http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/06/27/shooting-a-blank-army-of-shadows-and-letters-from-iwo-jima/ culture blogging for the good of the planet Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:26:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/06/27/shooting-a-blank-army-of-shadows-and-letters-from-iwo-jima/#comment-6714 Rory Mach Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:52:53 +0000 http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/06/27/shooting-a-blank-army-of-shadows-and-letters-from-iwo-jima/#comment-6714 On the other hand, Melville himself survived his time in the Resistance. Maybe that felt just as miraculous and unlikely as Gerbier's deus ex machina? On the other hand, Melville himself survived his time in the Resistance. Maybe that felt just as miraculous and unlikely as Gerbier’s deus ex machina?

]]> http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/06/27/shooting-a-blank-army-of-shadows-and-letters-from-iwo-jima/#comment-6708 sean Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:57:23 +0000 http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/06/27/shooting-a-blank-army-of-shadows-and-letters-from-iwo-jima/#comment-6708 Good post. The moment in Army of Shadows that hit me hardest was just after Gerbier's yes, "all too-miraculous" escape. He holes up in some country home or cottage, amidst rain, wind, mud, dirt and, most of all, silence. A ghost, passing thru our world on borrowed time, he seems utterly destitute, utterly blank. If you consider yourself dead already does it lift the anxiety, the burden, of waiting for that day to come? I doubt it. I'm not sure if this is what Melville intended, it may have just been a transition, but coming after the near-fantasy of his rescue, (so well timed! so grandiose!) his weather-beaten existence felt like last rights to me. Good post. The moment in Army of Shadows that hit me hardest was just after Gerbier’s yes, “all too-miraculous” escape. He holes up in some country home or cottage, amidst rain, wind, mud, dirt and, most of all, silence. A ghost, passing thru our world on borrowed time, he seems utterly destitute, utterly blank. If you consider yourself dead already does it lift the anxiety, the burden, of waiting for that day to come? I doubt it. I’m not sure if this is what Melville intended, it may have just been a transition, but coming after the near-fantasy of his rescue,
(so well timed! so grandiose!) his weather-beaten existence felt like last rights to me.

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