''Europe Central'' (2005) is a novel by
William T. Vollmann that won the U.S.
National Book Award for Fiction
The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...
.
["National Book Awards – 2005"]
National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...
. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
(With acceptance speech by Vollman, introduction by Andre Dubus III, essay by Tom LeClair from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog, and other material.)
Plot
Set in
Central Europe
Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
during the 20th century, it examines a vast array of characters, ranging from generals to martyrs, officers to poets, traitors to artists and musicians. It deals with the moral decisions made by people in the most testing of times and offers a perspective on human actions during wartime. Vollmann makes use of many historical figures as characters such as revolutionary
Nadezhda Krupskaya
Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya ( rus, links=no, Надежда Константиновна Крупская, p=nɐˈdʲeʐdə kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvnə ˈkrupskəjə; – 27 February 1939) was a Russian revolutionary, politician and politic ...
, composer
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer.
Shostak ...
, artist
Käthe Kollwitz
Käthe Kollwitz ( born Schmidt; 8 July 186722 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ''The Peasa ...
, film director
Roman Karmen
Roman Lazarevich Karmen (28 April 1978, born Efraim Leyzorovich Korenman) was a Soviet film director, war cinematographer, documentary filmmaker, journalist, screenwriter, pedagogue, and publicist.
Biography
Karmen was born to a Jewish family ...
, poet
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...
, SS officer
Kurt Gerstein
Kurt Gerstein (11 August 1905 – 25 July 1945) was a German SS officer and head of technical disinfection services of the ''Hygiene-Institut der Waffen-SS'' (Institute for Hygiene of the Waffen-SS). In 1942, after witnessing mass murders in the ...
, activists
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg ( ; ; ; born Rozalia Luksenburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary and Marxist theorist. She was a key figure of the socialist movements in Poland and Germany in the early 20t ...
and
Karl Liebknecht
Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; ; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German politician and revolutionary socialist. A leader of the far-left wing of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Liebknecht was a co-founder of both ...
, as well as German general
Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) during World War II who is best known for his surrender of the German 6th Army (Wehrmacht), 6th Army during the Battle ...
and Soviet general
Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov (, – August 1, 1946) was a Soviet Russian Red Army general. During the Eastern Front (World War II), Axis-Soviet campaigns of World War II, he fought (1941–1942) against the ''Wehrmacht'' in the Battle of Moscow ...
.
In an afterword, Vollmann admits that while the book is heavily researched and mostly features real people, the work should be regarded as fiction. He calls it "a series of parables about famous, infamous and anonymous European moral actors at moments of decision." Though largely true to history, a number of anecdotes or details are created by the author, such as the "imaginary love triangle" between Shostakovich, Karmen, and Elena Konstantinovskaya.
Reception
The ''
Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp.
History
The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'' wrote that Vollmann "has turned to the historical novel and made it his own, fashioning a work which is cinematic in scope, epic in ambition and continuously engaging,
howingthat he is one of the most important and fascinating writers of our time."
The ''
New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' described it as his "most welcoming work, possibly his best book… part novel and part stories, virtuoso historical remembrance and focused study of violence."
References
External links
"The Bumbling Shostakovich,"essay on ''Europe Central'' by Ted Gioia (Fractious Fiction)
{{s-end
2005 American novels
American historical novels
National Book Award for Fiction–winning works
Viking Press books
Works by William T. Vollmann
Cultural depictions of Karl Liebknecht
Cultural depictions of Rosa Luxemburg