 | A WRITER'S WIT |  P. Carlson |
MY BOOK WORLD
Wescott, Glenway. Apartment in Athens. New York: Harper, 1945.
During the latter part of World War II, Germans occupy Athens, and a Nazi officer is “assigned” to live with a couple and their two children. The officer expropriates the couple’s bedroom, and they must sleep on cots in the kitchen. His every wish is their command, so to speak. Life becomes unbearable, but at one point the officer must go to Germany. When he returns to Greece, he is a changed man. Spoiler alert: his wife and two grown sons have both been killed. Though still gruff, the Nazi is softened a bit. The father is drawn into a conversation with the Nazi, and the father says something that the officer deems traitorous. He is sent off to prison where he is killed. Mired in his misery, the Nazi commits suicide, and the mother thinks there will now be peace in their apartment. But she is soon disabused of such an idea when she is falsely accused of murdering the German. Even though that situation is resolved in her favor, she then sacrifices her young son to the underground. This book was a $4 find in a used bookstore, the owners not realizing this has rare book status with the Library of Congress!
Up Next:
TUES: A Writer's Wit | Sarah Orne Jewett
WEDS: A Writer's Wit | Richard Wright
THURS: A Writer's Wit | John Cage
FRI: My Book World | Lawrence Wright, God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State
During the latter part of World War II, Germans occupy Athens, and a Nazi officer is “assigned” to live with a couple and their two children. The officer expropriates the couple’s bedroom, and they must sleep on cots in the kitchen. His every wish is their command, so to speak. Life becomes unbearable, but at one point the officer must go to Germany. When he returns to Greece, he is a changed man. Spoiler alert: his wife and two grown sons have both been killed. Though still gruff, the Nazi is softened a bit. The father is drawn into a conversation with the Nazi, and the father says something that the officer deems traitorous. He is sent off to prison where he is killed. Mired in his misery, the Nazi commits suicide, and the mother thinks there will now be peace in their apartment. But she is soon disabused of such an idea when she is falsely accused of murdering the German. Even though that situation is resolved in her favor, she then sacrifices her young son to the underground. This book was a $4 find in a used bookstore, the owners not realizing this has rare book status with the Library of Congress!
Up Next:
TUES: A Writer's Wit | Sarah Orne Jewett
WEDS: A Writer's Wit | Richard Wright
THURS: A Writer's Wit | John Cage
FRI: My Book World | Lawrence Wright, God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State
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