinks THIS war is stupid and illogical. Apart from that he is a police inspector and a man whose skills are matched by his self-belief and whose intellectual rigor is matched by his supreme arrogance. No wonder that his beliefs and his attitudes see him imprisoned in disgrace. He is rescued from the imminent risk of death at the hands of the prison bullies by an assignment to investigate a politically sensitive murder of an officer at the facility for the shell-shocked in France.

The story that follows includes Bolshevik soldiers, a dashing suffragette nurse, sadistic captain, the love that dares not speak its name all set against the background of trench warfare, rotting corpses, mud, lice-ridden uniforms and death, death, death, and more death. Most of the soldier characters Kingsley encounters in his investigation don't survive, and overall the picture of the life and death in the trenches and around them seems pretty convincing. I have no idea how good Elton's research actually is; but the detail and the overall feel seems rather realistic; from latrines and showers to nigh time rides to Field Punishment to the camaraderie to the desperation.

The story is, essentially, of a highly principled and very task-oriented, competent individual who engages in a pursuit which - considering the circumstances - doesn't seem to make much sense to anybody. What is the meaning of murder if thousands are slaughtered daily? What is a point of freeing somebody from unjust accusation if the same person is going to be sent back to the trenches and most probably killed soon? How is a person that doesn't agree with the war going to behave - and feel - in the heat of the battle, when faced by the kill or be killed dilemma?

All in all 'First Casualty' is a novel posing serious moral and political dilemmas and painting a detailed picture of a socially and historically significant moment. It's also a very enjoyable, fats paced thriller and it contains a bit cheesy but acceptably diverting love story angle. The characters, including the main hero, are, as in other Elton novels, not exactly lovable but well drawn and engaging.

'First Casualty' is also a novel whose emotional impact was for me pretty much nil. I was interested in the social history (I still wonder if the fierce patriotism and support for war could have been possibly so strong in Britain of 1917) and enjoyed the murder-investigation plot, but despite realistically described carnage and drudgery of the trenches, despite the well pointed hypocrisy of the 'management' and almost-satirical portraits of many typical characters; I didn't care.

Maybe that is what Elton intended: after all the events he describes are quickly fading from memory into the history and although not far enough yet to easily make for a colourful background to a historical romance or crime caper, they will get there. Time blunts the seriousness of slaughter. Very few get offended by a medieval crime romp set against the realities of the Black Death.

I am not sure if 'First Casualty' was supposed to be just that: a fun murder mystery in interesting circumstances. There is virtually no comedy in the novel (there seems to be less and less from book to book) and he uses a lot of authentic material and references. But if there was more than token attempt at approaching a serious subject, then it didn't work.

My personal opinion is that the lack of emotional impact is simply due to the writing. Ben Elton writes well: his text is fluent, clear, well argumented, well composed and very, very easy to read. He writes like a good reporter or a science writer should write - but he doesn't really write literature; thus lack of the emotional impact.

Despite the above reservation, 'First Casualty' is a decent book; pop-fiction with a message is perhaps the best label for it, easy to read and educational to those unacquainted with realities of the WW1; but don't expect more than a 'normal Elton' just because the context is more weighty.

***

The grim setting and carnage scenes might unsettle some readers though Elton style means it never strays into the realm commonly described as 'harrowing'; there is sex (reasonably sensitively described) as well as 'language' aplenty (in context).

The novel costs £10.79 for a hardback on Amazon; 389 pages, easily read in couple of evenings.

Summary: A murder mystery set in the trenches of the Great War