It’s a little grey,
today,
but,
if yesterday,
is any kind of measure,
today,
will turn into,
a magnificent day,
let’s hope:-)
I know this sounds,
silly,
but,
it feels like Spring,
no,
really,
it does!
How the week of,
February twentieth,
in Montreal,
can feel like Spring,
I don’t know,
but,
in matters of weather,
and,
seasons,
not much surprises me,
anymore,
so,
I’ll just enjoy,
the light,
the sun,
the crispness,
while it lasts.
🙂
The Habs have been,
on a major losing streak,
they aren’t playing,
so bad,
but,
they are losing,
consistently,
oh well,
that’s life,
and,
hockey,
I guess?
🙂
This week aside from,
freaking and fussing,
about my blog,
I’ve been reading,
All Quiet On The Western Front,
by Erich Maria Remarque,
the dust jacket,
states,
simply,
The Greatest war novel of all time.
Quite an assertion.
I am in no way,
an expert,
on war novels,
but,
this is a powerful work,
of autofiction.
Paul,
the main character,
is a young man,
very young man.
in fact,
barely,
a man,
he enlists,
along with most of his classmates,
to fight the good fight,
for the Fatherland.
An act of patriotism.
He soon discovers,
that war isn’t glorious,
war is hell.
The cold,
the wet,
the stink,
the hunger,
the boredom,
the fear,
the pain,
the grief,
for men as young,
as Paul,
and his fellow soldiers,
it is about losing,
your innocence,
before you’ve had,
a chance to live,
it isn’t cynicism,
it’s about going to hell,
and,
crawling,
lame and wounded,
back.
Disturbing.
Masterfully written,
not one word is too much,
yet,
he fills your mind,
with sights,
with sounds,
that even,
experienced through fiction,
I won’t soon forget.
Trench war fare,
mud,
blood,
screams,
and,
cries.
Chilling.
Having just read,
Robert Graves’,
Goodbye To All That,
in an effort to know,
more about,
the first World War,
the war to end all wars.
I am struck,
by the sameness,
of the tone,
boredom,
horror,
futility,
and waste,
that’s what comes through,
for me,
from both readings,
and yet,
these men,
fought on,
opposite sides,
were of similar backgrounds.
Hmm.
Both are strong works,
Remarque’s more sparse,
truer,
I thought,
but,
Graves gives,
a fuller picture of society.
Remarque’s is a novel,
Graves’ is a memoir,
both are worth reading,
and haunting,
both illustrate,
the folly of war.
…and yet,
wars are still fought,
crazy world.
Later girls,
BB