Holly W. reviewed on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I had heard how raw and honest this book was. I resisted reading it because of the Incomprehensible horrors of war with nothing-held-back descriptions of the trenches. Faulks had me so mesmerized with Charlotte Gray (set in WWII) that I decided to read this WWI novel.
The contrived nature of the romance (clearly sexual) between Stephen and Isabelle Azaire (nine years his senior) didnt hold up to the vivid war story.
There are two narratives: first by Stephen Wraysford, who failed to gain my sympathy, but kept my attention. The second is by Stephens daughter Elizabeth, which didnt make sense until I reached the end of the book. Both the sex and battle scenes are graphic and unsettling, but the book is a wonderful account of what sacrifices were made by those who fought in WWI. Especially interesting are the digging of fighting tunnels and the brave men who dug them. The book will both tear your out heart and grip your soul. It helped me understand why my father told us nothing about his experiences in the artillery of WWII.
"It was not his death that mattered; it was the way the world had been dislocated. It was not all the tens of thousands of deaths that mattered; it was the way they had proved that you could be human yet act in a way that was beyond nature." (p. 225)
No child or future generation will ever know what this was likeWhen it is over we will go quietly among the living and we will not tell themWe will seal what we have seen in the silence of our hearts and no words will reach us. (p. 403) And yet, Sebastian Faulks attempts to tell us.
Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
The contrived nature of the romance (clearly sexual) between Stephen and Isabelle Azaire (nine years his senior) didnt hold up to the vivid war story.
There are two narratives: first by Stephen Wraysford, who failed to gain my sympathy, but kept my attention. The second is by Stephens daughter Elizabeth, which didnt make sense until I reached the end of the book. Both the sex and battle scenes are graphic and unsettling, but the book is a wonderful account of what sacrifices were made by those who fought in WWI. Especially interesting are the digging of fighting tunnels and the brave men who dug them. The book will both tear your out heart and grip your soul. It helped me understand why my father told us nothing about his experiences in the artillery of WWII.
"It was not his death that mattered; it was the way the world had been dislocated. It was not all the tens of thousands of deaths that mattered; it was the way they had proved that you could be human yet act in a way that was beyond nature." (p. 225)
No child or future generation will ever know what this was likeWhen it is over we will go quietly among the living and we will not tell themWe will seal what we have seen in the silence of our hearts and no words will reach us. (p. 403) And yet, Sebastian Faulks attempts to tell us.
Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
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