[fantasyfan]

This book is one of the most graphic descriptions of the horror of The Great War that I have ever read.

I think it is worth pointing out that Barbusse also focuses on class divisions. Thus we have the "trench tourists" who are little more than curiosity seekers and those who have managed to obtain safe positions behind the lines. Both types arouse the indignation of the ordinary soldier. Then there is the contrast between the conditions of the trench-soldiers as it is reported at home and as it really is.

War is thus a generator of lies and misery ratheer than a noble exercise in heroism. In this regard, Barbusse is in agreement with Remarque, Owen and Sassoon.

A great deal of the novel has a"lethargic" quality where little seems to happen. But this is part of the depression the soldiers experience. It adds realism to the narrative. They are caught in a terrible irrational trap which may explode into a malign violence at any time. It has nothing to do with justice or nobility or patriotism or any decent morality--despite the sometimes desperate attempts of the soldiers to find something to give rationality to their insufferable existence.

In the end, the self-defeating pupselessness of the war is expressed by a common soldier:

. . . Two armies fighting each other--that's one great army committing suicide."