But the author won’t let him, or there would be no story. By that time, we’re on, out of 185, and “all the rest is a postscript.” That postscript covers the next 36 years in the life of Anton, who becomes a doctor determined to forget that awful night. But because Anton is only 12, he is spared after being tossed for a night into a dark cell occupied by a woman whose face he never sees. Naturally, the Nazis burn down the house and execute Anton’s family. Moments later, a neighbor and his daughter dump the body of the police chief in front of Anton’s house. One night, six shots ring out outside Anton Steenwijk’s home in occupied Holland. The assault of the title, actually the assassination of a Nazi collaborator, occurs very early in the book. THE ASSAULT by Harry Mulisch translated by Claire Nicolas White (Pantheon: $12.95).
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