Davin returns to the war

Press, 14 March 1987, Page 23

Davin returns to the war

The Salamander and the Fire: Collected War Stories. By Dan Davin. Oxford U.P., 1986. 208 pp. $21.95 (Reviewed by Owen Marshall) That the traumatic experiences of the Second World War became the focus of Dan Davin’s muse, has long been obvious in his writing. Many of his works have settings and themes drawn from his army years. Given the heightened perception caused by the absolutes of a soldier’s life, this is neither surprising nor artistically a weakness. What is perhaps unusual is the extent to which this aspect of his experience has continued to dominate his recent fiction. Five of the stories in this volume have been written since 1980, more than 35 years after the end of the war. This comment is not intended as a criticism, for the contemporary nature of a story’s source is no guarantee of merit, or even relevance, but it is surprising that more recent facets of Davin’s full life have apparently not provided the inspiration for groups of successful stories. Davin’s Oxford life for example, or the business world of publishing. Davin himself recognises his impulse to return to his experience of war as a rich source for his writing — "The war was going to recur in my writing as an almost obsessive theme.”

It seems that there are two intentions at work in Davin’s motivation for these stories. The first is Davin’s resolve as a writer of creative fiction to depict "something of the terror, squalor and nobility, something of the weakness a(id fortitude of humanity in extremis,” he writes in his introduction. The second intention is that of the trained historian: accurately to record and explain events. Usually these two aspects are In harmony, the observed “actuality" bf the New Zealand soldier at war assisting in authenticating the attitudes and themes arising from it. JUst occasionally Davin’s predilection for»a military briefing weighs on a story jbo heavily that the themes are in danger of being overpowered. The story “North of the Sangro” is an example. The over-all standard is an excellent one however, with stories such ps “Under the Bridge’ and “Psychological Warfare at Cassino” well known from previous publication. » “The Salamander And The Fire”’is compact and attractively presented, although my review copy had at least eight blank pages in the midst bf various stories; not I assume as some sort of reviewers’ test. The Anthony Stones cover illustration and superimposed title are strikingly effective.