tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post1271660019850778692..comments2024-03-14T11:50:14.761-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: What Makes A Novel Anti-War?Darwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-4244106801501089032013-08-14T15:45:01.657-04:002013-08-14T15:45:01.657-04:00+JMJ+
I can't figure out if Knight with Armo...+JMJ+ <br /><br />I can't figure out if <i>Knight with Armour</i> by Alfred Duggan is anti-war or not. The disillusionment the main character feels during the First Crusade reminds me of the disillusionment of US troops in movies about the Vietnam War. (Having recently seen <i>Apocalypse Now</i>, I find "disillusionment" a weak word for what has happened, and continues to happen, to Willard in Vietnam. That would be more of an <i>unraveling</i> of ties to reality.) It's a harsh and brutal look at eleventh-century warfare from a lowly soldier's point of view--and even those who know next to nothing about the Crusades will be able to sense, from the first chapter, that his story isn't going to end well. <br /><br />I read this with three other Duggan novels: it was the first and <i>Count Bohemond</i>, a novel whose title character got a lot more out of the Crusades than poor Roger, was the last. It seems to be pro-war, but going over my fuzzy memories, I think it would be more accurate to say that Duggan is pro-strategy and pro-savvy. Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-78882383203381687512013-08-14T09:14:40.245-04:002013-08-14T09:14:40.245-04:00Michelle,
Sounds interesting. I'll have to ta...Michelle,<br /><br />Sounds interesting. I'll have to take a look.Darwinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-45279006862160594252013-08-14T09:11:59.450-04:002013-08-14T09:11:59.450-04:00Enbrethiliel,
Interesting you should mention Star...Enbrethiliel,<br /><br />Interesting you should mention Starship Troopers. Once an Eagle was written around the same time (a little later) and although it's overall better written it has certain similarities in prose style, plus the seeming inability to write fully rounded female characters.<br /><br />Blackadder,<br /><br />That seems like a good point -- though I suspect there's a fair amount of room for interpretation there. I think it's a fairly normal human reaction to an experience that destructive to feel (at least at times) like it was pointless, and so most good war novels will voice those feelings to one extent or another. I finished reading Henri Barbouse's <i>Under Fire</i> last night, and the last chapter has the surviving soldiers of the company arguing as to whether what they're gone through is pointless or not. The way it ends, I think it remains unclear whether the author intended the reader to conclude that it was pointless or not. He at least seems to leave the door open that it might not be pointless if the results are what he hopes for (an end to future wars via an end to states and rule by workers.)<br /><br />Perhaps it's because there's room for interpretation as to whether war is portrayed as pointless in a given novel that are a number of novels that some people consider anti-war and yet are also appreciated as insightful by people who aren't.Darwinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-399390033063657252013-08-13T19:38:45.647-04:002013-08-13T19:38:45.647-04:00The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien is an e...The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien is an excellent anti-war, pro soldier book. It's a memoir, but also arguably creative nonfiction because it does a lot of more post-modern stuff with genre-bending stuff. One of my favorite books that I teach in IB 12. Definitely a worthwhile read if you're looking for a good read.Michelle Anoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-39728238524578274362013-08-13T15:57:38.994-04:002013-08-13T15:57:38.994-04:00To count as anti-war, I would say that a novel has...To count as anti-war, I would say that a novel has to portray war as being pointless, rather than simply horrific.Josiah Neeleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04408537831149151396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-80515376854260863572013-08-13T09:10:17.110-04:002013-08-13T09:10:17.110-04:00Completely off point here, but this made me laugh:...Completely off point here, but this made me laugh:<br /><br />...much like discovering ''Catcher in the Rye'' as a teen-ager...<br /><br />?! I discovered that Holden is insufferable and if it weren't for the upcoming test on the book I never would have finished it to spare me from his hipster, potty mouth.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12507330852895229468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-8131465419184661922013-08-13T08:54:10.151-04:002013-08-13T08:54:10.151-04:00+JMJ+
Despite the ending of Starship Troopers, I...+JMJ+ <br /><br />Despite the ending of <i>Starship Troopers</i>, I think the unintentional parallels between the human military and the Bug armies means that it can be read as an anti-war satire. Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.com