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Nuremberg: The Reckoning by William F. Buckley, Jr. Rating: •• (Mildly Recommended)
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Yawn Turning the last page of William F. Buckley’s new novel, Nuremberg: The Reckoning, I had the sensation that Buckley had written the last page at the end of a long night’s writing at the end of a vacation. Throughout the book, Buckley’s skills are rarely tested as he presents the factual historical information about the Nuremberg trials alongside a family he invented to move the plot along. The combination is neither good history nor good fiction. Many readers of Father Andrew Greeley’s novels have guffawed at the sex scenes he adds to every book, clearly not the voice of experience. Buckley comes across with similar ineptitude. I laughed out loud at this scene from Nuremberg: “He scarcely took notice of decorations. He kissed her as soon as the door closed behind them. ‘You are the best thing that’s happened to me since I was – the best thing ever.’ He ran his fingers down to her breasts. They kissed again and Teresa panted, and between kisses said, ‘I’ve never done this since my husband – ‘ Harry said, ‘It’s time to make peace.’ She led him into Sergeant Red’s room and went into the bathroom, closing the door. Harry’s excitement brought a craving to mind and body. He took off his shirt and pants, and lay down on the bed. He looked up at the bed lamp. He’d get a dimmer for that. She came close to him in a coarse bathrobe. He eased her out of it, tenderly but firmly, put her down on the bed, and kissed her under him, avidly, hungrily, and soon reached down to make his pleasure whole, delirious, endless, it seemed.” With more time and attention to this book, Buckley might have presented something new or different about the war criminals, the trial, or what we have learned, or could learn, from people with values the same or different from our own. Instead, Buckley presents a story familiar to many readers, with some added interest, but little depth. Steve Hopkins, June 1, 2002
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