review
The Attack was written by Harry Mulisch, his 7th novel. The book contains 254 pages and the first edition was in September 1982. The book is a psychological novel because throughout the story it deals with Anton’s life and how he copes with the war. The period in which the story takes place is successively: 1945, 1952, 1956 and 1981. It therefore takes almost 37 years in total.
The book is definitely worth reading. To begin with, I am an advocate of easy language, which is the case in this book. Thanks to the few difficult words and the easy sentences, the story is easy to follow. There is hardly any humor in the story (at most a few silly jokes), which is understandable because you don’t expect that from a book about war processing. There is an omniscient narrator, yet we see most of the events through Anton’s eyes. This appeals to me because you are going to live with Anton. It seems as if you are experiencing the story up close. But the explanation of the general things in the book provides the omniscient narrator with what I think is good, because it should not involve the emotions of characters.
The question of guilt also appeals to me: Who is to blame for the event that would change Anton’s life forever? This question actually plays through the whole story. The event that changes Anton’s life is preceded by other causes. Just think of the neighbors who put the body in front of Anton’s house, for fear of reprisals. Or the person who shot Fake Plow. Couldn’t he do that in a place where there were no houses? Or was it the fault of the Germans who started this whole war?
Another striking event from the book is the night that Anton spends at his young age in the cell with Truus Coster. That night they had a profound conversation when they couldn’t see each other. That woman is the first thing he gets feelings for and some time later, when he sees a picture of her, he realizes that she looks just like his wife Saskia. This is also called an Oedipus motif. Anton has an Oedipal relationship with the resistance fighter in prison.
What I find a downside about the book is the fact that almost no tension is built up. From the beginning there is already pointed forward to later life stages of Anton. This breaks the tension rather than increases the tension.
There are no surprises in the story at all. It’s written very entertaining.
Ultimately, I recommend everyone to read the book. As told, it is not a story in which tension is built up. Or that suddenly there is a surprising turn in the book. You do learn something about the war. For example, what happened when an NSB was murdered. What impact the war had on people. And how resistance fighters continued to live after the war. The book is written simply and the story is not difficult to follow. Despite the episode form, the story is told continuously. Each time a new episode describes in detail what Anton has experienced in the meantime. This makes the story fluid and easy to understand.