''A Midnight Clear'' is the third novel by the American novelist William Wharton. Based on Wharton's own experiences, it was published in 1982 following '' Birdy'' (1978) and ''Dad'' (1981). The novels deals with six

American soldiers ''American Soldiers'' is a 2005 war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20 ...

who get a mission to have an eye on a German outpost at the heart of the

Ardennes Forest The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, but the mission turns out to be much more difficult than expected. Wharton notes that he wrote this novel "thinking of the massacre of My Lai in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, to show how easy it was for a massacre to take place. And he did know how easy".

Plot

The novel is set during the last days of

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the Ardennes Forest, and follows a group of six American soldiers, led by sergeant William Knot, called Won't by his comrades. Weary of this futile war, they are ordered to establish an observation post in an old chateau in order to have an eye on a German outpost. A few days after their arrival, they begin hearing strange noises and noticing Germans leaving strange signs of their presence. After some difficult communication with the Germans, they realize that the "

Kraut ''Kraut'' is a German word recorded in English from 1918 onwards as an ethnic slur for a German, particularly a German soldier during World War I and World War II. Its earlier meaning in English was as a synonym for sauerkraut, a traditional Cen ...

s" wish to surrender to avoid being sent to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Everything seems perfectly ready for a fake surrender scene to finish the deal. But war is never so simple.

Reception

Though not as popular as Wharton's earlier novels, A Midnight Clear was generally well-received by critics. For instance, Thomas R. Edwards of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' calls the novel "a modest inquiry into war, youth and extinction ...

hich is Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

also remarkable". Sherwood Williams of ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

'' calls it a "WWII saga of remarkable power" noting that "Wharton reveals the ugliness of war far better by reminding us of the joy of life than by pedantically documenting the brutality of battle".

Film adaptation

In 1992, the novel was adapted into a popular movie of the same name, starring an ensemble cast that features

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...

and

Gary Sinise Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, humanitarian, and musician. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received a st ...

, among others. The film received generally positive reviews. It holds an 88% favorable rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

which is based on 40 reviews. One of its unique features is how it shows the relation with enemy soldiers: "One of the most impactful aspects of A Midnight Clear is that when the time comes to kill, the targets are no longer faceless". ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' praises the movie as "a war film completely unlike any other, a compelling accomplishment that's more soul than blood and bullets".

References

External links

A Midnight Clear on Goodreads
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Midnight Clear, A 1982 American novels American novels adapted into films Novels set during World War II Alfred A. Knopf books Novels by William Wharton (author)