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cwg's review against another edition
Brilliant book which really made me feel…everything, I guess.
WW1-era Britain, private school facing mid-war. Bunch of British school boys sign up and go through hell.
Pleasant prose. Loved reading it. Rendition of war was poignant, not so much focus on the technicalities but the experiences themselves.
Result is that I appreciated the rendered characters. How they quickly come in and out of the narrative can be overwhelming at times, (hard to keep up with names) but it’s fitting in the nature of a war-era narrative. I think it was done well, overall. Even the ones who only get a bit of spotlight I could feel for. There’s a lot of mini-narratives you get to witness from beginning to end, each tale providing another perspective to the war. I felt a great sense of authenticity from it all.
And of course the main characters were great. I wasn’t quite sold on them at first, but quickly turned around as the novel went on. While I felt they didn't feel like real people, they, themselves, felt real---how they moved in this story's changing world reflecting something so...human.
I ended up feeling a lot for these characters. They were wonderful.
I may come back to this novel someday. It was lovely.
WW1-era Britain, private school facing mid-war. Bunch of British school boys sign up and go through hell.
Pleasant prose. Loved reading it. Rendition of war was poignant, not so much focus on the technicalities but the experiences themselves.
Result is that I appreciated the rendered characters. How they quickly come in and out of the narrative can be overwhelming at times, (hard to keep up with names) but it’s fitting in the nature of a war-era narrative. I think it was done well, overall. Even the ones who only get a bit of spotlight I could feel for. There’s a lot of mini-narratives you get to witness from beginning to end, each tale providing another perspective to the war. I felt a great sense of authenticity from it all.
And of course the main characters were great. I wasn’t quite sold on them at first, but quickly turned around as the novel went on. While I felt they didn't feel like real people, they, themselves, felt real---how they moved in this story's changing world reflecting something so...human.
I ended up feeling a lot for these characters. They were wonderful.
I may come back to this novel someday. It was lovely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Classism
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