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I've just finished Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy - and have encountered one of the most powerful pieces of writing I can remember. After 3 volumes detailing the horrific, unimaginable atrocities of WW I - its physical & mental toll upon soldiers, medical personnel, and civilians - described in clinical detail - I was reduced to tears by a one paragraph description of a soldier shooting a puppy because it was so happy to see them, it wouldn't stop barking - and would give away their location to the Germans. This one tiny incident - that takes place during one of the last, unnecessary, bloody "advances" of the war - encapsulated the entire course of the war - the officer proud of his act of slaughter of an "innocent" - to protect his men - whom he is leading into certain death - for no reason except than to follow orders....
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