This book wasn't quite what I expected and I'm pleased. It wasn't about PTSD or war - it was about our society and how we've almost abandoned, except This book wasn't quite what I expected and I'm pleased. It wasn't about PTSD or war - it was about our society and how we've almost abandoned, except in times of great stress, what makes humans amazing. This is one of those books that if you struggle to understand from either side, having been to combat or trying to understand someone who has, you should read.
You should also read it if you want to understand why some feel compelled to take action in the face of adversity. Some may not agree with Mr Junger's take, but all these years trying to help a military man reintegrate into a society that bewilders him now, my eyes are opened a little wider, I see a little better, and I can only hope to pass that along to the next person who needs some answers. Read this book. Read every word. ...more
This book was brutal to read, not that it was badly written. On the contrary, I loved these boys, and boys they were - at first. Remarque captured theThis book was brutal to read, not that it was badly written. On the contrary, I loved these boys, and boys they were - at first. Remarque captured the grind, the loss of normality, acceptance of the unacceptable. War is a betrayal of the young by the old.
I had a little trouble getting into the canter, the voice, for the first twenty or so pages. But after I had settled in, the book gripped me, held me fast. There were points however that I had to come up for air. I read this in a couple of sessions, each one growing shorter as I approached the end, as the din of war grew. I was unable to take it all in as Paul's voice shifted from young to weathered - the sort of weathering no compassionate person would wish on anyone.
There are no airs, no bravado, in Paul's account of his years in war. It's honest. The writing is clean and crisp and to the point. The cover of my book calls it a World War I masterpiece and it is just that. I did not know what I was in for - I've never seen the movie, and these days I do not watch war movies. There's no romanticising between these covers. The descriptions are painful, but matter of fact, capturing the "blanking" of self during the worst times. These boys had their childhood ripped from them with promises of valor, but soon realized the lie. War is a betrayal.
But in the midst of war, this group of boys now men found happiness in brief flashes. Humanity shone through, their youth survived in small ways, for a while. But these only made the rest so much more painful. They grew up, in a trench with Death hanging over them, without hope of anything other than war because that hope shined a light on their horrible situation.
I was struck most midway through the book, after a visit from the Kaiser, when the friends sat discussing the why. Why war? Who had decided? Who indeed. Isn't that always the question when young men and women head to war.
I would suggest this book to anyone and everyone - especially those who make the decisions. Those who cry for blood without full understanding of their demand. It's worth every tear of which there will be many, admitted or not.
*I am a caregiver-spouse to an OIF combat medic who has been battling PTSD since he came home in 2005....more
What can I say - I read this book in a single day, loving how the author so easily transitioned from first person to second without breaking stride. HWhat can I say - I read this book in a single day, loving how the author so easily transitioned from first person to second without breaking stride. His writing is hard to describe without seeming insincere and the story is both beautiful and horrible in the same breath. In the end, I feel more capable of understanding without ever finding true understanding of my husband's time in a combat zone. The conflict of the soul, the desire to be something without understanding how, the need to live, the guilt that he did. I get the feeling I'll mull these pages over for a long time. ...more
Wow. I was speechless when I finished it last night and I'm speechless after a good night's sleep. Glenn Cook is a master story-teller. He wove elemenWow. I was speechless when I finished it last night and I'm speechless after a good night's sleep. Glenn Cook is a master story-teller. He wove elements in there that I normally would have scoffed at because they were so outlandish, but the build was so slow and so thorough that he was able to suspend my disbelief. It was a slower read this time - though I wonder if that's not the book and just life in general getting in the way - no less enjoyable however.
On to the next if I have the emotional strength to join company in their current situation. ...more
From the first page of The Black Company to the last page of the Silver Spike this series has been a rollercoaster. I struggled to get into the first From the first page of The Black Company to the last page of the Silver Spike this series has been a rollercoaster. I struggled to get into the first book, but then was dragged along, a willing partner in a gang of mercenaries' escapades.
Sometimes it's hard to watch characters change and evolve when we like them from the beginning - and it was. But, none changed in a way that was out of place or made me feel like they were being driven by the outside force of a writer not totally set on who his characters are. The plane was never broken.
Like the Chronicles of the Black Company, The Books of the South is three books wrapped into an omnibus edition. They were all filled with unexpected twists and left me longing to warn the characters I've grown attached to. The Silver Spike, in the last ten pages or so, fell a little short. What happened needed to happen, but how it happened felt a little strained. The story though is solid.
Separately, I may have shorted the Silver Spike a half a star, but together this series is still holding my interest so tightly I giggled like a child when I went to my shelves and found two more books instead of just one. I'm looking forward to another evening with the Black Company tonight over a cup of coffee....more
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