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Our community recommends a new book every day.
Today, "Dark shine" by Jean-Marie Quéméner, published on January 13, 2022 by Éditions Plon.
Alain Raimbault, writer, blogger and contributor to the 20 Minutes
Books reading group
, recommends
Dark shine
by Jean-Marie Quéméner, published on January 13, 2022 by Éditions Plon.
His favorite quote:
"We have all been trained here to kill," he replies with a sigh. Here it is, our “habit”.
"And, from officer to officer, do you do it without discernment, without reason?"
No !
We fight for our country, what it represents.
It's a sacrifice, I would dare say a priesthood, a commitment, not the outlet for our psychotic neuroses.
Your man over there is a doberman.
No more no less.
He wouldn't kill here, he would go and kill further away or at home, Persians, Slavs, Swedes... It doesn't matter.
»
Why this book?
Because this novel takes us back to the lightning invasion of France in June 1940,
with French soldiers who experience defeat after fighting heroically.
They discover the humiliation, the incomprehension, they have just been taken prisoner and accept this state of affairs very badly.
We also see the racism of the soldiers of the Wehrmacht who have no qualms about murdering prisoners, and even less if the latter are black.
Racism was not a prerogative reserved for members of the SS.
Because the rapprochement between the German captain,
of noble origin, and the black French captain, born in Africa and very well educated, invites us to discover each other's past.
The German captain quickly realizes, despite his racism, his many points in common with this soldier, so different in appearance, but ultimately very close by the experience of the war (the two made 1914-1918), by the culture literature and values.
Because this novel reminds us that many
colonial troops or Senegalese skirmishers fought for France and died in the trenches of the First World War.
During the Battle of France (1940), many colonial troops died, either in combat or murdered by the Germans because they were black, like the unfortunate Charles Ntchorere, historical figure and unfortunate hero of this novel.
We will think here of the 2nd class infantryman Léopold Sédar Senghor who was also taken prisoner in June 1940 and who was almost shot because of the color of his skin.
Because this book questions military values.
He asks relevant questions about the reasons for fighting for his homeland.
He questions the very nature of the soldier's identity and arrives at a universal and profoundly human conclusion.
This novel finally pays homage and restores a little stolen dignity to the Senegalese skirmishers.
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot.
The Germans invaded France in 1940. The Senegalese captain and rifleman Charles Ntchorere, prisoner with his men, will perhaps be shot by the German captain Karl von Dönhoff.
Shortly before this fateful moment, a conversation begins between them.
Characters.
French army captain, prisoner and Senegalese tirailleur Charles Ntchorere.
The Captain or Hauptmann of the Wehrmacht, Karl von Dönhoff.
Places.
Airaines village, near Amiens.
The time.
June 1940
The author.
Reporter, foreign correspondent for many media, Jean-Marie Quéméner is also a novelist.
This short novel was read
with great interest for the philosophical conversation between two beings who are completely separated.
And always a sad thought at the mention of the Battle of France and the war crimes committed, among others, against the Senegalese skirmishers.
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Story
Second World War
Racism
Books
Novel
Book sheet 20 Minutes
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