Just finished The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell. This was an excellent book that took a novel approach to informing the reader about “The Great War,” that is World War I. Not a dry recounting of dates, battles, and facts, but told through the literature of the time; how existing literature influenced views toward the war, what literature produced by those who fought in the war tells us about their experience, and how WWI impacted literature and broader culture ever after.

My only complaint, if that is even the proper word to use, it is almost entirely limited to English literature and experiences of English soldiers. It would have been great to have included a similar study for at the least French and German soldiers. Of course that would have greatly expanded what was already and ambitious project. That and the author makes a pretty good case that the English soldiers, from top ranks to the lowest ordinary foot soldier, were unique in being almost entirely not only literate, but even literary relative to armies in all major wars up until then. Does make me want to reread a book I've only read once before back in high school; All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Unfortunately this does not appear to be available as an ebook. Shoot I thought this would even be in the public domain by now.

This book also has significantly added to my to be read list. In addition to the already mentioned All Quiet on the Western Front I am now eager to read sometime soon Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves, The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess, The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer, and Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. Damn, my priority TBR books are multiplying like rabbits. 1,1,2,3,5,8, . . .

Finally I have to include a poem included in this book (not really a spoiler, just keeping this from occupying to much screen:




So next up is Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse.