Jay Bern
A Long Way
Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press, 1998. Pp. 310. US $18.93
Reviewed by Will C. van den Hoonaard

These days there is a surfeit of literature, usually biographical, about the period of time in the Netherlands bookended by the start and end of World War II. From the Canadian side, we have, for example, Michiel Horn’s recent autobiography Becoming Canadian, the early part of which is devoted to those unhappy days in Holland. A few months ago, the New Brunswick Provincial Archives carried an exhibit of Dordrecht during the war. We now also have a TV documentary, “The Battle of the Scheldt,” aired in March 1999. Interestingly enough, what A Long Way shares with some of this literature is the generosity of feelings toward the enemy who, despite the hardships they impose, exemplify an occasional redeeming minor quality.

In thirty-one chapters, Jay Bern sets out a biographical fiction of a young Dutchman who has overcome the ravages and challenges of World War II in the Netherlands and who finds himself as an unwitting occupier of Indonesia in the late 1940s, eventually in command of a vessel in the Rhio Archipelago that serves as a cargo, passenger, or military-support vessel. The theme sounds interesting.

The narrative echoes an autobiographical stance (and some elements in the author’s brief résumé on the back cover bear a striking parallel to the book). Such biographical writing can be wooden, dry, and very matter-of-fact, but no doubt of immense interest to one’s descendants. In many respects, Bern’s book follows this narrative path although there are a few more engaging passages.

Unlike good fiction writing, A Long Way exhibits little development of its characters. The writing is too straightforward to leave room for the reader to develop his or her imaginative qualities. The conversations are commonplace, or shallow. What also detracts from the verisimilitude is the author’s peculiar and patent adoption of English, rather than Dutch, names for his main characters (“Ian,” “Jenny,” “Bob,” “Tom,” “Henry,” etc.). These names do look odd in this Dutch-based narrative.

The parts that do pull one into the narrative are the action settings, where Bern does manage to create suspense and unpredictability, such as in the main character’s escape from a German labor camp, the sorties involving Indonesian guerillas, and the escape from the newly established Indonesian governmental rulers. Even the tone of the conversations surrounding these events improves.

The author’s strengths lie indeed in writing these adventure-like passages. To give more flesh to characters, the author could have relied on bringing out the salient points of Dutch (and Indonesian) culture that inform everyday living and thinking, to allow us to feel closer to the characters. The good writer will also leave enough room for imagination on the part of the reader.