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wisha's review against another edition
5.0
To me provincialism stood, and stands, for the sum-total of all false values; it is the estimation of people for what they have, or pretend to have, and not for what they are. Artificial classifications, rigid lines of demarkation that bear no relation whatsoever to intrinsic merit, seem to belong to its very essence, while contempt for intelligence, suspicion and fear of independent thought, appear to be necessary passports to provincial popularity. Its mean, censorious spirit is typified for me by the local bank-manager's querulous little wife who took my mother, as a young married woman giving her first small dinner-party in Macclesfield, severely to task for having "mixed her sets."
In some of the larger provincial cities a rich and enterprising life does seem possible which is free from this carping pettiness... p.55
"It feels sad to be a woman!" I wrote in March 1913— the very month in which the "Cat and Mouse" Act was first introduced for the ingenious torment of the militants. "Men seem to have so much more choice as to what they are intended for."
The passage of time— or so, at least, I fondly believe— has changed my furious Buxton resentments into mellower and more balanced opinions, but probably no ambitious girl who has lived in a family which regards the subservience of women as part of the natural order of creation ever completely recovers from the bitterness of her early emotions. Perhaps it is just as well; women have still a long way to travel before their achievements are likely to be assessed without irrelevant sex considerations entering in to bias the judgment of the critic, and even their recent political successes are not yet so secure that those who profit by them can afford to dispense with the few acknowledged feminists who are still vigilant, and still walk warily along once forbidden paths. pg. 59
In some of the larger provincial cities a rich and enterprising life does seem possible which is free from this carping pettiness... p.55
"It feels sad to be a woman!" I wrote in March 1913— the very month in which the "Cat and Mouse" Act was first introduced for the ingenious torment of the militants. "Men seem to have so much more choice as to what they are intended for."
The passage of time— or so, at least, I fondly believe— has changed my furious Buxton resentments into mellower and more balanced opinions, but probably no ambitious girl who has lived in a family which regards the subservience of women as part of the natural order of creation ever completely recovers from the bitterness of her early emotions. Perhaps it is just as well; women have still a long way to travel before their achievements are likely to be assessed without irrelevant sex considerations entering in to bias the judgment of the critic, and even their recent political successes are not yet so secure that those who profit by them can afford to dispense with the few acknowledged feminists who are still vigilant, and still walk warily along once forbidden paths. pg. 59
christina_grace's review against another edition
5.0
This is the most devastatingly beautiful story I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Brittain's strength and truth in not only her life but her words, has gone down down in history. Her writing and poetry is timeless and resonates with anyone that has grieved or been left behind by tragedy. Beautiful story and life I will not soon forget.
neethuraghavan676's review against another edition
5.0
Really inspiring, but a heartbreaking one. Loved each and every moment lived through this story. Vera, I saw me in you, or I wanted to be you many times in my life.
sarah_reading_party's review against another edition
didn't finish this book. sooo detailed, but well written so maybe one day i'll come back to it!
walkingtheborder's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most astonishing books I read in my youth - and have re-read again and again. An extraordinary depiction of the horrors of war through one woman's life, loves and political awakening.
suebarsby's review against another edition
3.0
The book's strongest part is the middle section, which covers the war years. It's genuinely harrowing and her grief comes across as desperate and raw, despite writing this many years later. The rest flagged a little, though it is clear why she chose to end it when she did but there was really a limit to how many letters to Winifred Holtby I was interested in reading. But these are trifling criticisms. I was distracted by just how easily it seemed to be for people to send letters to each other, even with no fixed address, and to catch trains at the last minute of great distances with very little trouble at all even in the middle of a war. We really have gone backwards as a society.
magratajostiernos's review against another edition
4.0
Videoreseña: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFD3wYhKjNQ
Creo que voy a tardar en poner en orden mis ideas con este libro.
Hay partes de las memorias de Brittain que me han impresionado mucho, personas que aquí aparecen a través de cartas, diarios y recuerdos que tampoco olvidaré, pero por otro lado he sentido durante todo el libro cierto malestar porque por un lado la propia Vera Brittain me parece digna de admiración y compasión, desde luego fue una mujer impresionante, tremendamente adelantada a su época, progresista, feminista y con un carácter tremendo, pero por otro me resultó (especialmente en su juventud) antipática y snob en muchos momentos.
Aún así, no puedo dejar de admirarla, y estas memorias, aunque en cierta medida me han dejado agotada, también me han encantado.
Y PARA EL QUE NO LO SEPA: Se publicará en castellano a lo largo de este 2017, ¡A por él! ;)
Creo que voy a tardar en poner en orden mis ideas con este libro.
Hay partes de las memorias de Brittain que me han impresionado mucho, personas que aquí aparecen a través de cartas, diarios y recuerdos que tampoco olvidaré, pero por otro lado he sentido durante todo el libro cierto malestar porque por un lado la propia Vera Brittain me parece digna de admiración y compasión, desde luego fue una mujer impresionante, tremendamente adelantada a su época, progresista, feminista y con un carácter tremendo, pero por otro me resultó (especialmente en su juventud) antipática y snob en muchos momentos.
Aún así, no puedo dejar de admirarla, y estas memorias, aunque en cierta medida me han dejado agotada, también me han encantado.
Y PARA EL QUE NO LO SEPA: Se publicará en castellano a lo largo de este 2017, ¡A por él! ;)
thevalkyriereader's review against another edition
5.0
This was an outstanding portrait of the psychological scars left on the generation that grew into adulthood surfing WWI. Not only that, but the disillusionment felt by many post-war. Yes, Vera Brittain had her fair share of losses on the front, but she became more than that. With the freedom earned by the horrors of war, she wasn't satisfied with going back into the archaic role of a domestic woman. She had wings, she had life experience. She was someone who fought for rights I now take for granted. Vera believed in peace. She believed in equality. And what she believed in, she tackled headfirst. This isn't just a book of war work and the gruesome unfairness if war. It is about centering oneself and finding a purpose, a purpose one would defend with a passion. Vera Brittain' s Testament of Youth is something that can be related to even in this day and age. Beyond the surface it's a personal piece about finishing yourself. And haven't we all been a little lost, looking for ourselves at some point or another?