21st Century Literature discussion

This thread is for discussing Part One of this month's moderator pick, An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris. Feel free to add any comments or questions about this section, though please refrain from giving away spoilers for Part Two.

What do you think of the book so far? Are you finding Harris' historical retelling successful? What do you think of Harris' choice to tell the story through Picquart's eyes?

So, I started reading about a week ago and am nearing the end of Part 1. I'm finding this a very gripping read and I have become quite interested in the Dreyfuss affair as a result, so I'm watching some videos and documentaries alongside while reading. I'm finding Harris' storytelling pretty gripping, as we can see how Picquart is becoming more and more internally conflicted while being disturbed at the corruption from within. Looking forward to Part 2.

I would be interested in reading a nonfiction version of this story at some point. In the WSJ article I posted in the no spoilers thread, Harris said he had a hard time making sense of the Dreyfus Affair because he began reading far too much into it until he landed on Georges Picquart and decided to tell the story through his eyes. Since this is my second read, it's interesting picking up on the small things here and there at the beginning - where Picquart goes from fully believing in the authority of the army and Dreyfus' guilt to not knowing who to trust or what to believe.

Yes, Caroline, I agree about the nonfiction version. I keep having to check myself that this is a fictional account of the events and not the real thing. As I mentioned, I'm watching a documentary alongside, but careful not to get too far along to spoil Part 2.