Paholainen (1926)

The Devil, translated into English and published in the U.S. in 1928, is an historical novel that takes us into the court of Louis XI of France in the 15th century. The title character is Oliver Necker, based on the historical figure Olivier le Dain, a.k.a. the Barber of Ghent, a.k.a. Oliver the Devil. The first half of the book is the more interesting, as Oliver's character progresses from a malevolent, manipulative child to a ruthless, behind-the-scenes, operative in Ghent. Eventually, he makes his way to the king, for whom he becomes an ever more important advisor.

The political machinations, often cruel and unprincipled, that the two map out in order to increase the power of the king at the expense of the French nobles, are at first interesting. But during the second half of the book, they begin to become repetitive and even a bit tedious.

As contemporary reviewers pointed, out, Neumann's narrative interests really did not lie in 15th-century France, as we get very little flavor of what life was like during that time, other than political the conditions. Neumann was interested in the motivations of power, the depths of cruelty that the powerful would go to do build and retain that power, and the effects such goings on would have on the personalities involved. Another important theme is the way in which two interlocking personalities may almost seem to fuse into one There are occasional long passages where one or the other of the two main characters, especially the title character, ponder such themes. In other words, it's sort of Shakespeare meets Henry James.

So, as noted, I found the book to be interesting and lively throughout the first half, and less so, almost, eventually, a bit of a slog, in the second half. ( )