The Absolutist: A Novel by the Author of The Heart's Invisible Furies

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY: An unforgettable, beautifully written and heart-wrenching story about choices we make and the regrets that sometimes follow.BRIEF REVIEW: When this book was first published in 2012, I just didn't think it was a story for me but, was I ever wrong.What is an "absolutist?" We are told that when it comes to war, it is worse than being a conscientious objector. Not only does an "absolutist" refuse to fight in a war they also refuse to perform ANY duties to help in the war effort like helping out on the sidelines or in a hospital for example.The story begins in 1919 on a train with Tristan Sadler traveling to visit Marian, the sister of Will Bancroft, a very close friend of Tristans and fallen soldier. The purpose of the visit is to return a stack of letters that Marion wrote Will during the war. The two young men were briefly, intimately involved while serving in France. While Will preferred to forget the incidents and made light of them, Tristan could not forget the encounters as he cared deeply for Will.Many issues are covered in this beautiful story: family, courage, cowardice, friendships, pressures to conform, homophobia and more. Never do the issues overwhelm the storyline. It's actually a simple story, yet masterfully written. Through flashbacks from 1919 to 1916 the reader gets a clear picture of what happened but, it isn't until you get closer to the ending that the real shock and impact of the story hits you. The story ends with Tristan as an old man in 1979. This is a story I'll never forget. I'm more determined than ever to read everything that John Boyne has written; his book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, was another book of his that has never left me. If you decide to read this book (please do) go into it blind, like I did and don't read too many reviews. The story is written in such a way that it does not give anything away too soon at least, you get just small pieces in just the right doses. This would make an excellent book club discussion choice. HIGHLY RECOMMENDEDNOTE: Thanks go to Other Press for sending this book my way in exchange for my unbiased review.MEMORABLE QUOTES:"Astonishing how everyone is willing to go abroad to fight for the foreigners while having such little concern for those of their own countrymen at home."" I think perhaps the adults we become are formed in childhood and there's no way around it.""I felt that this is what it must be like to be married to someone, a constant back and forth of bickering, watching out for any stray comment in a conversation that might be corrected, anything to keep gaining the upper hand, the advantage, bringing one closer to taking the game, the set, the whole blasted match without ever conceding a point."

Disowned by his family at 16 for a small indiscretion with his boyhood friend, Tristan Sadler spends a year and a half on his own before lying about his age and enlisting in the army to defend England in World War I. At training camp, he quickly becomes friends with Will Bancroft. Tristan is attracted to Will, but he has learned his lesson and keeps his emotions in check. It isn’t until the night before they are shipping out to France that they find comfort in each other’s arms. However, once they arrive in France, Will avoids Tristan, for the most part.Yet, as brothers in arms in the same regiment, there is no avoiding each other, or the horrific scenes they both come to witness. Such scenes, as well as events in training camp, cause Will to question his part in the war, and ultimately make a decision that changes everything. Tristan miraculously survives the war, at least in body. His spirit is broken by what he has seen, and especially by his part in Will’s fate. As “The Absolutist” opens, it’s two years after the war, and Tristan is on his way to Norwich to meet with Will’s sister, in the hope that he might be able to unburden himself of some of the pain he feels over Will’s death.This book is, in many ways, a classic war novel. While there is a strong gay theme to it, the story is more about the nature of bravery, cowardice, and principals. This is one of those rare books where each reader is likely to interpret the events and their meanings a little differently. It asks all sorts of questions that can make for interesting discussions if you read it as part of a group.Another unusual aspect of this story is the way it unfolds. It becomes fairly clear by the end of the first chapter where things will go and what happened, and yet you will want to keep reading anyway, as the story drifts back and forth in time, from Tristan’s post-war meeting with Will’s sister back to the events of training camp and the war.While “The Absolutist” is definitely a great book, and one I would highly recommend, I did have a few minor issues with it that kept me from giving it five stars. First was the ending, which as you can probably guess is far from happily ever after. While there was a short chapter that tied a lot of things up, it still left a few questions which I would have liked answered. There was also the historical background, which in broad strokes painted what seems like a very accurate picture of the times, but some details felt off. The picture of the times, as well as the language, seemed a little anachronistic. It’s in very little things, like Tristan’s exploration of Norwich, or the description of aerial bombing during the war, where it seemed things were viewed too much from a contemporary point of view. It’s not enough to really detract from the story, but there were a few things that made me pause and wonder if that’s the way things really would have been.

Not since Timothy Finlay's, "The Wars", or "Birdsong" by Sebastian Faulks, has a book captured more accurately the collosal stupidity, incompetant leadership and slaughter of World War 1 and the courage of the men who fought in that war. The Absolutist, is a story told from the point of view of the last survivor of a group of boys who trained and fought bravely together, not yet even twenty years old.It is the story of young men, Comrads-in-Arms, with love for each other, marching to their death, covered not in glory, but in mud, filth and pain. The war is popular in England where there are parades with flags and marching bands to whip up patriotic fervor. England is also a place where any young man who disagrees with the war or conscientiously objects, gets "feathered". It is a fact that the women of the period would publicly shame men who were out of uniform by placing a white feather on them to denote cowardice.Among the draftees the reader of "The Absolutist" will find an assortment of every type of young male warrior. Two develop a guarded friendship and one is finally so disgusted by the carnage and brutality of the war, he puts down his weapon on the battlefield and absolutely refuses to fight anymore, giving rise to the book's title.The novel's central theme is a good story of unrequited love between men with different understandings of life, love and war, but also an accurate description of that disgraceful conflict where most of the corrageous troops had more to fear from their leaders than they did from all the bombs, bullets and gas that would finally kill them.I will read John Boyne's "The Heart's Invisible Furies" next.

What a great writer

In 2013....... This book was recommended to me. Previously the only book I had read from this author was The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which I loved. My understanding had been that The Absolutist was a book for adults rather than young adults and I was surprised at the very large font in the version I read.World War One and its effects on the individuals involved is a topic returned to regularly in fiction. Here we see Tristan Sadler going to visit the sister of a fallen comrade in 1919 - it is a mysterious mission in an unfamiliar city. The visit brings his memories to the surface and he relives the emotions encountered while in France during the war, whilst exploring his friendship with Will.Tristan's character is sensitively developed. He is tormented by his experiences and torn between what is right and what is wrong. Visiting Marian serves as a vehicle for him (and her) to consider their feelings about what happened.The trenches are described in great detail and the atmosphere is very vivid. The book is compared to Birdsong which I was by sceptical about but, having read the book, I think is fair. Here the story is slimmed down to only two views - the trenches and the visit the following year which intensifies the emotions.It is a difficult challenge going over such a well trodden subject and there is little in here which has not bee covered before. However, John Boyne explores his subject so tenderly that this book cannot fail to be a worthwhile read to anyone interested in the human side of World War One.Move on to 2022...... I'd now read many more John Boyne books and loved every single one so decided to reread this novel. I rarely revisit novels but hadn't remembered much about this one - I have become a huge fan of the author and it seemed appropriate to return to where it all began. The book starts in Tombland, Norwich, an area that I visited recently which seemed to be a pleasant coincidence.John Boyne's writing is just beautiful. At the same time I want to tear straight through it and also slow down to soak up every word. There are still a few John Boyne books I haven't read so I am going to buy them immediately.Nearly a decade on and with many other John Boyne books in my head, this novel took my breathe away with a sadness that is rarely achieved. The multiple layers gradually build up with the reader thinking they know what is going to happen but the ending comes as a dramatic shock.Of course the descriptions of trench warfare are awful but the horror of this book is the unspeakable human behaviour that is created - relationships develop in ways that would not be thinkable in peace time - everyone is just doing their best to survive, mentally as well as physically.The writing is brilliant and I have nothing but admiration for John Boyne.

The Absolutist is a conscientious objector, one who refuses not only to be involved in the dirty business of taking arms against an enemy but also to help in any way the war effort by carrying out ancillary tasks. They were nicknamed Feather men.... (The notion of a white feather representing cowardice goes back to the 18th century, arising from the belief that a white feather in the tail of a game bird denoted poor quality. To 'show the white feather' was therefore to be 'unmanly)Tristan Sadler and Will Bancroft two fresh faced recruits meet in Aldershot as they prepare for life in the trenches, the defining image of World War 1. "In Aldershot they weren't teaching us how to fight, they were training us how to extend our lives for as long as possible"......John Boyne's writing is magnificent as always, his scenes of young raw recruits standing like lambs to the slaughter, or waiting to be butchered by the enemy's machine gunfire, is heartbreaking to read...."We forget that we have very nearly died today as we wait to die again tomorrow"......"Each of us fell at a different point on the spectrum from pacifism to unremitting sadism"...... At the start of the story Tristan is travelling to Norwich to meet Will's sister and deliver some personal letters, he is also hoping to unburden himself by revealing a secret, a secret that he has held within him for many years. The narrative alternates between the start and finish of WW1 and those who survived returned home deeply traumatized to a country unable to cope with or indeed understand the repercussions of shell shock more commonly known today as PTSD...."Twenty boys. And only two came back. One who went mad and myself. But that doesn't mean we survived it. I don't think I did survive it. I may not be buried in a French field but I linger there"........The Absolutist is about friendship, unrequited love, the morals of the time, and what happens if we try to live outside what society views as righteous and good. It is about the evil and brutality that humans can inflict on each other and in its graphic descriptions it illustrates what life (if we can call it that) was like for young men in the trenches...most would be lucky to survive more than 6 weeks....." I close my eyes for a moment . How long will it be, I wonder, two minutes, three, before I am over the sandbags too? Is my life to end tonight?"In the last chapter we meet Tristan as an old man, success as a writer has done little to ease his conscience or dampen the memory of those bygone days. The final sentence is probably one of the most poignant I have read for many years. A truly outstanding novel John Boyne once again asserts himself as not only a gifted author but possessing an uncanny understanding of the human spirit and what is to live. to love, and for that love never to be returned. Highly, highly recommended

Spoiler Alert (sorry- can’t help it!)This is a very good book with an unjust and flawed ending IMO. The story of boys who meet during military training and their journey to the trenches of France, it is also their tale of coming to terms with themselves as young men under great stress and at sudden speed all the while living in a hell that must bring shudders to every reader. John Boyne is exceptionally good in describing all of this.Set in England in 1916 the story is told through the lives of Will and Tristan, the former the son of a vicar, the latter the son of a butcher. Tristan has been ejected from home because of a misplaced kiss with a school boy and joins the army. Will and Tristan become friends at Aldershot and just prior to being sent overseas apparently experience a romantic moment.Over the next 3 months in the trenches the hell of war results in the deaths and murders of friends and foes. Will and Tristan appear to remain friends and have one more romantic encounter, at the instigation of Will, though with the loving approval of Tristan. Will, however, protests against the injustices he sees and refuses to fight. He is sentenced to be shot for cowardice.By chance, after beating another soldier in an attempt to defend Will, Tristan is confined with Will. Tristan tries to persuade Will to change his position and talks about what they had done together. Will viciously rejects Tristan, despite Will’s initiating the liason, leaving Tristan furious and bewildered. Will is ultimately shot in circumstances that we discover only at the end.The story continues as a conversation between Tristan and Will’s sister, first in 1919 and again in 1979. At their final meeting the author would have us believe that while Will was accused of cowardice and died because of it, Tristan was the true coward. I don’t buy that forced conclusion at all. Indeed, with the sweep of hindsight a century on, I can only see Will, if he had returned to England, fighting his past by becoming, perhaps, a barrister and politician, espousing hypocritical and homophobic rhetoric in the guise of principled Tory morality. With that in mind I do find significant fault with Boyne as he concluded the final pages of his story. I think it is a grievous and unjust conclusion that is not warranted by the tale that has been spun. For this I can give only 3 stars.

John Boyne is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors and every book I read of his is a delight to read.Set in 1919 at the time of WW1, 21 year old Tristan Sadler is back in England looking to deliver letters from his wartime friend, Will Bancroft to Will’s sister. Tristian is one of only two survivors of the Western Front where the majority of his friends died. Will Bancroft decided to become an ‘absolutist’ and wanted no more part in the war, a decision that was always going to have grave consequences. Tristian returns the letters to Will’s sister Marian and spends the day talking about her brother and ultimately to tell the secret he has held on to.As per usual with John Boyne books, it is so well written, he is an excellent storyteller and you can easy imagine every character and feel every emotion throughout the book.As per usual after reading a John Boyne novel I am already planning my next read from his works.