1. Book/Movie post: War Horse

    War Horse, a 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo and a 2011 film adaptation of the book, directed by Stephen Spielberg. If I had only read the book or seen the film, I think my review of either would have been glowing, but having seen the film, reading the book somehow made me enjoy both less.

    The story centres around Joey, a part-thoroughbred horse owned by a boy named Albert. The novel is narrated by Joey; the film gives the human characters and their stories a bit more prominence, for hopefully obvious reasons. At the outbreak of war, Joey is sold to a cavalry captain and taken to the front, against Albert’s wishes. Albert promises Joey that he will find him and bring him home. The story then follows his experience as a cavalry horse, pulling an ambulance, being cared for on a farm, and as an artillery horse, on both sides of the war.

    Cut for length.

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  2. Book post: Leviathan

    Leviathan, a 2009 YA novel by Scott Westerfield, which recasts World War I as a conflict between “Darwinists”, who use genetically-engineered animals, and “Clankers”, who rely on giant mecha. Enjoyable enough as a YAFfy steampunk adventure, but the historical detail is very disappointing.

    Cut for length, not spoilers.

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  3. Book post: The Winter of the World

    The Winter of the World, a 2007 anthology of World War I poetry, edited by Dominic Hibberd and John Onions. When I bought this, I’d been toying with buying a WWI poetry anthology for a while, and this was just a flat-out cover-purchase, because I was tossing up between this and the Penguin Book of WWI Poetry, and this one just looked nicer.

    I have also posted some of my favourite poems out of this anthology in my Winter of the World tag  if you’re interested in a sample of the poems in the anthology.

    Cut for length since I… don’t think you can have spoilers for a poetry anthology…? 

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  4. Book post: Somme Mud

    Somme Mud, a memoir by E. F. Lynch, written in the 1920s, and published in 2006. This book has been repeatedly called the Australian All Quiet on the Western Front, and has apparently started to be included on school reading lists to try and make callow young school children understand What Their Forefathers Went Through. This book is an absolutely startling testament to the psyche of the soldiers. It will resonate with anyone who is interested in the ANZAC experience, but I think it has broader appeal as well.

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  5. TV post: Birdsong

    Birdsong, the 2012 adaptation of the pretty silly 1993 book by Sebastian Faulks. I was no fan of the book. The miniseries took a relatively interventionist approach to adapting it, and therefore made it slightly better.

    Cut for length; some mild spoilers.

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  6. Book post: Testament of Youth

    Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain’s 1933 memoir of her youth, her time as a VAD, and her struggle to adapt to living on after the war when practically everyone she loved had died. I reviewed the miniseries of Testament of Youth some time ago, when I was lost in the wilderness and totally unable to put my hands on a copy of the book. 

    Cut for length, not spoilers.

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  7. Film post: A Very Long Engagement

    A Very Long Engagement, a 2004 film based on a 1991 book about a French girl named Mathilde, whose fiancé was declared MIA in WWI. The film opens with the last known movements of Manech, who, with four others has been convicted of self-mutilation to escape military service, and is to be sent “over the top” into No Man’s Land to find whatever death awaits him there. From early in the film we are told that all five perished in a subsequent battle, and although multiple witnesses confirm this, Mathilde keeps investigating and discovers that this may not be the case. This is a decent film, with a good cast, interesting characters, and a convoluted, clever mystery plot.

    Cut for length, not spoilers.

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  8. TV post: My Boy Jack

    A 2007 telemovie based on a play, based on the true story of Rudyard Kipling’s family, particularly his son Jack, who fought in the first world war. Rudyard Kipling was a famous and well-established English poet by the outbreak of war, and along with various others, like Thomas Hardy, was involved in pro-war writing and poetry early in the war. His son Jack had very poor eyesight. Following the outbreak of war, he set his heart on a commission in an infantry regiment, and after failing a succession of medicals, Rudyard Kipling used his influence to get him a commission in the Irish Guards. John Kipling shipped out to France before his eighteenth birthday - he had to have permission from his parents to go. The day after his eighteenth birthday, he goes missing at the Battle of Loos.

    Cut for length, not spoilers.

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  9. Film post: Beneath Hill 60

    Beneath Hill 60, a 2010 film based on the diary of Captain Oliver Woodward, commander of the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company. This film is essentially formula WWI - the tunnelling aspect would provide a novel element, if Birdsong hadn’t done it first. That said, it isn’t a bad film: well-written, well-acted, and with less than the usual dose of maudlin What’s-the-Point-of-it-All? meandering.

    Cut for length, not spoilers.

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