The Detour by Andromeda Romano-Lax

Published by Soho Press on February 14, 2012

Ten years after leaving Italy, Ernst Vogler returns to the country where he spent five eventful days. To tell the story of those days, The Detour returns to 1938. Vogler is on the curatorial staff for the Sonderprojekt, acquiring art for the Reich, particularly art that is pleasing to the Führer. His mentor, Gerhard, has been seized and taken to Dachau, imprisoned for the crime of having opinions. It is unwise, in this era, to ask the wrong questions, particularly if one questions the wisdom of concentrating all of Europe's most valued art in Germany and Austria, and so Vogler keeps that question to himself. In Gerhard's absence, Vogler is next in line for an important assignment: travel to Rome to transport a priceless sculpture, Myron's Discus Thrower, back to Germany.

Vogler begins a cross-country trip to the German border, accompanied by the sculpture and the brothers Cosimo and Enzo. As the miles fly past, we learn more about Vogler's life: his difficult relationship with the father he continually disappointed; the "strange variation" that set him apart from other children; the source of the scar that makes him so self-conscious; his loss of passion for anything but art, "itself a substitution for other losses." As the trip continues, Vogler learns that the route has been planned so that Enzo can make a romantic detour. One detour leads to another until Vogler meets the brothers' family, including their sister Rosina.

The Detour tells a story that fascinates in multiple ways. On its simplest level, the novel builds thriller-like tension as the reader wonders about the fate of Discus Thrower and the men who are bringing it to the border. The tension builds to a dramatic climax that I didn't anticipate. The Detour also works as an unusual love story in a time of war: "War takes away nearly everything, but perhaps not that final illogical tendency [the possibility of romance] that allows us to continue living." Actually, there are two love stories: one, involving the brothers, is told obliquely; the other, involving Vogler, is eventful but a bit predictable.

From a more intellectual perspective, The Detour looks at pre-war Europe through the lens of art as Vogler and Rosina argue about whether Discus Thrower represents an ideal: the German loves the sculpture's physical perfection while the Italian despises its failure to represent emotion and individuality. Vogler admires the perfection of the human form -- a notion of the Übermensch that the Nazis recast in racial terms -- and seeks it out in art, yet he was raised with an acute understanding of his own physical imperfection and has carried the shame of that defect throughout his life. Rosina, of course, sees things quite differently.

At its best, The Detour is a character study that illustrates the conflict many German citizens experienced during and after Hitler's rise to power. Vogler sees things (like Gerhard's arrest) that he knows are wrong but does nothing to prevent them. He signs onto "the pact of silent paralysis that is to blame for everything." He maintains a sincere sense of duty and loyalty but resents "unity-building drivel." Ultimately the reader wonders whether Vogler can overcome his sense of obedience and order, whether he can make a decision -- the correct decision -- based solely on an emotional understanding of right and wrong.

The Detour is a sophisticated, sobering novel told in a compelling voice. There's a bit too much exposition at the end as the story circles back to the present. The final scene is too obvious; it detracts from the story that precedes it. The novel is well worth reading for the events that occur in 1938, not so much for the much shorter passages devoted to 1948.

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