Check that memo, answer the phone, go flying, drink, smoke, talk, cover for the General, worry about the Negro officers… but wait, isn’t this is a war novel – a World War II, A.K.A. The Big One – war novel? Where’s the war? We never get to experience a battle, a skirmish, a bombing, a dogfight, a raid, a shooting, a sinking, a… nothing. We do get to experience ADMINISTRATION.
Like Andersonville, Guard of Honor is long, but unlike Andersonville which pulled me through its length on sheer dazzling beauty and excitement, Cozzens’ novel drags. We meet most of the main characters on a plane piloted by the Commander of their base, AFORAD in central Florida, in the first few pages. As they are landing, a bomber lands in front of them and nearly causes them to crash. Once landed, a hothead on the endangered plane punches the pilot of the bomber in the nose. That pilot is black and there ensues some racial hand wringing, some exploration of southern racial prejudices, and a demonstration by the black pilots who are kept out of the base’s Officers’ Club.
A large cast of characters populates this novel, yet none really generates any interest. Captain Duchemin is the standard issue slimy ladies’ man. Colonel Ross is the “What am I doing here?” judge, who has allowed his underage son to join the military against his wife’s wishes. (A storyline which, while intriguing, goes nowhere.) Captain Hicks is a journalist who is potentially going to write a PR piece for the base. General Beal is a standard issue loner cowboy pilot and Lieutenant Colonel Carricker is the aforementioned hot head.
The greatest conflict in the novel revolves around whether Hicks will get to write his piece or not, and sleep with lieutenant Turck (a WAC) or not. Beyond that, the racial tension disappears, and we spend hundreds of pages reading about how these various functionaries do their jobs. Literally. How they file, how they talk on the two phones at once, how they sometimes work long hours. All while real battles are being fought in other locales, and thankfully, in other novels.
The blurbs on the cover of this book would have us believe that it is the Great American Novel. In fact, one blurb writer was of the opinion that there was material for “several hundred movies” in this book. Perhaps, but what boring movies they would be. They might, in the hands of a creative screenwriter, however, be less boring than this long novel about the least interesting periphery of the war effort.
If you have a hankering for a World War II novel, look elsewhere for a book that may actually be about the war.
RogerRater Score (1-5): 2.5
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