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wendoxford's review against another edition
2.0
Fascinating topic, Prague 1938, as Britain & France tried to stop war by abandoning Czechoslovakia. Young, high minded Mary Douglas comes as a hack. Written in 1939 so this is an novel without our benefit of hindsight.
For me this is a journalist trying to insert herself into a fiction. It reads more like testimony, with detail where detail not needed, the reader cannot feel their own way. As a result, it feels like she is the important element of the story, her indignity and how she might contribute to changing things.
I would have found the book more engaging had it been told through the eyes of the refugee, Rita, rather than the strident voice and perspective of the journalist
For me this is a journalist trying to insert herself into a fiction. It reads more like testimony, with detail where detail not needed, the reader cannot feel their own way. As a result, it feels like she is the important element of the story, her indignity and how she might contribute to changing things.
I would have found the book more engaging had it been told through the eyes of the refugee, Rita, rather than the strident voice and perspective of the journalist
whats_margaret_reading's review against another edition
3.0
I love Martha Gellhorn's reporting, but this novel didn't quite live up to my expectations. I think in part it was fiction when Gellhorn's own non-fiction of the period was what I was used to, but as a stand alone novel I just felt something was missing.
That being said, A Stricken Field is an incredible World War II novel. While less experimental than other works I've read of the same period (like [b:Transit|15823471|Transit|Anna Seghers|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348012419s/15823471.jpg|2283306] for example), Gellhorn captures a city in the slow descent into crisis. The characters tend to be rather stock (the heroine is an American journalist who is in over her head by the end, deciding whether or not to leave Prague after returning there on assignment, and there are plenty of sympathetic aid workers who are trying to get as many refugees out as possible), but this probably stems from Gellhorn lightly fictionalizing things she actually experienced when covering the war. There are hints of doomed romance, and at times it's oddly "Casablanca" in feel, but by the end the unique dark tone makes A Stricken Field a stand out in this sub genre of captured city World War II fiction.
I can't deny Gellhorn's chops as a journalist and the writing of this novel strongly reflects it. Overall, not the first of her work I'd recommend a new reader but definitely something for the World War II novel enthusiast or a current fan of Gellhorn's other work.
That being said, A Stricken Field is an incredible World War II novel. While less experimental than other works I've read of the same period (like [b:Transit|15823471|Transit|Anna Seghers|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348012419s/15823471.jpg|2283306] for example), Gellhorn captures a city in the slow descent into crisis. The characters tend to be rather stock (the heroine is an American journalist who is in over her head by the end, deciding whether or not to leave Prague after returning there on assignment, and there are plenty of sympathetic aid workers who are trying to get as many refugees out as possible), but this probably stems from Gellhorn lightly fictionalizing things she actually experienced when covering the war. There are hints of doomed romance, and at times it's oddly "Casablanca" in feel, but by the end the unique dark tone makes A Stricken Field a stand out in this sub genre of captured city World War II fiction.
I can't deny Gellhorn's chops as a journalist and the writing of this novel strongly reflects it. Overall, not the first of her work I'd recommend a new reader but definitely something for the World War II novel enthusiast or a current fan of Gellhorn's other work.
booksmacked's review
4.0
It's odd reading this book right now, taking everything personally, and finding that it seems to apply today. Terrifying. This is written from the safe few of a reporter--she feels her privilege every second. Around her the world is tearing apart and murdering so many, killing them slowly or quickly, and she feels both safe and frustrated at her inability to do anything to stop it. It takes more than one person.
Reading the Afterward, I learned new things about the onset of WWII, and the book itself was very new. I guess I haven't read much about some of the countries affected by invasion.
I'd like to be like Martha, or the character, and do something. If everyone did something, it might turn out differently. We'll see.
Reading the Afterward, I learned new things about the onset of WWII, and the book itself was very new. I guess I haven't read much about some of the countries affected by invasion.
I'd like to be like Martha, or the character, and do something. If everyone did something, it might turn out differently. We'll see.
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