Welcome to Litsy!

Where I talk through the love/hate of Loyal Creatures by Morris Gleitzman
https://www.suzs-space.com/loyal-creatures-morris-gleitzman/

"The horror of war resides in this gnawing anxiety. It resides in the continuation, the incessant repetition of danger. War is permanent threat. 'We know not the place or the hour.' But we know the place exists and the hour will come. It is insane to hope that we will always escape."

This book about the hospital Craiglockhart & two of its most famous patients, Siegfried Sassoon & Wilfred Owen, tracks the effects of industrial warfare on soldiers & the origins of PTSD. Shell shock was seen by many commanding officers not as an illness but cowardice& thus punished. It was thanks to physicians such as Dr Rivers who treated the men with compassion that some lucky few found healing. The strongest parts of the book are the poems

#poetrymatters
#waif
@TheSpineView

This is my final completed read of the year and it was a great one. Storm of Steel is a straightforward description of trench warfare in WWI from a German soldier who was wounded multiple times and continued to return to the front until the 7th time after 4 years of fighting. He seldom shirks away from the violence and gore of the battle, yet also expresses respect for the skill of the enemy.

#1001books #memoir #nonfiction #WWI #audiobook

#PoetryMatters @TheSpineView
#Vagabond

#AboutABook
#Biography
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

#poetrymatters
@TheSpineView
#ugly

I devoured this book. Part genealogical mystery, part loving mémoire, part philosophy of war and empire, it was shot through with Palin‘s intelligence and humor. Thanks to my cousin @barbwire for a lovely birthday present.