General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
\"And No Birds Sang\"
Posted by:
AL Wellman
()
Date: April 18, 2001 02:34AM
<HTML>Kate -
I must confess that Farley Mowat is one of my favorite authors. His understanding of human nature is captivating. I was surprised to read his autobiographical history of the second world war. It starts with a typically humorous description of the young warrior from the Canadian prairie, confident of his immortality, and continues with some of the best descriptions of ground combat I have ever read. Slowly, optimism is sobered by inexorable losses of the friends who shared his adventure; and the tone of the book reveals the pain which never leaves. The book quotes a sixty year old letter from Mowat\'s father, a veteran of the Great War, sensing the anguish his young son was experiencing:
\"Keep it in mind during the days ahead that war does inexplicable things to people, and no man can guess how it is going to affect him until he has had a really stiff dose of it.... The most unfortunate ones after any war are not those with missing limbs; they are the ones who have had their spiritual feet knocked out from under them. The beer halls and gutters are still full of such poor bastards from my war, and nobody understands or cares what happened to them....\"
A glimpse of psychological combat injury is only one reason to read this excellent book. =AL=</HTML>
I must confess that Farley Mowat is one of my favorite authors. His understanding of human nature is captivating. I was surprised to read his autobiographical history of the second world war. It starts with a typically humorous description of the young warrior from the Canadian prairie, confident of his immortality, and continues with some of the best descriptions of ground combat I have ever read. Slowly, optimism is sobered by inexorable losses of the friends who shared his adventure; and the tone of the book reveals the pain which never leaves. The book quotes a sixty year old letter from Mowat\'s father, a veteran of the Great War, sensing the anguish his young son was experiencing:
\"Keep it in mind during the days ahead that war does inexplicable things to people, and no man can guess how it is going to affect him until he has had a really stiff dose of it.... The most unfortunate ones after any war are not those with missing limbs; they are the ones who have had their spiritual feet knocked out from under them. The beer halls and gutters are still full of such poor bastards from my war, and nobody understands or cares what happened to them....\"
A glimpse of psychological combat injury is only one reason to read this excellent book. =AL=</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in submariners
|
Kate | 04/17/2001 12:22AM |
|
RE: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in submariners
|
Capt. George W. Duffy | 04/17/2001 02:47PM |
|
RE: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in submariners
|
Capt. George W. Duffy | 04/17/2001 05:56PM |
|
Thanks!
|
Kate | 04/17/2001 07:13PM |
|
RE: also known as Shell Shock or LMF
|
MPC | 04/17/2001 08:55PM |
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RE: also known as Shell Shock or LMF
|
Capt. George W. Duffy | 04/17/2001 09:40PM |
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RE: also known as Shell Shock or LMF
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James Stewart | 04/17/2001 10:49PM |
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RE: also known as Shell Shock or LMF
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Craig McLean | 04/18/2001 12:51AM |
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Re: RE: also known as Shell Shock or LMF
|
WaianaeDon | 10/29/2014 06:07PM |
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RE: also known as Shell Shock or LMF
|
JG | 04/18/2001 01:50PM |
|
\"And No Birds Sang\"
|
AL Wellman | 04/18/2001 02:34AM |
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RE: \\\"And No Birds Sang\\\"
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Kate | 04/18/2001 04:21PM |