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maxjrosenthal's review against another edition
3.0
Uneven, as you'd probably expect of a collection of articles. One or two that are truly incredible, though.
laurapk's review against another edition
3.0
The intro was strong but the constant need for censorship and the lack of details slowly lost me. The beginning was full of little insights that made me go "aha!" "A man may express himself in the pitch or tilt of his hat, but not with a helmet. There is only one way to wear a helmet. It won't go on any other way. (...) with your helmet on you are a mushroom in a bed of mushrooms." or: "You can read character by the feet and shoes. There are perpetually tired feet, and nervous, quick feet period to remember a troopship is to remember the feet."
The stories of the blitz were the ones that were the most poignant for me: "the blitz (...) in London start with fire and explosion and then almost invariably (the people) end up with some very tiny detail which crept in and sat and became the symbol of the whole thing for them. (...) It is as though the mind could not take in the terror and the noise of the bombs and the general horror and so fastened on something small and comprehensible and ordinary. (...) 'It's the glass,' says one man, 'the sound in the morning of the broken glass being swept up, the vicious flat tinkle. That is the thing I remember more than anything else' (...) 'My dog broke a window the other day and my wife swept up the glass and a cold shiver went over me.' (...) One elderly man lost his whole house by fire. He saved an old rocking chair. He took it everywhere with him; wouldn’t leave it for a moment. He sat on the ground beside it, but you couldn't get it away from him."
And there were some fairly humorous tales, like the good-luck charm Goat, the discussions on how the English treat Vegetables ("the English usually boil their vegetables to a submissive, sticky pulp, in which the shape and, as some say, the flavor have long since been overcome. (...) for example, the average English cook regards a vegetable with suspicion. It is his conviction that unless the vegetable is dominated and thoroughly convinced that it must offer no nonsense, it is likely either to revolt or to demand dominion status. Consequently only those vegetables are encouraged which are docile and capable of learning English ways. The Brussels sprout is a good example of the acceptable vegetable. It is first allowed to become large and fierce. It is then picked from its stem and the daylights are boiled out of it. At the end of a few hours the little wild lump of green has this integrated into a curious grayish paste. It is then considered fit for consumption. The same method is followed with cabbage. While the cabbage is boiling it is poked and beaten until, when it is served, it has given up its character and tastes exactly like Brussels sprouts, which in turn taste like cabbage. Carrots are allowed to remain yellow but nothing else of their essential character is maintained. (...) in the American gardens certain English spies have reported they have seen American soldiers fooling and eating raw carrots and turnips and onions. It is strange to an American that the English, who love dogs and rarely eat them, nevertheless are brutal with vegetables. It is just one of those national differences which are unfathomable."), or the way the island of Ventotene was captured and the way the Germans were tricked to surrender.
But overall, as soon as Steinbeck left British soil, I started to lose interest, and by the end I was skimming through the articles. It's hard to capture gold when you have to hide so much away. Still, some insight was very valuable: "we get along very well as individuals but just the moment we become the Americans and they become the British trouble is not far behind." Might be a more interesting read for history buffs; I prefer more detailed, personalized accounts.
The stories of the blitz were the ones that were the most poignant for me: "the blitz (...) in London start with fire and explosion and then almost invariably (the people) end up with some very tiny detail which crept in and sat and became the symbol of the whole thing for them. (...) It is as though the mind could not take in the terror and the noise of the bombs and the general horror and so fastened on something small and comprehensible and ordinary. (...) 'It's the glass,' says one man, 'the sound in the morning of the broken glass being swept up, the vicious flat tinkle. That is the thing I remember more than anything else' (...) 'My dog broke a window the other day and my wife swept up the glass and a cold shiver went over me.' (...) One elderly man lost his whole house by fire. He saved an old rocking chair. He took it everywhere with him; wouldn’t leave it for a moment. He sat on the ground beside it, but you couldn't get it away from him."
And there were some fairly humorous tales, like the good-luck charm Goat, the discussions on how the English treat Vegetables ("the English usually boil their vegetables to a submissive, sticky pulp, in which the shape and, as some say, the flavor have long since been overcome. (...) for example, the average English cook regards a vegetable with suspicion. It is his conviction that unless the vegetable is dominated and thoroughly convinced that it must offer no nonsense, it is likely either to revolt or to demand dominion status. Consequently only those vegetables are encouraged which are docile and capable of learning English ways. The Brussels sprout is a good example of the acceptable vegetable. It is first allowed to become large and fierce. It is then picked from its stem and the daylights are boiled out of it. At the end of a few hours the little wild lump of green has this integrated into a curious grayish paste. It is then considered fit for consumption. The same method is followed with cabbage. While the cabbage is boiling it is poked and beaten until, when it is served, it has given up its character and tastes exactly like Brussels sprouts, which in turn taste like cabbage. Carrots are allowed to remain yellow but nothing else of their essential character is maintained. (...) in the American gardens certain English spies have reported they have seen American soldiers fooling and eating raw carrots and turnips and onions. It is strange to an American that the English, who love dogs and rarely eat them, nevertheless are brutal with vegetables. It is just one of those national differences which are unfathomable."), or the way the island of Ventotene was captured and the way the Germans were tricked to surrender.
But overall, as soon as Steinbeck left British soil, I started to lose interest, and by the end I was skimming through the articles. It's hard to capture gold when you have to hide so much away. Still, some insight was very valuable: "we get along very well as individuals but just the moment we become the Americans and they become the British trouble is not far behind." Might be a more interesting read for history buffs; I prefer more detailed, personalized accounts.