The Absolutist

by John Boyne

It is September 1919, and twenty-one-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a package of letters to the sister of Will Bancroft, the man he fought alongside during the Great War.

But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan’s visit. He can no longer keep a secret and has finally found the courage to unburden himself of it. As he recounts the horrific details of what to him became a senseless war, he also speaks of his friendship with Will–from their first meeting on the training grounds at Aldershot to their farewell in the trenches of northern France. The intensity of their bond brought Tristan happiness and self-discovery as well as confusion and unbearable pain.

The Absolutist is a masterful, unforgettable tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, LGBT, War, Historical, World War I, Queer

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

I was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by UEA.

I’ve published 14 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide.

Among my most popular books are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky and My Brother’s Name is Jessica.

I’m also a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times.

In 2012, I was awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for my body of work. I’ve also won 4 Irish Book Awards, and many international literary awards, including the Que Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.

My novels are published in 58 languages.

My 14th adult novel, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, a sequel and companion novel to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, will be published in the UK on September 15th 2022, in the US and Canada on November 29th, and in many foreign language editions in late 2022 and 2023.

Reviews

[Kevin Ansbro · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It would be best for all of us if the Germans shoot you dead on sight."
—Tristan Sadler's father.

God, I appreciate you, John Boyne; with your head as smooth as a baby's bottom, your sparkling pixie eyes and your creative bloody genius. You were my go-to author when I hit a run of lamentable reads, and you didn't let me down, you wonderful man.

The story begins in 1919, post-WWI England, in my own city of Norwich (I don't actually own it, I just live here). Tristan Sadler is the custodian of letters that were sent to his wartime buddy, Will Bancroft, by Bancroft's sister, Marian.

Told in alternating time periods, we learn of the men's kinship, forged in the tyranny of army training. Truths are implied, rather than divulged, allowing the reader to anticipate what is to follow. In fact, Boyne uses the 'show and not tell' technique to great effect for much of the story.
Revelations are drip-fed as slowly as coffee through a Gaggia machine; themes of repressed homosexuality, unrequited love, betrayal, and an army's pack mentality are tossed into the bear pit of war.
Boyne's signature dish is a serving of flawed main character. Tristan is one such character: as stubborn as a mule; doesn't think outside the box; is ruled by his heart; is petulant and jealous; is sometimes brave, yet sometimes cowardly.
Oh, it's all here, folks: the foul, sludgy, shitty, rat-infested, murderous horror of the trenches and the complexities of human relationships in an era when anything more than a handshake between men would have elicited feelings of revulsion.
This mini-epic held my interest throughout. It was thought-provoking, anger-inducing and at times searingly heart-breaking.
And prepare yourselves for one devastating moment…
*Gasp*
So cataclysmically moving ... please don't,
please...
NO-OOO!!!

John Boyne doesn't do tedium. He writes gutsy, emotive books that you miss when you're away from them.
And the ending was befitting, revelatory and clever.

Three cheers for John Boyne and his absorbing storytelling!
Hip, hip...

[jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay. its official. after two back-to-back 5 star books, john boyne has now made himself right at home on my favourite authors list.

i am OBSESSED with the way JB characters narrate their stories. the sincerity and certain approachability they radiate allows the reader to devour and savour their words with such ease. i dont think i have ever read anything quite like it.

with ‘the absolutist,’ in particular, empathising and feeling for tristan seems second nature. stories of war make me emotional regardless, but goodness me. the brutal honesty about human nature and the desire to be loved and find comfort in the face of loneliness, my heart was a complete mess by the time i turned the last page.

i am just so impressed with john boynes ability to make me feel so many feels in just a couple hundred of pages. his stories are such a lovely pleasure and privilege to read and i cant wait to pick up my next one!

↠ 4.5 stars

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal!!!!! The nitty-gritty-reality..of what frickin war can can do - and not do--
oh how I LOVE JOHN BOYNE!!! My God... I had NO IDEA what I would discover when I started reading this AMAZING NOVEL...storytelling that is sooooo good!!!-- - so much I wish to say. I'm completely SPENT....EVERY EMOTION triggered!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Absolutist

When I finished reading this book I gave it 4 stars. I thought it was a powerful and thought provoking novel of the ugliness and the burdens of war that were placed on the young men who fought in WWI. I still think that, but I also can’t stop thinking about the personal burdens and inner struggles that they carried with them when they went to war and the added ones they came home with if they came home. I had to raise it up to five stars.

“Twenty boys. And only two came back.”

Tristan Sadler is one of the two boys of his training regimen who came back alive, alive but broken. Disgraced at sixteen by misreading the feelings of his best friend as mutual, he was disowned by his family and his community. At seventeen he lies about his age and enlists in the army, but not before hearing from his father “it would be best for all of us if the Germans shoot you dead on sight.”

This is a tragic story about the brutality of WWI, the bloody trenches, the death, a thought provoking story reflecting complex issues. It’s about principles, friendship, love, betrayal, fear, bravery, madness, guilt, coming to terms with ones sexual identity. It’s also Tristan and Will Bancroft’s story. Will and Tristan trained together in England and ended up in the post in France at the height of the war in 1916. Three years later, Tristan is hand delivering to Will’s sister a packet of the letters she had sent her brother. With flashbacks, there is a dual time frame and through Tristan we are told the story of their time together in training and on the front, their relationship. There are many reviews of this that will give more details about it, so I’ve chosen not to give those here. I will say how truly sad and heartbreaking this story is bringing to life the gritty, horrific face of war. There are many gutting scenes, not the least of which, is the stunning revelation about Will’s fate that Tristan divulges towards the end of the novel. It’s so well written as I’ve come to expect from John Boyne. This was originally published in 2012 and this new edition is released today on 4/13/21.


I received a copy of this book from Other Press through Edelweiss.

[Kimber Silver · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I think I'm just breathing, that's all. And there's a difference between breathing and being alive."

With my seat in an upright position and tray table stowed, I braced myself for another adventure, courtesy of Mr. Boyne. However, as I cracked open the cover and read the first few lines, I quickly realized that no seatbelt on earth could secure me — I was in for one doozy of a ride.

"Seated opposite me in the railway carriage, the elderly lady in the fox-fur shawl was recalling some of the murders that she had committed over the years."

Tristan Sadler, our narrator, is traveling by train from London to Norwich, England, on a mission of utmost importance. The year is 1919, and he has returned from the Great War — though only in body; his soul remains elsewhere.

This book was not how I imagined it to be; it was so much more. Over the course of two days, I walked beside Tristan and witnessed love, loss, war, and unimaginable betrayal. By the end, I was wrung out but had cherished every moment.

If you haven't read Boyne yet, I highly recommend this spectacular novel. His writing is immersive, and his flawed, broken, and utterly human characters will leave you eager for more.

[Nika · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I think perhaps the adults we become are formed in childhood and there's no way around it.”

3.5 stars

Do you know what an absolutist means?
It turns out that this term had a specific meaning during the First World War. People who refused to take up arms or fight were called absolutists. They were relatively few and could justify their decision not to fight using religious, ethical, or political reasons.
We meet two absolutists in this book. Both struggle to defend their principles. Both face a tragic end.
We learn everything through a first-person narrative. The story is told by Tristan, a young Englishman who recently returned from the battlefield. The story is set in one day in 1919. Then comes the epilogue set many years later.

So, we are in 1919. The Great War ended, but it continues to take a toll on ordinary men and women. Those who fought in it and those who waited for their loved ones to return from it are affected and haunted by memories. Tristan is one of those who experienced a lot during his service. He endured the trench war in France, which was full of dirt, pain and the almost constant risk of being killed.
Tristan is a complicated character, not always likable but his weaknesses may evoke compassion, given how much he went through. He is alone in this world - his family betrayed him and his only friend is dead. I found that Tristan's parents treated him heinous even by the standards of the time. They showed a complete lack of empathy. Prejudices can ruin lives. But even prejudiced people may have behaved less severely, not as Tristan's father did.

Tristan has nobody to rely on. The boy has been fending for himself since his teenage years.
His sexual desires trouble him. The world of the 1920s was still largely homophobic. Male homosexual relationships were criminalized.
His horrific experiences during the war torture him. The things he saw at war cannot be forgotten.
When circumstances allow, Tristan brings himself to make a confession. He tells everything he experienced at the war without trying to spruce up his deeds. Tristan admits to committing a great mistake. He fell victim to the short-lived impulse. But you cannot undo what has already been done. Tristan knows this mistake will follow him for the rest of his days.

War in the novel is depicted, as it should be, as something totally grim, cruel, and haunting. There is no place for any kind of embellishment when people are killing each other every day and every hour.
For Tristan, patriotic feelings cannot justify the slaughter.
Tristan's confession does not unburden him, but it probably has a certain beneficial effect on him.
It enables the young man not to waste his life. Who knows what his life would have been like had he not told his story to a fellow human being (a sister of his dead friend, to be exact). Tristan starts writing. His stories start being published. In his novels, he evokes his war experiences without having to explicitly recount them.

Tristan's narration shows that heroism and cowardice are intertwined to such a degree that it can be difficult to separate one from the other. Public opinion may count someone as a white-livered traitor. He may even be killed by his own side for being absolutist. But in fact, the guy is an intrepid man who is ready to defend his principles at any cost.
Tristan may consider himself a coward, but the reality is much more complicated. His confession proves it. He puts into words things that are extremely hard to put into words.


I feel like I have to explain why I gave this novel 3.5 stars. I thought I would love it. And I mainly did when it comes to the core message of the book and how it treats such topics as war, love, and the complexity of human relationships.
However, the writing style did not work for me. I did not feel connected to the characters. Only near the end, I was slightly touched but overall I found the story rather boring.
Another issue is that one episode that should probably be considered the climax of the story (that fateful mistake the main character commits) seemed slightly theatrical to me.
That being said, this is a meaningful story worth reading.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A letter I sent John Boyne after finishing the Absolutist.

Dear Mr Boyne,

You don't know me, and you're probably thinking, hey, what's this random guy sending me a bill for. Well, John, let me break it down for you:

Psychiatric evaluation 1000

Pain and suffering 2000

Undeserved mental anguish 5000

Broken heart 5000

Lost wages (because reading isn't allowed at work apparently, F**K you Tom!) 200

As you can see, John, the Absolutist has completely destroyed me. Your beautiful writing, amazing characters, vivid scenery, and depressing style are one of a kind. Your ability to pull me in and make me care about your characters is uncanny. This will be the fifteenth book that I add to my favorites list, and three of them are yours! I absolutely adore your books! (Minus the boy in the stripped pajamas....sorry.) Your writing is unparalleled, your twists and climax are absolutely devastating, and your ending is pure gold. What you've done with the Absolutist is nothing short of a masterpiece, as are so many of your other books.

So, as you can see, Mr. Boyne, your writing has caused me undue stress and hardship. I've spent hours crying, days avoiding work so I could read, and even a few hours in therapy thanks to you. I guess if you're willing to agree to keep writing these wonderfully devastating books that I love so much, I can forgo the bill.

Best regards,

Jesse

(your number one fan, but not in a creepy follow you to your car and stand outside your house kind of way)

[Vit Babenco · Rating 3 out of 5]

In order to be fashionable John Boyne was just fishing in muddy waters…
The stylization is poor and The Absolutist is but a modern fake war tale – judging by the books belonging in the described period, people then had a quite dissimilar mentality and they thought differently…

Launching myself out into no-man’s-land gets more terrifying every time. It’s Russian roulette: with every pull of the trigger the chances of your surviving the next shot diminish.

The Great War is only a background because the story is about the ambiguous morality and the ambivalence of deportment.
So many moral evaluations depend on the standpoint of an observer.

[Larry H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tristan Sadler, newly 21, travels to Norwich from his London home to take care of an errand he is dreading. He has promised to deliver a sheaf of letters his friend Will Bancroft received while they fought together during World War I to Will's sister. And while this errand dredges up memories of the fighting and the deaths that Tristan would rather not remember, it also forces him to confront his feelings, his actions, and the direction the rest of his life is going to take.

Spending the day with Will's outspoken sister, Marian, as she deals with the frustration and sadness talking about her brother even three years after his death, serves as both a catharsis and a source of great pain and anxiety for Tristan. But in the end, he has the opportunity to unburden his soul of things he has kept hidden for the three years since Will's death, although doing so may not provide the relief he desperately needs.

To say that this book devastated me is an understatement. It is easily one of the most beautifully written, emotionally gripping books I've read this year, and perhaps in some time. John Boyne's storytelling in this book reminds me a little of E.M. Forster—Maurice in particular—and as the book moved toward a conclusion I feared, I couldn't tear myself away yet I didn't want the story to unfold and, ultimately, end. This is a book about relationships, betrayal, courage, and standing up for yourself and your beliefs. This is an almost poetic novel I won't soon forget, although definitely one that doesn't necessarily fill you with happiness and hope. Truly one of the best books I've read all year.

[B the BookAddict · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his usual understated and deft manner, John Boyne has written a WWI story that is very different from all the others in this genre.

Two young men, Sadler and Bancroft, train in the army together in England and are dispatched to the fields of Flanders in the same squad. They share a secret and taboo friendship that must remain hidden. But then a shocking case of barbarity by one of their squad finds the two friends on opposing sides of belief. One will find himself with an unthinkable task. One will survive and the other will perish under the most irregular of circumstances. The survivor comes home to fulfil a promise he has made to his friend. He will recount their experiences when he meets his friend's sister for an afternoon in 1919; an intense and uncomfortable few hours which brings no balm to either of them.

The manner of one death will haunt the other for all of his life. Ultimately, he keeps a promise to himself in an ending to the story that will sucker-punch the reader, caught completely unaware of his intention.

How fortunate for any reader that the most talented of writers today, John Boyne, has decided to tell a story; one, probably of many, which usually remains hidden from the world’s view of WWI.

“A story of immeasurable sadness…” John Irving

The book is going to have an enormous impact on everyone who reads it.” Colm Tóibín

Most Highly Recommended 5★

[Marialyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, how very tragic, sad, and moving this novel was! It made the reality of World War 1 ever more so awful as this author managed to make the reader aware and knowing due to his unforgettable and complex characters. Having read three books fairly recently about the "great" war, a misnomer if ever there was one, the plight and hardship suffered by these young men was unbelievable. It broke my heart to again be reminded of the carnage, the loss of young lives, and the utter depravity of war.

We see a new facet of characters in Mr Boyle's novel, that of a gay young man in love with another, Will, who we are never quite sure of. The feelings of death, of love, of loneliness are all brought forward in the characters of Tristan and Will. They become the two true beings of what war can and does do to the human psyche. Tristan is pathetic and never does reconcile himself to what he is, what he was, and how his life has gone about. He pulls at you and makes you know inner turmoil so well that your heart wants to hold onto him and tell him things are ok and yet he would never believe that. He doesn't know how to forgive anyone because of his protective shell, yet is the most hard on himself.

Will flounders as well. Caught in the trap of thinking always about the wrongness of war, the actions of people shell shocked by it, and the morality of the killings, he becomes so rigid in his beliefs that he suffers the ultimate sacrifice in many ways other than the loss of his life. He never can reconcile himself to his need for another man. He hates himself for allowing his time with Tristan to be tainted by his conscience of morals and the rightness of situations. He fights against his feelings for Tristan and denies the both of them the idea of love and human care even if among the same sex group at a time and place where love is most needed.

John Boyle has given readers another way to look at war, another way to look at homosexuality, but mostly another way to feel the anger, despair, and futility of war. No one wins really, no one survives really, no one grows untouched. So sad, and yet so utterly true, war is hell. It is this internal and external hell that Mr Boyle has so well presented in his novel.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Absolutist is a dramatic look at World War One. Tristan Sadler has survived the war, but his friend, Will Bancroft, has not. It’s 1919 and Tristan takes a train to Norwich, to return Will’s sister’s letters to her. But that’s not the real reason he wants to see her.
The book takes us back to their army training where the boys first meet. Boyle is the master of understatement. He doesn’t hit us over the head, but hints at what is to come. He shows us not only the brutality of the war, but also how the men become callous, immune to the horrors. As Tristan meets with Marian, he’s looking to absolve himself of his guilt. Because it was his callousness and jealousy that is at the crux of the ultimate horror.
I had to keep reminding myself of Tristan’s young age. It’s a testament to Boyne’s writing that I could feel for him, despite his actions. Will is also flawed, struggling with the morals of the time.
I have read Boyne’s books in reverse order. There is none of the humor of his more recent books. This is a dark, depressing story. It’s also heartbreaking and thought provoking.
Michael Maloney is the narrator. He did a good job of expressing the emotions of the story.

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...there's a difference between breathing and being alive."

I've been working my way through all of Boyne's books, and each time I start a new one I think to myself that there is no way this one can top the previous one. And each and every time, not only have I found myself mistaken, I am left astonished by his blinding literary brilliance.
There is no way to rate his books in order of best to worst.
There simply is no worst.
There isn't even a mediocre.

This story has left me shattered.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I may not be buried in a French field but I linger there."

Fate presses us close to those things that we value in life, but it also locks us in with bolt and chain to those things that bring us grief, remorse, and mortal bitterness.

John Boyne pens a story so brimming with sheer pain from a wounded soul that we hold our breath in its telling. Boyne's pages turn in the direction of Tristan Sadler, a so very young individual leaning more towards boyhood than manhood in 1916. He joins the fate of others leaving their homes in England to fight the Germans on the French front. They've barely been trained in nine weeks to point a weapon and to fire at the incoming enemy. A life for a life.

Tristan is one of many until he meets Will Bancroft who shares the bunk next to his. They form a desperate friendship as reality sets in and War dictates their lives. Boyne allows us to see that there is a special link between these two men.....unexpected and almost unwilling in its early stages. What they both will experience at the hands of the Germans and at the hands of their own troops will weigh heavily on them. It will continue to escalate until it breaks with a powerful explosive finale.

And with the ending of the Great War, Tristan will meet a woman who will haunt him to his final days. Their dialogue shifts from neat and respectful to shockingly open and forceful. Their interactions scratch away at the truth while still etching fine threads in order to conceal it.

This was my first novel by the highly talented John Boyne. It was not only a worded novel, but so profoundly, a life experience. Boyne never allows us to lift a finger from the pulse of this superbly written piece. We feel it all......the cruel images of youth destroyed in War, the suppression of human love in its expanse of forms, and the staining words spat out that pierce the soul and forever change the psyche of the intended target. We face the enemy and find it is far closer and far more personal on a battle field from within.

I highly recommend The Absolutist. It definitely will stay with you......as it was intended.

[Dem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel and found it an emotional read. While reading this book I exclaimed out loud and cried and for me this is the basis on which I award 5 stars, I try to write a review on a novel as soon as I can after putting the book down as I like my review to express my feelings of the book when I closed the covers be that good bad or indifferent. The absolutist had me so emotionally charged that I was thinking about the story even when I was not reading it.

The Absolutist is a wartime story and deals with the relationship between two young soldiers Tristan and Will. The story is narrated by Tristan. I loved the characters in this novel and felt that they were very well written. I first came across the subject and storyline of this novel in a wonderful book called Michael Morpurgo and have since been very interested in the subject. I love the flow of the Absolutist and think this is a very touching story very simply told I dont want to write too much about this story as I think its a book you have to read for yourself, I have read by John boyne and it was for me just an ok read however his book I absolutely loved. For me this book was a real page turner and a great story.

[Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Absolutist follows two timelines that slowly converge leaving the reader feeling shellshocked and with a sense of PTSD. Boyne's writing is brilliant. He has an absolute gift for capturing heartache, grief, and horror with the written word. At the heart of The Absolutist is horror-the horrors of hiding one's identity, the horrors of war, the horror for those who oppose the war, and the horrors survivors must relive and carry forevermore.

Tristan enlists early (lying about his age) as a way to escape his family fallout. Will becomes best of friends with Will. Their relationships runs the gamut. Will's sister, Marian, plays a prominent part in the narrative. She was one hell of a character, filled with vim and vinegar, and observed by Tristan as having "the quick absurdity of speech, and the urgent wit and literacy of her". The narrator knocked this performance out of the park. Speaking of the narrator, FIVE STARS. His performance matched the written word. He captured the horror and melancholy in such a masterful way.

Boyne leaves a trail of breadcrumbs right from the start. The reader follows this trail knowing it is leading to dread. War is hell. Trench warfare is its own version of hell. PTSD. The shaking finger. The letters. Fractured childhood friendship. All are bits Boyne sprinkles along the way. I loved the time at basic training in Aldershot. There the letters that appear to be at the heart of the story begin. I love the lost art of letter writing and its value is so evident in this text about soldiers. This practice remains the best way today for soldiers and families to stay connected.

Boyne blew me away with this one. I see what the buzz is all about. So very well deserved. 4.5 stars for me. I highly recommend the audio version. Off to begin his elements and feeling prepared to jump into WATER.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, in my mind, cements John Boyne as one of, if not THE finest Irish novelist ever. It gets a 4.5 simply because I liked The Heart’s Invisible Furies just a tad more; I therefore have Mr. Boyne competing against himself, fair or not. This man digs deep into the human mind, spirit, and soul. In my experience his closest competition in this respect is Fredrik Backman.

To be gay in the early 20th century was a curse. This was simply unacceptable in society at that time. These people for the most part were relegated to a lifetime of longing, frustration, and shame. Couple that with family rejection and tumultuous experiences as a soldier in WWI, and you have the recipe for a very difficult life. That was Tristan Sadler. His best friend during the war, Will Bancroft, had other things on his mind, uppermost being doing what is right. Then there was Marian, Will’s sister. She has a minor yet powerful role in the novel. These characters are written magnificently and are to be believed. The story is profound.

This book ravaged my heart. Don’t think you know where this story is going because you don’t. I found the last bit stunning. The Absolutist—a novel for every reader of literary fiction. Please don’t miss out.

As I finish this review, I have decided that to pit Boyne against Boyne just isn’t fair. I am rewarding it all the stars I have to give.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Boyne brings the muddy trenches of WWI to life as twenty-one year old Tristan Sadler narrates the story of his young life and personal friendship with Will Bancroft. This unforgettable story has much sadness and heartbreak as Tristan unleashes his whopper of a secret, but OMGOSH, what a page-turner complete with vivid descriptions of the horrors of war and a horror of a father.

This is my third JB novel and definitely won't be my last. The powerful ending made it a 5 star read for me.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the story opens, we meet Tristan Sadler. The year is 1919, and he’s travelling to Norwich to look up the sister of a friend who was killed in the First World War. He’s very nervous about meeting her, that much is clear, but there is less evidence – yet – as to the reason for his obvious trepidation. All will be come clear, but not for some time. We start to learn of Tristan’s friendship with Will Bancroft in episodes that alternate with more detail of his stay in Norwich. It seems that they met during training at Aldershot and became close before being shipped off together to experience the horrors of trench warfare in France. But it’s all a bit more complicated than that.

Tristan had lied about his age to sign up for active duty, his father having disowned him and banishing him from the family home following an episode at school. Training at Aldershot was brutal, overseen by a bullying sergeant and a couple of his henchmen. But if that was bad, it was nothing compared to life in the trenches. The sections detailing the lives of the fighting soldiers are grim, and the horror of war is very effectively brought to life. The feelings of fear and guilt are tangible, and I still find it hard to get my head around the degree to which teenagers were routinely exposed to a level of atrocity that is simply hard to imagine. It seems that none of the new recruits expected to live more than a few weeks following deployment, and for quite a few, this proved to be the case.

So it’s a story about war, but it’s also the story of a difficult relationship between two young men. It’s a story of its time. The prose is superb, and the whole thing unravels in a way that maintains the suspense to the end. We’re given clear clues as to how it will all play out, but enough is held back to enable a shocking finale to be delivered. So, does it all add up to a resounding success? Well, almost. One thing that grated on me was the constant cruelty displayed by the authority figures here (Tristan’s father, the sergeant, and even Will’s father). The older males in this book are one-dimensional and unsparing in their brutishness. In fact, the story totally lacks humour of any sort. I know that there’s not a lot of laughs to be had in a tale about the Great War, but it does tend to make this book a pretty bleak read.

But the end the sheer quality of the storytelling did win me over. Boyne is a master wordsmith, and he’s an expert at drawing characters that suck you into his story. I certainly don’t think this is his best book – but it’s still pretty damned good.

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 5 out of 5]

5★
“I was expelled from home just before I turned sixteen and returned only once, over a year and a half later, on the afternoon before I left for France.

‘The truth is, Tristan,’ my father said that day as he steered me carefully out on to the street, his thick fingers pressing tightly on my shoulder blades, ‘it would be best for all of us if the Germans shoot you dead on sight.’ The last thing he ever said to me.”

Tristan Sadler’s family seemed normal for the times, the early 1900s in England. Dad was the local butcher and Tristan helped out, learning the trade. Then his father chucked him out, disowned him.

Tristan tries to join the British Army, underage, but has to wait until he’s eighteen, becoming part of a troop of men with whom he lives, trains, and eventually goes to fight in the trenches of WWI in France.

He meets Will Bancroft when they join up and have neighbouring bunks. It becomes obvious to us that he feels more than the usual friendship for Will, while Will’s attitude is a little harder to decipher.

Years later, Tristan is carrying the letters Will had received from his beloved sister, Marian. She and Will were close and wrote to each other every day. Tristan, who is now a writer and publisher, travels to Norwich in September 2019, to meet Marian at a tea room.

Their meeting is awkward, of course, and begins with his trip by train. Does he read? Did he bring a book. Always – he’s a publisher after all, and is always with a book at hand. She explains why she asked. Lonely old bachelors seem to always compliment her on her hat or dress or hair, and a book is a good defence for putting them off. Is Mr Sadler planning to compliment her?

“ ‘I hadn't planned on it,’ I said, smiling again. ‘I don't know much about ladies’ dresses or their hair or their hats’

She stared at me and I could see that she liked the remark, for her lips parted and she offered what might have been a distant relation of a smile; it was obvious that she was still deciding what to make of me.”

Tristan seems more uncomfortable than I expected him to be, because Boyne has presented chapters and scenes not in chronological order. So I had an idea of what I thought was the problem, and I imagine other readers will think the same. Needless to say, there was more to it. A whole lot more.

The first section is titled “Tombland – Norwich, 15-16 September 1919”, which is when the meeting above takes place. Tristan is alone and narrates the story. Although this is after the war, when he is alone, he often thinks back on his childhood or his army days, revealing bits of his early life or his time in the army.

The second is “We’re different, I think – Aldershot, April-June 2016”. It opens with Tristan on the train to Aldershot, headed for training and sitting next to an equally young man, Arthur Wolf. Wolf says none of them should be there and makes a crack about Tristan probably being anxious to sign up. Yes, he says he was anxious but had to wait until he turned eighteen.

Like many, I tend to think of men in the army, but these are really boys, aren’t they? Teenagers. Wolf spots Sergeant Clayton, who becomes a pivotal figure in their lives.

“ ‘Looks like he's the one in charge’, he says, nodding in the direction of the sergeant. ‘I need a word with him. Not that he's likely to listen to me, of course. But I'll have my say, I promise you that.’

‘Your say about what?’ I ask.

‘Take a look around you, Sadler,’ he replies. ‘Only a handful of these people will still be alive six months from now. What do you think of that?’

I don't think anything of it. What am I supposed to think? I know that men die—their numbers are reported in the newspapers every day. But they're just names, strings of letters printed together as news type. I don't know any of them. They don't mean much to me yet.

‘Take my advice,’ he says. ‘Follow my lead and get the hell out of here if you can.’”

Sergeant Clayton addresses them all, asking for names, and when he gets to Arthur Wolf, he stops, obviously familiar with the name. He accuses Wolf of being afraid to fight. Later he tells the men.

“ ‘I'm sure you're all proud to be here, men,’ he continues then, looking around and raising his voice, addressing the pack now. ‘But you're probably aware that there are some men of your generation who feel no obligation to defend their country. Objectors, they call themselves. Chaps who examine their conscience and find nothing there to satisfy the call of duty.’”

Men call out “disgrace … bloody coward … feather man”, a phrase that turns up throughout the book.

By the time they’ve finished their training, their numbers are down to nineteen.

In the trenches, they face the misery of cold rain, rat-infested mud, and collapsing trench walls.

“Now there are five or six of us all doing the same thing, piling the sandbags high, crying out for more before the whole bloody place collapses about us, and it feels like a fool's errand, but somehow it works and it is over and we forget that we have very nearly died today as we wait to die again tomorrow. The Germans use concrete; we use wood and sand.”

As we wait to die again tomorrow. Absolutely chilling.

“I tell myself that it is a Tuesday, although I have nothing to base that on. Naming the day offers some dull pretence of normality.”

Boyne’s descriptions of the horrifying conditions are memorable. What these men/boys faced in those filthy, sh*tty, trenches, going mad, being splattered to kingdom come whenever they had to go up top, is heart-breaking. Those who survived never really recovered.

Including Tristan Sadler. His is an amazing, unforgettable story.


P.S. There's a wonderful interview with the author at The Millions:
Interview with John Boyne about The Absolutist

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of Boyne’s, but an entirely decent read all the same. Lighter. Slower. More straightforward than his later titles, despite the timeline being made to play with. As well-written as ever, too, save for a conversation or two that gave me pause, including one that ran over several pages.

Not exactly a love story, however, contrary to what I thought. The gay aspects of this novel had drawn me to it – other than the author’s usual happy talent at storytelling, that is – but in the end I was left on my appetite. Tristan Sadler, our narrator, spends an entire lifetime obsessing over a quickie. This is not the most generous account I could give of this book, yet it’s the one impression that floats to the top.

When you think about it, giving a gay character a memory of a quickie for a love life isn’t the most generous thing to do, either. The war settings more than make up for the thin premise, seeing so little could be said about Tristan’s private fixation, but still.

When it comes to featuring gay relationships, I find I’m growing tired of the tortured souls / sex machines dichotomy found in literature. This title belongs in the tortured souls pile, obviously. I liked it enough but I’m ever so grateful for the author’s other publications that have followed since; if mistakes and doubts are going to provide gay characters a backstory, The Heart's Invisible Furies, for one, was a much stronger work, in my opinion.

[Erastes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was immediately drawn to the book because it’s partly set in my stamping ground of Norfolk. The protagonist Tristan is on his way to Norwich at the beginning to meet a mysterious someone or other which is nicely protracted until it needs to be revealed. There’s a irritating and lengthy section in his boarding house which achieved nothing other than to tell the reader “oh no, homosexuality is verboten in England” as if they wouldn’t know and “people don’t like it” which of course they know too. It all serves to hint that, “hello readers, Tristan might be a homosexual” which was a bit heavy handed.

I enjoyed the story being told–it’s told in two major time frames, that of Tristan in the present, in Norwich and what transpires there and because of that–and Tristan in the past, going through basic training at Aldershot and then shipping to France. It also dips into other flashbacks here and there. I found the tenses annoying, but that’s probably because–again–I thought it unnecessary and rather self-conscious for the author to have past tense in the present section and then present tense in the past section. It wasn’t confusing, it just struck me as “author being authory.” Personally, the more immediate time line would seem more natural to be present tense, but what do I know.

As for the book in general, it wasn’t mind-blowing. For the most part it read no better and no worse than most gay historicals that I read for this blog. The ARC I had from NetGalley didn’t have the author’s name on it so it wasn’t until I finished it that I sought out the publisher and then the author. Firstly I was gobsmacked that it was published by Doubleday and I thought “surely I would have heard if someone I knew had got such a prestigious publisher?” because I thought it must have been written by someone I knew, or knew of. It wasn’t until I went further that I found it was by Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

This did amuse me because I had judged the book without knowing that the author was famous. And frankly, you can’t tell. It’s had (I have since seen, as I don’t allow myself to look at reviews until after I’ve read a book) some amazing reviews but I wouldn’t call the book amazing. It’s a good read, absorbing, interesting etc, but for someone well-versed in gay historicals, you won’t find anything particularly new here, and if Doubleday are publishing this, then they certainly should be publishing Heidi Cullinan and Jessica Faraday, Alex Beecroft and many others, people who are writing fresher material. It’s not a bad story, it’s just nothing new.

The protagonists are all nicely bonkers, in as much as they deny their feelings left right and centre and act irrationally at every given opportunity but that’s simply par for the course, particularly for something set at this time and place. Although I do understand a desperate gay man’s desire for companionship, particularly in a world where this is hard to achieve, I found it difficult to believe in Tristan’s clinging loyal affection when Will is such a self-deluded nasty piece of work, using Tristan for his own selfish ends, and then not only dropping him but cutting him out of his life so completely.

There comes a point where you know that Tristan has lost faith in everything: the government, the war–all he knows exists is this particular moment of horror which leads on to the next one and I thought “yes! now he’ll tell Will to drop dead” but it never really happened.

Boyne writes very cinematically–which probably explains why his books are optioned by Hollywood–and the description and research is lightly done, but with just enough detail to anchor you entirely to a place. You see what the protagonist sees, you eat and drink what he does, and it’s not done in a “got to fill in four pages here, let’s have some tea” kind of way.

Some of the dialogue is annoyingly modern and deeply anachronistic e.g. “We were an item” and “teenager” which was quite jarring, and the characters all speak each others names all the time which an editor really should have lessened as people just don’t do that. There’s a smidge of overwriting here and there with conversations dragged out to the point when I shouted “oh for God’s sake, he’s told you that already!” One of these however is deliberate (I’m pretty sure, as Tristan denies his close friendship with Will three times to his superior officer and it rather smacked of Gethsemane and it was then I knew how the book was going to end.

The secondary flash back, which deals with Tristan’s first love, Peter, is rather confusing. We are introduced to Peter as being a very early childhood friend, and then to Sybil, the Yoko to their John and Paul, and it’s all a bit skated over–I don’t know if this is because this is a mainstream publisher, but this is the first indication that Tristan is homosexual and I was left thinking “what?” after I read it.

As my sixteenth birthday approached I grew more tormented. My feelings towards Peter had clarified themselves in my head by now—I recognized them for what they were—and they were only amplified by my inability to verbalize or act upon them. I would lie in bed at night, curled into a tight ball, half encouraging the most lurid fantasies to energize the dark hours, half desperate to dismiss them out of pure fear of what they implied.

Which is all very well, but this is literally the first time any feelings for Peter have been mentioned, in fact, Peter has not been introduced other than as “the reason Tristan left home.” We are told that they were friends from the cradle, and two pages later, we have this “I recognized them for what they were.” It would have been less rushed if we’d been allowed to see the affections changing from boyhood chums to love from Tristan’s perspective. This smacks rather of coding–if you weren’t aware of what he’s on about it’s possible you could misunderstand, although unlikely. It’s just that coded sexuality belongs to another century, not this one. Plus this boy is fifteen, I’d like to know what these feelings mean to him, but we aren’t shown that either. In a world where there would be nothing but negative implications to discover you were homosexual you’d think he’d be a bit more disturbed.

He’s not a Gary-Stu exactly, but I do think that the author has imbued him with a lot more maturity and knowledge than perhaps he would have had in real life. He was born in a flat in Chiswick and his father was a butcher. Therefore he couldn’t have gone to any really decent school, and he was forced to leave his school at sixteen anyway, so his education is woefully incomplete. He went to work on a builder’s site until he was 17 – so about a year. As the book begins he’s twenty but he thinks and speaks with the deep sophistication of a thirty year old Oxbridge graduate discussing morality and philosophy with all and sundry. He’s working for a publishers, who took him on after the war. This rather baffled me because where did he get the education for that?

It’s most definitely not a romance, and I’m afraid that the ending left me pretty cold. I didn’t even well up over it because although Tristan calls Will “his lover” there’s no way in earth anyone else but Tristan could have labelled him thusly. Tristan then eschews ALL human contact from then on, and lives 60 odd years all alone and martyred and frankly I wanted to bop him one on the nose.

I think that a gay historical these days can reflect more than self-loathing, and although what happened to Will was tragic (and I should stress that, as expected, the war sections are all tragic and horrible and well written) I found the whole “I’m gay and so I shall never touch another man for the rest of the my life” thing tired and trite. And rather last century.

But all in all–although it was nothing much to write home about, it kept me reading, and although I know it was pretty pointless, I wished Tristan well. But if I had known who it was by and who published it before I’d read it, I probably would have expected something a lot better, and not so old-fashioned in terms of dead, suffering gays.

[Justo Martiañez · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Estrellas

En la portada aparece un soldado extendiendo la mano, sobre la que parece que flota una pluma blanca.

Durante la primera Guerra Mundial, denominaban "plumas blancas" a aquellos que por motivos de conciencia, o por el motivo que fuera se negaban a participar en las acciones de guerra como soldados (soldados ingleses en este caso). De hecho, en Inglaterra se extendió un movimiento que entregaba una pluma blanca, como símbolo de cobardía, a aquellos hombres que no se alistaban. No cabe imaginar mayor acto de valentía, que el que acometían estas personas, porque no se libraban de ir a la guerra, si no que se enfrentaban, por sus principios, a una sociedad que veía morir cada día a miles de sus hijos en condiciones atroces y que no entendía que algunos de sus conciudadanos o compañeros se negaran a participar de tal carnicería.

Muchos de estos "plumas blancas" eran directamente fusilados o destinados a puestos de máximo riesgo, como el de camillero, encargados de recoger a los heridos en la tierra de nadie entre las trincheras y que caían como moscas bajo las balas de los francotiradores. Los más afortunados quizá fueran destinados a trabajar en granjas o fábricas, pero siempre bajo el estigma de la máxima cobardía y oprobio.

Este libro nos da otro enfoque de la vida del soldado durante la Gran Guerra. Ya no sólo de las terribles condiciones a las que se enfrentaron, de la locura de salir de las trincheras y avanzar a pecho descubierto, sabiendo que tu esperanza de vida se limita a lo sumo a unos pocos días, si no que nos introduce en el conocimiento de estos primeros "objetores" y además nos abisma en otro tema extremadamente duro, como es el tratamiento de la homosexualidad en la sociedad inglesa de la época. No es que estuviera mal visto, es que los homosexuales eran tratados de forma atroz, como auténticos monstruos.

Menudo cóctel, una sociedad retrógrada, destrozada y obsesionada con la guerra, trincheras, sentimientos difícilmente asumibles que surgen en las situaciones más complejas, hombres con principios que más parecen actos de locura, muerte y enajenación.

Bien escrito, quizá un poco simple en su planteamiento, con la única voz narrativa de Tristán Sadler. Ah Tristán ¿Cómo pudiste llegar a hacerlo? Del amor al odio hay un paso, dicen.

No me he atrevido con "El niño del pijama de rayas", quizá demasiado lacrimógeno para mi gusto, pero mi primer Boyle, ha merecido la pena.

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My third book by this author and each one has been so beautifully written. The kind of books you walk around with in your head for days after finishing them.

The Absolutist tells of the horrors of war and through Tristan, the main character, we learn how difficult it was to live as a homosexual in 1916. His relationship with Will, who is struggling with his beliefs and values in every area of his life, is tumultuous and ends in disaster.

And then after all the drama and death life just goes on. I loved the way the author delivered the final part of the book and as usual his ending was perfect. Who really was the worst "featherman"?

I am very glad to see that I still have a lot more books by John Boyne to read!

[Colin Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

Something petty: I was surprised and disappointed to read ‘Sir’ used to address a (training) sergeant in the opening chapters. I believe this was used previously in the American Marines for a non-commissioned officer, but surely not in the British Army during the First World War?
I was willing to overlook this but then it occurred again later in the novel, this time when addressing a corporal. What a shame because without this error I would have jumped to a 5-star rating.

Something admirable: I’m warming to John Boyne’s style and talent. In ‘The Absolutist’ he takes a fringe storyline - the horrors of WWI - and weaves this around a stronger human story with themes of guilt, fragility and atonement.
This author’s power also lies in his dialogues. They seem to fit the era and help progress the narrative.

Looking forward to my next John Boyne experience.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Absolutist by John Boyne was probably the most sobering account of the grim reality of war in the trenches of the Great War that I have read to date. While I have only recently become aware of the beauty of John Boyne's writing, since I have discovered this lovely Irish author, I am slowly making my way through his brilliant body of work.

The Absolutist begins with Tristin Sadler arriving in Norwich from his home in London to deliver a packet of letters to the sister of his wartime friend, Will Bancroft. In their unit of twenty young men, there is a "feather man," while conscientiously objecting to fighting, he is willing to carry a stretcher as contrasted to an absolutist, one who has chosen to have no part in the war effort at all. It should be noted that out of that group of twenty young men, only two survived.

This is a gripping tale unfolding as Tristan Sadler meets with Will's sister, Marian Bancroft. The narrative alternates with their time together and the times recalled by Sadler as we live the horror of their training at Aldershot and then their dispatch to France in the trenches as they fought the Germans. This is a book that unflinchingly deals with the realities of war as young men try to determine what their role should be as well as a coming-of-age story told as only Boyne can do. This was an unforgettable book.

"The caricature of me writing my books in the corner snugs of London saloons, the one that irritates me so and has caused me, in later life, to rise up, bristling and whinnying in interviews like an aggravated horse, is not,, in fact, a mistaken one. After all, the clamour of the crowded public house is infinitely more welcoming than the stillness of the empty home."

"Why did I come here? I wondered. What was I thinking? If it was redemption I sought, there was none to be found. If it was understanding, there was no one who could offer it. If it was forgiveness, I deserved none."

"My twin contradictory places of idleness: the public bar and the chapel. One so social and teeming with life, the other quiet and warning of death."

"I don't think I did survive it. I may not be buried in a French field but I linger there. My spirit does, anyway. I think I'm just breathing, that's all. And there's a difference between breathing and being alive."

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

My enjoyment of The Absolutist took me by surprise. I honestly wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. So much for preconceived notions.

The Absolutist is a war story, one that takes place during World War I, not one of my favorite subjects. But this one is so well written and poignant that it caught my attention immediately and kept me turning those pages, even when I couldn't bear the outcome. The opening scenes give us a glimpse of Tristan Sadler, a young war-weary soldier as he returns to London, trying to regain a normal life as he begins a job in publishing. Sadler has experienced some horrid things in his stint of duty in France. Many of his unit have not been as fortunate as he to make the journey home. One of these, his best friend Will Bancroft is a casualty, one that has a story quite different than others who share Sadler's muddy trenches. On arriving home, Sadler has letters that Will received from his sister Mary and Sadler feels compelled to return them to her. What at first seems a simple plan turns out to be so much more. The return of the letters is the vehicle in which we, the reader, learn the secrets and truth of Tristan and Will's friendship and leaves us with questions about this bound. Their story will stay with me. It's haunting, gut wrenching, tragic, and brought me to tears. I won't tell you more as I always feel it's better to allow you to discover for yourself.

There are some beautiful passages in this story of young men and war. I found myself highlighting many. In this scene Tristan is to be examined by a doctor in the medical tent. Tristan's description of the them is exquisite, packing a wallop and reminding us that these are just kids, plucked early from their carefree youth to fight this war.

"I look away embarrassed, but it doesn’t do much good, for everywhere I look the other members of my troop, those sitting on the beds at least, have also stripped down to the altogether, revealing a set of malformed, misshapen and startlingly unattractive bodies. These are young men of no less than eighteen and no more than twenty, and it surprises me that they are for the most part so undernourished and pale. Sparrow chests, thin bellies, loose buttocks are on display wherever I look, except for one or two chaps who are at the other end of the extreme, overweight and corpulent., thick flabs of fat hanging around their chests like breasts."

My sincere thanks go to Paul Kozlowski, Associate Publisher at Other Press for recommending this to me. I met Paul at The Books On the Nightstand Booktopia 2012 in Manchester, Vermont and asked him what he'd suggest I'd read from his house.

Absolutist, perfect title; not a word that I could define at the start, not a word I'll soon forget.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadness reverberates throughout the novel in Boyne's complex and flawed characters. The protagonist is Tristan Sadler, a 17 year old who lies about his age in order to join the Great War (WWI). The reader will learn that Tristan's father says it would be better for the family if a German soldier shoots Tristan. Absent the support of family, Tristan settles in to learn the art of war at Aldershot training camp. Sergeant James Clayton takes the responsibility of turning young men into soldiers seriously; however, it doesn't take long for the reader to realize that Clayton is a troubled man who abuses the power he has over the new recruits. Alliances are formed at Aldershot and Tristan is quickly drawn to Will Bancroft, son of a vicar. Another of the recruits is Wolf, who is a conscientious objector and is only waiting to hear from the tribunal before he can go home. Sergeant Clayton is very upset about Wolf's objection to the war and gives him a hard time throughout training. Conscientious objectors are also known as 'feather men' in the novel. The novel revolves about the idea of principles, who has them, who doesn't, what it means to have them, and what it means to not have them. Boyne's uses wonderful foreshadowing, pulling the reader into the mysteries of Tristan. Will is portrayed as being a young man of principles. He listens to Wolf's objections to the war and although Will doesn't entirely agree with them, he supports Wolf's right to his own opinion. Tristan doesn't like Wolf, but this seems to be mostly because he interfers with his friendship with Will. Tristan also quickly realizes that Wolf will have a hard time at Aldershot and wants to distance himself from problems. By the time Will and Tristan go off to war, the reader has learned a great deal more about Tristan's secrets and the friendship between the two young men has become something else. Boyne's creates a realistic war scene. Sergeant Clayton is there too, still in charge of the young men and on a downward spiraling path. Tristan counts off the names of his compatriots from Aldershot as they die. They started as twenty, but their numbers soon decline. Everything leads to another climatic event that involves Tristan and Will in which principles will come into play, and the two men will make very different choices. Boyne's doesn't paint black and white scenes. His characters are full of shades of gray, and more loved because of that. I wished for Tristan to be able to find peace and happiness in his life as well as I was appalled by his one horrific action, even though I understood it.

[☮Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

There isn't a lot I can say about this beautiful book that hasn't already been said. A WW1 setting, a 17 yr old homosexual, Tristan, who joined up because his parents no longer wanted him in their lives, and from there the real drama begins as he falls for his bunkmate. Told in flashbacks a few years later, Tristan meets with his buddy's sister to discuss the truth about what happened, what happens, during wartime. What is said can apply to every war, as there are always going to be men who heroically follow orders and win the battles, and men who don't wish to be forced into firing a weapon and are said to be cowardous or treasonous. The damage that wars cause to such young men isn't always obvious until years later.

John Boyne gives one so much to think about, and that's always a good thing.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book by chance. I picked it up and while reading the inside cover, I realized that the author, John Boyne, is also the author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.... a book, which although seems controversial from reviewers' points of view, was one I really loved. This story takes place during the Great War and the time immediately after the war ends. War veteran Tristan Sadler, who is 20 years old in the fall of 1919, takes a train from his home in London to Norwich to deliver a package to the sister of a soldier he fought beside in northern France. The package Tristan is delivering is a collection of letters written to Will Bancroft from his sister Marian during the war; but as we come to learn , this trip is much more than just a courtesy call. Tristan is burdened with a secret... a terrible secret he has been carrying along with tremendous guilt over the part he played in Will's death.

This story is told alternately through Tristan's recollections of the past and events occurring in present time. Through Tristan's memories, we learn that he met Will on the train to their basic training in Aldershot and the two immediately struck up a friendship. Although they were from different backgrounds and led very different lives, they developed an instant camaraderie ; but honestly, there was much more under the surface of their friendship.. much that was hinted at, even if not explicitly presented. There was an attraction between the two and the intensity of that attraction between Tristan and Will is ultimately at the heart of what happens to them.

On one level. The Absolutist is a war story.... complete with the elements found in every war story.... uncomfortable and even intolerable physical challenges and discomfort, inadequate supplies, demoralization of the men fighting and the inevitable struggle to maintain some sense of what they are actually fighting FOR. But on another level, this is simply the story of two young men and their very important struggle to come to terms with their identities on a very basic level. With Tristan, we get the sense that he has accepted his sexual identity but struggles with what it will mean for his life in the future. With Will... well, it is much less clear... on the one hand, Will seems to be in denial of his sexual identity and yet on the other hand, he seems, at times, eager to explore the feelings he has for Tristan. The conflict Will experiences, although perhaps not intentional, sends Tristan on an emotional roller coaster... happiness one second and in the depths of despair and confusion the next.

In addition to experiencing confusion over his sexual identity, Will also struggles with another moral dilemma... a dilemma over continuing to fight in the war. Will has come to the decision that he can no longer morally support the war and the killing of other human beings... he lays down his weapons and refuses to fight... knowing that this action will be viewed as treason and he will most likely be executed. There is one final scene which plays out between Tristan and Will and the events which unfold will lead not only to Will's death ... but also to the grief and guilt which leave Tristan unable to find peace.It is this story which is at the heart of Tristan's visit to Marian... he wishes to share his guilt with her. What is never really clear to me is what he expects to receive from Marian... is it her understanding? Compassion? Forgiveness?Perhaps her anger? Or is it that he hopes to gain a better understanding of Will from the sister who was so close to him? Perhaps in the end, it was all of those things and maybe a desire to reassure Marian that her brother , in the end, had not displayed cowardice ..... but instead courage.

To see how it all turns out, you will have to read the book. Of course, I found this story to be a profoundly sad one. It is tragic, indeed, when people are not accepted for or allowed to be who they are. And I find that the real irony in having Tristan and Will's story play out against the backdrop of war is that wars are so often proclaimed to be fought over freedom and yet.... the very individuals in this story engaged in battle are not, themselves, truly free.

To me, this was a coming-of-age story.. albeit one which played out against the backdrop of World War I. It raised some serious moral questions to be contemplated. This was a very compelling story and one which I highly recommend.