Frank Barnard

"If we're doing so bloody well why do we keep falling back?"

Blue Man Falling kicks off in May 1940 just as the "phoney war" (the period between the declaration of war and the start of real hostilities) in Europe is coming to an end and Hitler is about to launch his Blitzkreig against the countries bordering the Channel. The plot is based upon a fictional squadron of British Hurricanes based in France striving to thwart the German advance and in particular the Luftwaffe's goal of achieving total aerial supremacy. The novel centres around two pilots, one an Englishman, the other American and focuses on their conflicting attitudes to the conflict. Barnard avoids using factual people and events preferring instead a more general sequence of events and dates to construct an entirely fictional plot.

The book is split into four parts. The second of which takes the time-line back eight months and into the `phoney war' when Allied pilots were able to leave their bases one day to head to the bright lights of Paris to enjoy the comforts of plush hotels, taking in the sights and sipping expensive champagne before returning to patrol the skies in the hope of engaging enemy aircraft the next. This provides the book with sub-plot and adds about 80 pages.

Personally I found this a book of contrasts, it has some strengths but also weaknesses. The author’s depictions the pilots daily lives and the local populace's desperate plight as France fell are particularly engaging, whilst the air-to-air combat sequences were suitably breathless. Each were genuinely well written. However, IMHO the characterisation was poor. I found the the two main characters two-dimensional and worse of all predictable and stereotypical. On one side you had the the standard upper-class British pilot who believed in honour between combatants whilst on the other you had an American who prefers to stay as an NCO and rides rough-shod over authority deriding the British class-system.

Secondly, the sub-plot, with its echoes of The Talented Mr Ripley, adds nothing to the book. It reads and feels more like an after-thought as the author attempted to broaden both the appeal of the book and consequently it's readership.

Overall I enjoyed the book and there are glimpses of real inspiration but it most definitely falls into the category of holiday read rather WWII heavyweight.… (meer)