Thirteen

Elizabeth St. Jacques is a writer and poet living in Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario.

In 1948, Drabek (who now lives in British Columbia) was on the threshold
of his teens when he and his family fled the Communist takeover of
Czechoslovakia to frantically ski their way into freedom. This, his
ninth (third nonfiction) book, explores his troubled childhood, when
growing up in the midst of a world war exploded into Gestapo revenge,
bombings, and strange comedies.

When Hitler “filled in the last details of his Case Green—the plan
for the occupation of Czechoslovakia,” the author’s father, a
respected lawyer in Prague, joined the Czech reserves and the
Resistance. By March 1939, Hitler’s occupation materialized, bringing
about dramatic changes in the carefree, affluent lifestyle of the Drabek
family. The author was three years old.

Through Drabek’s younger eyes, we share his bewilderment and fear
when his father is arrested by the Gestapo for his involvement with the
Resistance, and is sent to the infamous death camp at Auschwitz. Because
the world had become ugly and mean, the young Drabek develops a tough
alter ego to see him through, and manages to periodically veil the
horrors of reality.

Around the apprehension and pain, the author weaves lighter moments
that revolve around eccentric personalities, movie characters,
self-discoveries, and some humor that borders on black comedy.

While Thirteen has all the ingredients for a truly captivating read, it
sadly falls short. Apart from the colorless (and misleading) title,
scenes snap too quickly back and forth in time, and details and
incidents are glossed over. As a result of the missing information,
there is a sense that the reader is deliberately being kept at a
distance.

While the humor is apparently meant to be coy or clever, it often works
against itself, as do some present-day asides that are most distracting.
With the occasional typo and grammatical error, the reader is tempted to
close this book of 13 brief chapters several times during its reading.
It’s unfortunate that more care wasn’t taken to produce a smoother,
more detailed account of this period in Drabek’s life. This story
surely deserves the effort.