USCA distinguished writers series launches its 2008-2009 season 10/16/2008 5:00 PM
By DR. TOM MACK Columnist
In the winter of 1944, American military forces were making slow and perilous progress up the Italian peninsula. Italy had surrendered, but the Germans were putting up a fierce resistance in the homeland of their former allies. Set during the difficult Monte Cassino campaign in World War II, Richard Bausch's new novel, ironically entitled "Peace," traces the collective fate of three American soldiers as they set out on a mission to scout the terrain ahead of the main force, led only by an elderly Italian civilian, who has been pressed into service and whose loyalties are in doubt.
The dangers that these three men face in Bausch's 11th critically acclaimed novel are both external and internal. The hill that they set out to climb turns out to be a mountain; the weather conditions shift from freezing rain to snow; a sniper lies in wait. Complicating their desperate struggle against the elements and an unknown antagonist are the men's personal histories - the author provides insight into the hopes, dreams and doubts of all three GIs but especially the introspective, former star athlete and leader of the group, Robert Marson.
Marson shares the desperate fatigue of his companions, both physical and emotional. "They went on anyway, putting one foot in front of the other, holding their carbines barrel down to keep the water out, trying, in their misery and confusion - and their exhaustion - to remain watchful" reads the first line of the book, and the reader, too, is drawn along with the characters on their seemingly relentless march into the unknown.
The novel packs a lot of punch in its 171 pages; indeed, some critics have asserted that in its taut style, the novel resembles a fleshed-out version of one of the short stories for which Bausch is justly famous. The best of these tales to date were published in a definitive collection in 2003. Of the principal characters in the 42 tales collected in "The Stories of Richard Bausch," the author admits that he tries to bring them to life by trying to inhabit their "whole physical being and whole history, even if he does not, in the end, put all of it in." This verisimilitude makes Bausch's characters so believable and their predicaments so compelling, as in the story "Valor," wherein the main character saves people from a bus accident but cannot save his own marriage, or in "The Last Day of Summer," wherein a teenager is propelled prematurely into adulthood when his mother becomes ill.
This strategy also undoubtedly served the author well in developing the characters in "Peace," a work that Bausch has dedicated to his father, "who served bravely in Africa, Sicily and Italy." To write convincing fiction, the author asserts, "You put people into a context involving the struggles that life presents us with, and you try to be faithful to how your subconscious tell you they react to those struggles."
Aikenites have a rare chance to experience how Bausch manages to capture on the printed page the felt life of his characters when he visits USC Aiken next week as a featured guest in the Oswald Distinguished Writers Series. On the main stage of USCA's Etherredge Center at 8 p.m. on Oct. 21, Bausch will talk about and read from his work in a one-hour presentation, which is free and for which no tickets are required.
At the conclusion of the reading, the author will sign copies of his new novel, "Peace," as well as copies of two of his short-story collections. Proceeds from the sale of those books that night will benefit the English Honor Society Scholarship Endowment, which provides financial support to students majoring in English at USCA. Purchases can be made only by check or cash.
The 2008-2009 Oswald Distinguished Writers Series continues on Feb. 3 with a public reading by Jill McCorkle. A North Carolina native who has established herself as a significant voice in contemporary American literature, McCorkle is the author of five novels and three short-story collections to date. Five of these volumes were listed as "New York Times Notable Books of the Year." Of her work, McCorkle has said, "I look for humor, and sure enough, it can always be found - sometimes in the most serious of moments."
For more information on the series, visit www.usca.edu/english/oswaldseries.asp.
Dr. Mack is a Carolina Trustee Professor at the University of South Carolina Aiken.
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