A review of Violets for Sergeant Schiller by Chris Helvey

Chris Helvey’s excellent and moving historical novel, Violets for Sergeant Schiller, is a fast-paced story full of drama and adventure about WWI told from the point of view of a young German soldier, who is also  a poet. 

The book is reminiscent of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet On The Western Front (1928), sometimes acclaimed as the greatest war novel of all time. That’s a bit like being compared to Shakespeare perhaps, but both books do describe the horror and suffering of German soldiers, their enemies, and civilians during the “war to end all wars,” including how the survivors’ lives are forever changed.

Readers may wonder why an American writer like Helvey, a Spalding U. MFA grad, would choose such a daunting and seemingly unlikely topic—the bloody trench warfare in Europe that ended over a century ago—for his fifth novel. Perhaps it was the challenge of humanizing the enemy soldier, or the need to remind us of the staggering destructiveness of a war that produced some forty million military and civilian casualties.

In any case, Helvey does both quite well. It is an earnestly told tale, occasionally leavened by protagonist Karl Schiller’s ironic humor about war’s absurdity, and also by a few lines of his moving poetry.

The story begins with the introduction of  the popular poet who is in Paris at the war’s outbreak. Schiller soon finds himself in the Kaiser’s army and thrust into battle at the front. Hardly a stereotypical bloodthirsty Hun, he is rather an idealistic soul with a strong sense of duty who becomes deeply scarred by the death and destruction he faces continuously. Gradually, he becomes aware that he is no longer the man he was at war's outset.

The novel gains momentum—along with Schiller’s transformation—with the German army’s headlong rush through Belgium. Cut off from his unit and seeking shelter for the night, Karl discovers a likely looking barn. Concealed inside it is a frightened, angry widow named Sanne, who is hiding from the marauding Germans ransacking her farm and the entire countryside. The tense romantic scene that follows could easily have become farcical, but it does not, a tribute to the writer's skill.

For the rest of the novel, Schiller thinks about Sanne and the unlikely prospect of someday returning to her. She might not even want him, he thinks, but that hope keeps him going through his darkest moments.

As they advance swiftly, the German soldiers are confident—overconfident, as it turns out–that it will all be over soon with the capture of Paris, which will knock France out of the war. Of course, that does not happen. Instead, the advance stalls and the soldiers wind up in horrible trenches for months. Schiller’s companions—including his three brothers—are wounded or killed until he is among the few remaining “originals” still fighting.

Eventually wounded, Schiller is hospitalized. He mends, only to return to combat once more. He dodges artillery blasts and machine gun enfilades, occasionally engaging bravely in fierce hand-to-hand combat—all of it rendered with admirable realistic detail and tautness. The fighting goes on and on until the by now combat-hardened veteran sergeant is captured by the British. Freed by fortune, however, he decides it is time to make a separate peace.

Schiller attempts to return from France to Belgium and Sanne, if she is still alive and will have him. His long flight from battle is both suspenseful and grueling. Along the way, his encounters with the enemy demonstrate their mutual humanity and prove the futility of their undertaking. All this feels completely genuine and ends with a release of emotion that is deeply affecting.

Violets for Sergeant Schiller is a triumph for Helvey, who has also published two short story collections and edits Trajectory Journal. 

Published by Wings ePress, Newton, Kansas, 2020, www.wingsepress.com

Chris Helvey's short stories have been published by numerous reviews and journals, and he is the author of the novels Yard Man and Dancing on the Rim, Snapshot, and Whose Name I Did Not Know, plus the short story collections One More found and Claw Hammer.

Long Overdue Appreciation of Kentucky Writer Walter Tevis

If you’ve been enjoying “The Queen’s Gambit” on Netflix, you may be interested in knowing where it came from. The answer is the 1983 novel written by a now mostly forgotten until recently Kentucky author named Walter Tevis, whose books were the source for three other well-known movies, as well.

 

Tevis’ life mirrored that of his chess prodigy in many ways. Like his character Beth Harmon, the incredibly talented child was abandoned and became addicted to phenobarbital at the orphanage, where he also learned to play chess. Later, he developed a similar obsessive interest in pool and became a wildly out of control alcoholic.

 

While living in Lexington as a young man, Tevis took a writing course at UK from Pulitzer Prize winning–novelist A.B. Guthrie Jr. A short story he wrote as a class assignment, “The Best in the Country,” was bought by Esquire magazine. In 1959, the novel version was published as The Hustler.

 

In 1963, Tevis, who felt like an alien himself in Lexington, published The Man Who Fell to Earth, a science-fiction novel about an alien who winds up in Kentucky. For a time, his short stories were much in demand. But many years of drunken failure ensued. In 1984, he followed The Queen’s Gambit with The Color of Money, a sequel to The Hustler. Tevis died shortly afterward from lung cancer at age 56. Two years ago, he was finally inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.

 

According to David Hill, writing this month in The Ringer, “The pool player Rudolf Wanderone, who was known in the world of pool as New York Fats, famously changed his name to Minnesota Fats and convinced the world that he was the inspiration for the Minnesota Fats character in the book, despite the fact that Tevis invented Minnesota Fats from whole cloth. “A lot of people ask me, ‘When did you first meet Minnesota Fats?’ And I feel like Walt Disney being asked, ‘When did you meet Donald Duck?’” https://www.theringer.com/tv/2020/11/9/21555790/the-queens-gambit-netflix-book-walter-tevis

100 Words: Speed Bump is the smartest comic of all

Creator Dave Coverly’s one-panel comic strip is the most brilliant ever at portraying life’s absurdity: 1) One wolf with cell phone to another: “You can save a lot of huffing and puffing if you hack into the pig’s security system.” 2) Chipmunk to birds and bees conversing in next diner booth: “Hey, we got kids here. Do you mind talking about something a little more appropriate?” 3) Two bewigged gentlemen in 18^th century coffee house studying scrolls: “Sure, WE hold these truths to be self-evident, but we’re, like, really smart.” That’s how Speed Bump makes me feel, too.

100 Words: Garfield’s creator knew what he was up to

Perhaps cat lovers enjoy Garfield because the strip mirrors their own cats’ aloofness and misbehavior. But portraying social awkwardness, gluttony, and cat-worship does not seem like cutting-edge commentary. Maybe it is, though. Garfield is a cat who craves lasagna all the time and develops a rebellious streak against societal rules. Sound like anyone familiar? In 1982, Garfield’s creator Jim Davis admitted that the strip was a conscious effort to create a good, marketable character. “Snoopy is very popular in licensing. Charlie Brown is not.” Davis, now 75, has a net worth of $800 million. I’d argue that was no accident.

100 Words: Analyzing Garfield’s Appeal

I asked readers to analyze the enduring popularity of cartoonist Jim Davis’ Garfield. If you did, thanks. I appreciate it. I know why I read Pearls, Dilbert, Speed Bump, and Peanuts. But Garfield? “We live in a time when we feel guilty about not exercising and over-sleeping and over-eating, but Garfield’s cool with that. I think that is what people really appreciate about him,” Davis told the Washington Post. A Thai researcher who analyzed 624 “Garfield” strips found that the two most frequently occurring themes were 1) Jon’s silly ideas or actions when dealing with women and 2) Garfield’s gluttony.

100 Words: Here’s what happens when you have too much time on your hands

I analyzed “Garfield,” Jim Davis’ comic strip created in 1978. Why analyze it? See headline. Also, curiosity. For that matter, why read comics at all? Maybe because I crave narrative. And a picture truly is worth a thousand words. Comics provide easy entertainment value and sometimes insight. But Garfield? In my research, I discovered the strip, which is syndicated in over 2500 newspapers, makes an estimated $750 million to $1 billion annually on merchandise. What do you think makes Garfield so popular after all these years? Tell me and then I’ll give you the right answer. (Just getting into character.)

100 Words: Comic commiseration for rejected writers

I love re-reading Peanuts, a comic strip that I liked as a child but got away from as I “matured.” Now I see its wisdom more clearly. A favorite is the one where Snoopy, who fancies himself an author, gets a rejection slip in his mailbox: “Dear Contributor, We are returning your stupid story. You are a terrible writer. Why do you bother us? We wouldn’t buy one of your stories if you paid us. Leave us alone. Drop dead. Get lost.” Lying on his doghouse, Snoopy thinks, “Probably a form rejection slip.” A real writer most certainly wrote that.

100 Words: Two reasons for hope

One-The only way to return to normalcy is by providing a vaccine to protect against the coronavirus. We are about a third of the way there, according to a USA Today vaccine panel designed to offer readers an objective, nonpartisan understanding. ‘The brightest minds in the world are in this fight, and they are moving with an incredible sense of urgency.” Two: a recent newspaper poll finds that most Americans support reforming law enforcement to reduce police brutality against African Americans. Favored reforms include weeding out bad cops, focus policing on serious and violent crimes, and stop buying military gear.

100 Words: Self-aware comic strips

I love newspaper comic strips. I especially adore the “meta” approach sometimes found in Pearls Before Swine. (Meta, of course, is when something refers back to or is about itself, like a book about books. It's seeing the thing from a higher perspective, like being enjoyably self-aware.) In one recent Pearls strip, Neighbor Bob buries his face in his hands. Sob Sob Sob appears above him. Rat says, “Hey, Neighbor Bob. Are you crying or calling someone a you-know-what?” “Crying,” Bob says. “So hard to tell in comic strips,” Rat comments. This kind of whimsical absurdity transcends the comics.

100 Words: Which newspaper comic strips do you like and why?

I love newspaper comic strips. My tastes have changed over the years along with the strips featured. Pearls Before Swine, Dilbert, and Speed Bump all offer wise philosophical commentary disguised as silliness, of course. In a recent strip, Dilbert says, “I can’t tell the difference between good ideas and bad ones. There are smart people on both sides of every idea. What rational process do you use to determine who is right?” To which cynical lay about Wally replies, “I label the people who disagree with me ‘idiots’ and call it a day.” Who doesn’t do that? Guilty as charged.

Another 141 Words on Breonna Taylor’s death and what can be done to keep this from happening again

I must hasten to add that in praising the Metro Council’s revolutionary proposed police budget that I am in no way suggesting that it could ever make up for Breonna Taylor’s appalling murder by LMPD. No innocent person should ever have to die because of police violence. Like all decent human beings, I wish it had never happened and I grieve for her loved ones and oppressed people, especially African Americans. But at least now it seems possible that Breonna’s death may have a transformative effect on her city. The revolutionary police budget proposal unveiled today, according to Councilman Pat Mulvihill, is a “paradigm shift,” that would prioritize recruiting a diverse police force that lives in the community and training on using force, de-escalation and implicit bias. If this happens, perhaps such future tragedies can be averted. I fervently hope so.

248 Words: Praising Louisville’s revolutionary police budget proposal

You would never know it from today’s CJ headline—"Metro Council unwilling to defund police department”—but I believe the council’s proposed police budget is about to revolutionize justice in this community and turn Louisville into an international model for sound policing. Yes, you read that right. Of course, the devil is always in the details. But if you read the details in this story, this conclusion is inescapable. In my opinion, what the council wants to do is incredible, taking the most positive step in our city’s checkered history of criminal injustice. According to the newspaper, “state and federal forfeiture funds would go toward police recruitment, training and exploration of co-responders, like behavioral health specialists, over equipment. It also proposes setting aside more than $750,000 for a civilian oversight system, an independent body to investigate the police department.” It doesn’t end there. “Rather than using the dollars on police equipment or other law enforcement purposes, it would send the roughly $1.2 million to explore ‘deflection,’ the idea of moving people away from the criminal justice system and toward a behavioral health model, which could include assigning co-responders with police. That might look, for instance, like a case manager assigned to respond with police to help people get connected to treatment, housing or other services.” If adopted and implemented faithfully and fully, policing in Louisville will be changed forever for the better. I have never felt prouder or more hopeful of our local leadership than is this moment.