Richard Bausch

Though I keep saying I'm done with the European theater of World War II—and I do a fair job keeping my distance—I am clearly not entirely done. A favorite author writes a phenomenal book about the subject. A story about something unrelated suddenly “goes there.” It's unavoidable. Mix my desire to revisit the work of Richard Bausch and the promise of a quick read and, well, here we go again.

Peace is one of those books with a small cast of characters and an even smaller plot. show more Undoubtedly, some readers will dislike this story for the simple fact that “not much happens.” At 171 7”x5” pages, Peace is barely a novel, so expectations for “a lot to happen” should be relatively small.

Set in Italy in the winter of 1944, the story is largely about a group of American soldiers hiking a mountain. What makes this story spectacular is the psychology at play and the nuances of the writing. Bausch wonderfully casts a believable set of characters and right away gives each a personal demon or a quirk that plays well off of everyone else. The result is a tale where simply walking around a mountain becomes tense. Toss in the subtle haunt of the shadows across the white landscape, the dance of snowflakes in the air, the frozen remains of an abandoned soldier, and you have an intensely powerful little novel.

Despite long careers with considerable works behind them, brothers Bausch (twins Richard and Robert) remain virtually unknown to the general public. I've heard them described as “writer's writers,” and I do feel there is some truth to that. I doubt I ever would've heard of either had it not been for the recommendation of a professor and fellow writer while enrolled in an MFA program. If you're a writer and haven't yet been introduced to the Bauschs, may I introduce you. Neither is likely to become your favorite author, but you are probably going to learn a thing or two about the craft. If you're not a writer, might I suggest a Bausch short story? I think you may like the style, but starting with a relationship that requires little commitment guarantees a more amicable split if that time comes. I think you'll hit it off, though. Might I also suggest you give Peace a chance? It's short, beautiful, and haunting, and it seems to me to be a truer account of the war than most of the WWII fiction published these days. show less

Richard Bausch's taut novel tells us what happens when civilian soldiers go to war. It's a powerfully atmospheric story about three American soldiers sent up a mountain in Italy near Cassino during the brutal winter of 1944. Their mission: see what the Germans are doing on the other side. Their mental state: conflicted by the shooting of a German woman they witnessed just before they left. Was it murder? An act of war? Should they report it when they return or simply fold it into their show more psyches? They struggle with the moral dilemma while they slog their way up the cold, miserable mountain.

Bausch's ability to bring the reader fully into his story is well-demonstrated in this book. The tension builds page by page until the wholly satisfying climax, the niggling arguments among the men are just repetitive and just disconcerting enough to make the reader angry, and the perfectly-mounted descriptions of the cold, hard rain, the wet, view-obliterating snow make you wish (just like the soldiers) that you were somewhere else.

Ambiguity is a beautiful thing in Bausch's hands. The squad's guide, Angelo, could be a simple peasant or a German spy--or something else entirely. The protagonist, Corporal Marson, could be a baseball-playing All-American hero or a morally-bereft corporal looking for the easy way out. How these and the other sources of tension in the book are resolved propels the reader through to the end. show less

Richard Bausch's PEACE (2008) is a novel of WWII, narrowly focused on three American soldiers, recent witnesses to the cold blooded murder of a woman, perpetrated by their sergeant. The three - Corporal Robert Marson and two Privates, Joyner and Asch - are sent on a scouting mission up the icy slopes near Monte Casino, guided by an old Italian named Angelo, who, in his dark, cowled clothing, might easily be seen as the Angel of Death.

While struggling up the mountain, the three argue about show more whether to report their sergeant, an issue which becomes less important, perhaps even moot, as they encounter signs of the retreating German Army, and come under sniper fire. Bits and pieces of the men's post-war lives emerge gradually, adding depth and meaning to their dark and dangerous trek, a kind of long day's journey into night.

I was totally absorbed, caught up, in this narrative of one infinitesimal sliver of the much larger horror of the war. I was reminded of so many other novels of war - books like William Wharton's A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, or, more recently, Nick Arvin's ARTICLES OF WAR, both set during WWII; and an early novel of Vietnam, David Halberstam's ONE VERY HOT DAY.

The three main characters here argue and fight; they discuss death and faith. Asch, a Jew, says that all religions are simply -

"... trying to explain the one thing. Why we have to die ... Every single religion. I think they all exist not necessarily because there's a God, but because there's death. They're all trying to explain that away somehow."

A slight book at under 170 pages, PEACE is nevertheless a deeply important one, in its dramatic, thoughtful treatment of the important issues of faith, mortality and fundamental human decency. My highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA show less

The intense existential doubt precipitated by moments of life and death struggle, catastrophic moral choice, and, yes, the peace that passeth understanding meld in this frighteningly clear and poignant tale. It is 1944, the Italian campaign, and three men are tasked, along with an elderly Italian guide, to scout up a low mountain in order to ascertain what forces of retreating Germans lie ahead. Go up a mountain and come back down. If that isn’t the basis of an archetypical narrative arc, show more I don’t know what is. Simple. But that stripped down symbolism and its corollaries reverberates throughout this haunting story.

Of course the three GIs are carrying far more than their packs. Bausch masterfully flashes back to their time before the landing, and in the case of one, Corporal Robert Marson, to his life in a suburb of Washington D.C. It is more than fear for their lives though that burdens them. An incident has occurred shortly before they are ordered out on this reconnaissance. That incident and their deliberation as to how to respond to it sets the moral choice before them. As if that weren’t enough, they find themselves encountering, from a distance, the slaughter of Jews by the retreating German forces, and on their return journey, the very real threat of death dealt by an unseen sniper.

Bausch’s writing here is so taut, so fully under control, so pitch perfect, that you will find your pace through the story to be almost breathless. This is fine writing indeed. And though it is a short novel, it feels replete. Highly recommended. show less