The Great War and Modern Memory (Paperback)

Drawing amply from his knowledge of such major war chroniclers as Blunden, Graves, Hardy, Jones, Owen, Reed and Sassoon, Fussell's admirable study does just that: ultimately his work aims at tracing the manifold shapes the literary rendering of that sheer inferno took on through the years. Particularly enthralling reading are the chapters devoted to myth, ritual and romance, where the attentive reader may perceive a thread to Freud or Jung's collective unconscious. Moreover, the author dwells on two conflicting interests. The one of army leaders, on the one hand, - who must have approved of the use of high diction and euphemism as much as they applied censorship in the average subaltern's letters home - and the dysphemism of the likes of Owen and Sassoon as they were forced to follow its devastating wake on the other. Another topic which aroused our interest, was the discussion of the loss of a 'youth unscathed', as Fussell dubs it; of transcended emotions bordering upon homoeroticism, of men (and artists) dependent on each other in the face of the inevitable.

Finally, it is the author's defendable view that only in retrospect would a coherent, let alone, ironic, view of the wartime experience come to the fore. It must have been human nature that the artist's recording eyes fixed on phenomena utterly beyond description must have attempted in the first place to force, or enable him to come to terms with the memory in the aftermath.

The Great War and Modern Memory will not cease to inspire any student of the literary war experience, and at any level. As one turns the pages, one is aware of just how much this book deserves the merits it has been credited with so lavishly.

Fussell proposes a valid rationale for the limitations he imposes, (apart from keeping the study at a manageable size,) that is, the majority of Great War literature is British and generally a product of the trench experience. The breadth of source material used is huge, encompassing everything from the memoirs and dispatches of Haig and Plummer down to the personal diaries of private soldiers. He quite rightly concentrates on the great literary works, making continual comparison to Blunden, Graves and Sassoon. His synopsis of "The Memoirs Of George Sherston," manages to be both succinct and complete. As well as prose he analyses a great deal of poetry including large sections on Owen and Jones.

Whilst the book purports to concentrate on the influence of Great War literature on the modern, Fussell spends as much, if not more time, comparing the literature to the actuality of the experience. The central thread is the irony of the situation, whether it be Blunden comparing the pastoral beauty of the sky to the desolation of the battlefield below, or Graves comparing the comic moments in the trenches to the horror all around. He does, however, also achieve his objective, showing how numerous facets of modern life have been influenced by the literature and specifically how numerous literary works rely on Great War literature. Whilst this is generally well constructed, he could be accused of falling into a kind of literary American isolationism with continual reference to "Catch 22."

Fussell's book is an incredibly well researched and thought provoking study. Perhaps its' most impressive achievements are the questions that it presents in the mind of the reader. In the chapter entitled "Myth, Ritual and Romance," Fussell looks at the literature that influenced the soldiers of the Great War and finds that the voracious appetite for literature at the time had a marked influence on the memoirs and letters of the war and is what leaves a legacy of work of such quality. This begs the question; what would be the standard today with the reduction in quantity and quality of reading? He also shows how literature gave the soldier something to relate his experiences to, a good example being Bunyan's "A Pilgrim's Progress." What would fulfil that role today, paperback novels, television, computer games?

Although now 25 years old and appearing at times to be somewhat dated, Fussell's book is still extremely relevant. In the world of military literature it is a unique book, challenging the modern soldier to relate the literature he reads to his experiences and the experience of those who have gone before.