cover image Triage

Triage

Scott Anderson. Scribner Book Company, $23 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-684-84695-8

Journalist Anderson (The 4 O'Clock Murders) explores the difficulties of redemption in his austere, moving first novel, the story of a war photographer's recovery from a mind-altering head injury. Five weeks after he has been sent to cover a minor war in Kurdistan during the late 1980s, Mark Walsh is incapacitated by shrapnel from an artillery explosion and must return to New York to the care of his girlfriend, Elena Morales. Instead of recovering, Mark loses his sanity in stages, as merely quirky behavior (a false laugh, a non sequitur) escalates into derangement. Elena's grandfather, Joaquin, is a psychiatrist who, during the Franco regime, eased fascist war criminals' guilt after the Spanish Civil War. Although Elena is at first reluctant to allow him to counsel Mark, the two eventually embark upon an examination of Mark's wartime experiences. As Joaquin helps Mark to unblock his memory and discover the truth behind a friend's ""disappearance"" in Kurdistan, the elder survivor must grapple with the reality of his own past, questioning whether or not his acts of forgiveness were themselves forgivable. The narrative is at its best during Mark's reminiscences of battle, obviously growing from Anderson's own experiences as a wartime journalist; clear, simple diction combines with blazing imagery in these sections to achieve an eerie but alluring calm. At other times, Anderson's journalistic impulse is a detriment, as he summarizes rather than evokes characters' feelings. Yet several characters have sufficient depth to hold our interest. Joaquin is particularly intriguing, both detestable and magnetic. Coupling a provocative premise with a fine moral sensibility, Anderson has produced a memorable tale of two eras. Rights sold in France, Holland, Germany, U.K.; film rights to Mario Kassar Productions/Paramount Pictures. (Oct.) FYI: Anderson is a contributing editor at Harper's.