My essay 'Gurney and Fritz' has just been published in Essays in Criticism, and can be read here. Many thanks to the editors, and to OUP for the free link. The essay prints (for the first time) a poem by Gurney called 'La Rime', which deserves to become a staple in future Great War anthologies.
I would be grateful for any feedback, complimentary or not.
The image above, of German soldiers celebrating Christmas 1916, is part of a fascinating collection of photographs here.
Tim, your essay resonates. Plus ça change... a soldier is a soldier is a soldier. As a Warrant Officer said to me last fall on Ex, "All this mechanized stuff means nothing. A slap in the face is still a slap in the face."
ReplyDeleteThose photographs from WWI are heartbreaking, the 2000 ft. stare of one soldier (PTSD), the fresh faces in their bunks, I have seen those faces... and especially heartbreaking is that of the dying or dead horse. I think about the natural landscape, the birds of Afghanistan living/dying under the metal rain.