Okay - this is a fairly serious post so bear with me. The historical context was the reason I wanted to read this but it's also the reason I'm being cautious about what I say in an open forum. However,
@GoSpuffy 's mention of Buffy's "perspective" has given me a way in - simply because I'm not sure there's one perspective on the events of WWII. For this reason (and the reason I don't know that much about it), I'm using broad strokes (also, I tend not to make serious claims unless I've read something 5/6 times in quick succession). WWII was the deadliest conflict ever. Wiki is giving between 70 million and 85 million as the number of casualties - 3-4% of the world's population. It's impossible to say how or why it started; why people fought in it and why people did what they did. The question remains whether vampires inhumanity towards man pales into insignificance when compared to man's inhumanity towards man - particularly since vampires are supposedly driven by natural instincts and not cultural/economic/socio-political wants, needs and desires. I don't know whether I've taken that question from my FIRST reading of the text or whether it was a presupposition I took with me and I'm imposing it ON the text. I'm re-reading but - as yet - I'm only on Chapter 7. Let me know!
Much of what follows is from yesterday and the first reading. I may well change my mind. I found it interesting that Spike's initial involvement was because of love - Buffy's was duty (or do I need to reframe this as love for the human race? If so, is this naïve or idealistic)? The second German soldier she sees is only saved by chance. Is her justification - that he dies if he stands in the way of the mission - good enough? Are we in S7 territory? The mission is all that matters? Do we need to take the fact that she was betrayed by Giles and Travers into account?).
I liked the fact that Governments remain a shadowy figure in the background (the subterfuge/untrustworthiness of certain characters reminded me of writers like Le Carre). Roosevelt is implied by the reference to Yankee Doodle Dandy, Hitler is named in person. I'm not sure about the Vichy Government but perhaps they're implied by the Resistance (of course - De Gaulle). To misquote Basil Fawlty - Am I not supposed to mention the war? Is it just a backdrop?
The excess of meaning in the extract from Binyon I really like. It has a doubleness, a duplicity, that suggests what I've written above may not be far from the mark. It also begs the question of how or why we remember. Is memory a form of forgetting? Is it personal or – in part cultural? Do nations have memories - a socio-imaginary?
I like the fact the third person omniscient narrator (?) lets us see the double-edge of her reasoning and how she actively supresses one side of the argument: “She could almost feel her brain hurting. If Spike failed - the desire to have Dru gone was overwhelming and she would be saving Kendra’s life! But – Buffy ruthlessly squashed the little voice inside her head that whispered not only did she hate Dru, but she was blackly jealous of her as well!” LOL! Takes some of the guesswork away – so much easier in language than film. The vacillation is there in Spike but because he has no previous knowledge it’s easier for him to justify. Makes sense.
I anticipated some of the end but there was a reveal I thought was genius – a real Keyser Söze moment. There's also a big clue fairly early on but I don't want to say too much about it if you haven't spotted it.
