Aug 15 2009

Goshawk Squadron

Published by Dougal at 6:33 pm under Books, Reviews

I’ve just come to the end of Derek Robinson’s Goshawk Squadron, a sort of Catch 22 for First World War pilots in the Royal Flying Corps.

It’s a short book that drops the reader straight into the scene: an airfield in France, some miles behind the Western Front; unreliable planes; barely-trained pilots; jolly good chaps. It’s about well-educated English fellows who like cricket and wanted to do medicine and couldn’t dream of shooting someone in the back or taking part in something that’s not a fair fight. (Think Lieutenant George from Blackadder.) And how these men learn that war isn’t a fair fight and die regardless.

It’s not a harrowing book. There is no great trauma or emotional knife that gets twisted inside you. The characters drift through the book in a surreal manner very similar to the action of Catch 22. But slowly the force of the story picks you up and carries you aloft. So the inevitable fall at the end still leaves you a bit winded. It’s a completely compelling book. I’ve had trouble putting it down lately. Now it’s done and I don’t really want to read anything else until I’ve recovered a bit.

2 responses so far

2 Responses to “Goshawk Squadron”

  1. # Kenon 16 Aug 2009 at 4:23 pm

    another one for the Ken pile, please

  2. # Dougalon 17 Aug 2009 at 9:49 am

    I’m afraid this is another one from the book group, though I’ll see if I can get an extension. It depends how fast you’re getting through books at the moment. (Quicksilver is not a slim book…)