The Maze Book

Panos Karnezis' The Maze is a moving and engaging novel of warmth and humour. Set in Anatolia in 1922, a Greek expedition, lost in the desert, bickers among itself and blunders forwards toward the coast. Brigadier Nestor is as addicted to morphia as he is to Greek myths; Father Simeon is as disappointed in himself as he is passionately sincere in his religion; and the Bolshevik Major Porfirio, who has failed in his attempt to win any men to his cause, save for his colonel, are each wonderful creations. Lying in the recent memory of all these men is a massacre of Turkish civilians carried out by the brigade, which weighs on them heavily. Coming across a town the brigade settles in for a few days. Here Nestor can investigate fully the recent thefts that have plagued him and try to work out who is behind the communist propaganda circulating the camp. As readers we are given the opportunity to meet, among others, Mr Othon, the schoolmaster, the foolish Mayor and his fiancé, the town's beautiful and exotic prostitute Madame Violetta, her maid Annina and her lover Yusuf the gardener. Karnezis keeps the tone light throughout--one cannot help but be reminded of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Particularly at the beginning he overwrites: the sentences are too fussy and there are too many similes. But the book soon finds its true rhythm and while the story never offers quite enough substance, it is an enjoyable read and one that recommends Karnezis as a skilled writer. --Mark ThwaiteRead More