Review: Muffled Drum by Erastes
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 2, 2011
Life often throws us into circumstances which seem unreasonable. 'Muffled Drum' by Erastes presents us with a vivid story of two men, hopelessly in love, ready and willing to leave everything behind to be together. With war and death all around them, Rudolph and Mathias choose love and life instead. When Rudolph falls off his horse he loses the last two years of his life, the ones which unfortunately include his relationship with Mathias. In different ways, they face the challenge of putting the pieces of their lives back together and moving forward. With Mathias the only one who remembers how those pieces fit, they struggle to make sense out of their lives as they are now and to determine how they will be in the future.When Mathias visits Rudolph's wife, her grace and acceptance of him is so incredible that it changes his entire outlook. Mathias was beginning to doubt that anything he'd had with Rudolph was real until he met with her. Unwittingly, she reminds him of how valuable he was to Rudolph when she says: "I assume that you are the Oberleutnant Hofmann my husband has told me so much about." His response to her statement: "If she'd said she assumed he was a hippopotamus, Mathias could hardly have been more astonished." It was her request for Mathias to stay with him that was the catalyst he needed to persevere. For me, this was one of the most poignant moments in the story.I'm in awe of Erastes's ability to use an ordinary object or event which, taken by itself, seems totally irrelevant and spin it into the story to convey something profound. In this book, she uses Rudolph's disdain for pomade hair dressing in the beginning and at the end, with the pomade not only signifying the greasy hair dressing, but also a harbinger of hope. Another example of this technique involves an erotic portrait of Mathias that Rudolph always carries with him. The reference to the sensual daguerreotype is a turning point even through the confusion of the pictures within the frame changing from Rudolph's wife and children, Ernst, his ex-lover and then back to Mathias effectively promotes the phrase that "A picture is worth a thousand words." There are many more references that appear in the story which are mixed in with Rudolph's 'muffled drum' memories. He receives many bits and pieces of information which relate to Mathias, i.e, wondering why he would expect Mathias to click his heels after a bow while not remembering that he'd done so many times in the past. There are other instances, like when he recalls Mathias's body in detail without realizing that he did know him intimately, or when Mathias seems so familiar, yet like a stranger at the same time. Eventually, it's not recovering his memories that brings Rudolph and Mathias back together; it's that his heart remembers what his mind seems to have forgotten that allows love to triumph."Muffled Drum' is an emotional story, set in a historical context which intensifies its romanticism even more. It's a story of determination, passion, angst, and the ability of true love's ability to persevere even in the harshest scenarios. If, like me, you enjoy romance in a historical setting with handsome, passionate men and a happy ending, you will also enjoy this book.