The Maze

Panos Karnezis’ debut novel, The Maze, is an anti-war fable that takes us through hopelessness and hope, discipline and disillusionment, rivalry and repentance to prove, once again, that war changes our lives.

The Maze is about a lost brigade of Greek soldiers on their retreat from losing the war against the Turks in 1922. The place is Anatolia, just before the Turks gained their Independence. The Greek brigade is trying to find its way to the coast in order to join other expeditionary forces and return home.

The novel is in three parts. In the first, The Retreat, Karnezis describes the low morale of the soldiers, made worse by the weather (hot and dry during the day, cold at night, sudden torrential rain now and then), a series of unexplained thefts, evidence of Communist propaganda material, and the memory of a massacre of Turkish civilians.

Karnezis etches the characters well. The old Brigadier: in love with his dead wife and Greek myths, addicted to morphine, disturbed by the recent thefts and the Communist propaganda. The self-righteous Major, his Chief of Staff: a decorated soldier who has lost faith in the war and in imperialism; who believes a change is coming over Europe, brought upon by Communism.

The Corporal: the Major’s only comrade in the army who believes that the letters he receives are from a beautiful woman in love with him – when they are actually disguised propaganda from the Communist Party.

The Medic: saddened by the futility of war, believes his purpose is to serve humanity, regardless of race or religion. The Padre: troubled by the fact that no one attends Church or goes to confession; roams the army camp aimlessly looking for his flock, clutching his tattered copy of the Bible, followed by his mangy dog.

There’s an injured pilot, an orderly, and a cook. Everyone has a story to tell, even the dog, but Karnezis keeps their tales short. When this dusty brigade chances upon a town untouched by war, it decides to camp there for a couple of days in order to rest, recuperate and reinforce supplies for its onward journey to the coast.

In the second part of the novel, The Town, Karnezis adds colour to his narrative through a bunch of lively townspeople: the schoolmaster, the mayor, the grocer, the Madame, the Madame’s maid, and the maid’s Arab hunchbacked lover – the gardener. There’s even an ambitious journalist waiting for a big score.

Although the townspeople with their simple ways add a wonderful touch to the narrative, they remain incidental to the main story of the lost brigade. Yet, the town is where The Maze comes to its climax. For, unknown to everyone, the army’s temporary occupation of the town, and the incidents that follow soon after, changes everyone’s lives.

The third part of the novel, The Sea, is short, but it completes the novel and the brigade’s journey. At this point, however, Karnezis takes a literary leap and introduces a metaphor (an ominous red dust settling over the town), and adds a fable-like dimension to the story, taking it to its inevitable end. The task is, perhaps, a little ambitious for a debut novelist, but Karnezis seems to pull it off rather well.

The Maze is, undoubtedly, a book worth reading.