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lin71's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
gimpyknee's review
5.0
The best of a recent read of a quartet of autobiographical novels of World War I: Through the Wheat: A Novel of the World War I Marines by Thomas Boyd; Her Privates We by Frederic Manning; and Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger. Whether French, American, British, or German these soldiers of "The War to End All Wars" went through hell. Gabriele Chevallier served as a "poilus", an infantry soldier, and writes of all the horrors of this terrible conflict. A fascinating and informative read.
hallzy46's review
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
leslielu67's review
5.0
This book takes a similar path of "All Quiet," using first person narrative of a regular soldier who is injured, goes on leave back home, and returns to the trenches. This time the soldier is French, but the sentiments are the same: war is hell, and the civilians, nurses and the generals have no idea what the life of a soldier is like (and in fact would still romanticize it as an "adventure" filled with courageous acts). This French soldier describes to a nurse that his foremost emotion at the front is fear, and this statement is shocking to her. His narrative backs up this emotion. There is some humor - one brother in arms "channels" the thoughts of a certain French general. Longer and more detailed than "All Quiet."
margaret21's review against another edition
5.0
Over the years, I've read a lot of accounts of the common soldiers' lot in WWI, and been both horrified and angry at the suffering and the waste endured. But this novel (surely a thinly-disguised memoir?) of French poilu Jean Dartemond is perhaps the most shocking I have read, and would have seemed especially so when it was published in 1930, when memories of those surviving, and their relatives, were till relatively fresh. No wonder publication was suspended during WWII. The day to day suffering, boredom and indignities, the all-too frequent horrors of witnessing disembowelled bodies, skin, bloated cadavers are described with a freshness that makes the horror very present. Towards the end, he describes how when officers weren't around, some German and French troops made tentative sallies of friendship across the divide, as they recognised how much more they had in common with each other than with their commanding officers, often remote and somewhat protected. This book, as so many others of its kind, is a true indictment of the horror and futility of war.
cav241's review
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
bsabis57's review
5.0
One of the more poignant testaments to the absurdity of war to be found. Here, the enemy is not the other side but the generals and industrialists who create it. While the book does bog down on occasions, there are some unforgettable gems. Important to read.