For very brief online biographies of Joseph Kessel, click on each of the following:
The narrative uses multiple points of view to tell its story. Each chapter is like a stand-alone vignette, with each connected by theme and several characters who come into and out of the action. One chapter, “ ‘These People Are Wonderful,’ ” is told from the first-person point of view of a character who is never identified, but it is a way to bring in two other characters, Luc Jardie and Philippe Gerbier, both of whom are major characters, from another point of view. Philippe Gerbier, in particular, connects all the chapter stories, even if his appearance in some of the chapters is tangential.
The writing style probably approximates the experience of many, if not all, of the underground resistance fighters. People entered and exited their lives, and they never knew what became of most of them. The same is true of many of the characters in the novel. The unidentified narrator is never given a name and appears in the novel in only one chapter.
(This article about the novel Army of Shadows contains spoilers.)
The chapter called “Philippe Gerbier’s Notebook” is the longest section of the novel. Because Gerbier is high in command among the resistance fighters, he receives reports of other fighters’ arrests and successes and helps formulate plans to continue the work. At one point, fourteen resistance leaders meet to discuss strategy. It is dangerous to meet like this, with so many leaders in one place, but they need to coordinate the work and thus avoid duplication and putting even more fighters in danger. A coherent strategy becomes increasingly important because the Germans are spending more and more time in France learning the terrain and the people. During the meeting, Luc Jardie, given the nickname Saint Luc by his brother Jean-François, another resistance fighter, gets up to address the others. He is the chief, the one who gives the orders above all others. He uses the term “army of shadows,” which becomes the title of the novel, in his speech to the attendees.
. . . And Saint Luc said further, “We are only fourteen, but we are borne up by thousands and probably by millions of men. To protect us combat groups are watching all the approaches that lead to this retreat, and will die before they let anyone get to us. Yet no one here feels pride or even a sense of power. We know that our soldiers change their names a hundred times and that they have neither a shelter nor a face. They move in secrecy, wearing shapeless shoes, on roads without sunlight and without glory. We know that this army is hungry and pure, that it is an army of shadows—the miraculous army of love and misfortune. And I have become conscious here of the fact that we are only the shadows of those shadows and the reflection of that love and the misfortune. . .” (page 132)
It's easy for the other resistance leaders and the fighters under them to put Luc Jardie on a pedestal. He is even introduced in somewhat biblical terms (“And Saint Luc said further”). But I found this character to be the most problematic, the most ambivalent in terms of relatability. In the chapter called “ ‘These People Are Wonderful,’ ” the unnamed narrator meets Luc Jardie at a dinner in London, but he doesn’t know who he is. When he sees Philippe Gerbier, whom he does know, toward the end of the evening, he finally learns the man’s identity. By that time, the unnamed narrator is amazed by Luc Jardie’s love of humanity, his compassion, and his fortitude. But Luc Jardie is also ruthless. One could say that he has to be because he and his fighters are pitted against the German Gestapo and S.S. The resistance fighters under Luc Jardie’s command idolize him, but it’s not quite so easy to understand for readers almost eighty years later.
In the chapter titled “The Rifle Range,” Philippe Gerbier is one of seven prisoners sentenced to death, and he thinks of Luc Jardie in his final moments. He and the other prisoners are shackled, and each is led by two S.S. officers to the rifle range, where they will be shot and killed. When they arrive at the range outside, the shackles are removed, and they are given their instructions. They are allowed to run, and if they make it behind the stop-butts, they will be spared until the next execution. Gerbier is facing a pure existential crisis, and readers hear his thoughts during what could be his last waking moments.
“And I am going to die . . . and I am not afraid. It’s impossible not to be afraid when one is going to die. . . . It is because I am too limited, too much of an animal to believe it. But if I don’t believe it till the last moment, till the ultimate limit, I shall never die. . . . What a discovery! And how it would appeal to the chief [Luc Jardie]. I must go into this more deeply . . . . I must . . .” (page 142)
The last chapter, “Mathilde’s Daughter,” shows Luc Jardie’s resolve and his ruthlessness, which are necessary given the conditions the resistance leaders face under German occupation. Philippe Gerbier is already in hiding, and he receives news that one of the resistance fighters, a woman named Mathilde, has been released after being imprisoned by the Germans. She divulged names and addresses in exchange for her own release and for her daughter’s safety, but she has now become a liability for the resistance. Luc Jardie decides that Mathilde must be “liquidated,” and she is shot and killed soon after.
The copy of the novel that I read was published in 1944, and even though it was hardbound, the binding was falling apart and the pages seemed to be disintegrating in my hands. Still, I love reading novels that are not reissues because they bring me back more readily to their historical period. World War II was still being fought in 1944, and the copyright page includes a blurb that was probably typical of the time: “This book has been produced in full compliance with all government regulations for the conservation of paper, metal, and other essential materials.”
The cultural and time differences also mean that there is some vocabulary that modern readers may not understand. I include here a short list of definitions that I needed to look up online, but don’t be surprised if you decide to read the novel and find yourself looking up a lot more words! Click on each term to learn more about the source of the definition.
◊ Boche: A contemptuous term for a German, especially a German soldier in World War I or World War II.
◊ francs-tireurs: Irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War. The term was revived and used by partisans to name two major French Resistance movements set up to fight against the Germans during World War II.
◊ Parabellum: The 9 × 19 mm Parabellum is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901.
Army of Shadows was released as a film in 1969. I wanted to see it after reading the book, but it took me a while before I was ready. Some of the images that came to mind when reading about certain events in the novel are hard to forget, and I wanted the memories of them to disappear—or at least to fade a bit—before I tackled the film. I did finally see it, and I will be writing about it next.
Army of Shadows, by Joseph Kessel • New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1944 • Translated from French by Haakon Chevalier
List of main characters:
Philippe Gerbier, aka André Roussel • Felix La Tonsure • Claude Lemasque • Guillaume, aka the Bison • Jean-François • Luc Jardie, aka Saint Luc, “the chief” • Mathilde
The image of the front cover is from the French edition published in Algeria and in France. The page references in this article refer to the Alfred A. Knopf edition listed above.
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