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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Moving novel about friendship on the WWI battlefield., 21 Mar 2001
By A Customer
The theme of this novel is friendship, a friendship between two English soldiers, set against a background of the atrocities of the battlefield during the First World War.John Hilliard, a young officer, returns to his battalion in France, after a period of sick leave in England. In the mean time a new officer has arrived. It's David Barton, 21 years old and slightly younger that Hilliard. Hilliard, who is rather stiff and reserved and has been lonely all his life, feels that he is changing under the influence of the open, easy-going and cheerful Barton, who can express his feelings so easily. The great merit of this book is that Susan Hill shows us what it means to people to be intimate friends, to share feelings and to be happy in each other's company. Under normal circumstances this friendship might never have developed to such an extent. In this war it could. The nightmare world of the front line trenches is depicted so vividly, that we realize that this war was not only terrible, but also senseless; it only led to enormous loss of lives. A wonderful story - sad and moving. For further reading I recommend "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1929) by E.M. Remarque. It's a beautifully written and very moving story of German trench soldiers in WWI.It's the best anti-war novel I've ever read and has become world-famous.
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