If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you’ll likely have come across my Why I Read YA Fiction blog post. I was absolutely overwhelmed with the response I had towards this post and it makes me so pleased to hear that people feel the same about YA fiction as I do. I decided that I’d make a little series of posts concerning “Why I read…” certain genres of, collections of or authors’ books. I’m going to start off this new little series with Why I Read… War Fiction.
I don’t think I’ve ever really mentioned before, but I am absolutely fascinated by the World Wars. I’m that weirdo that sits on Netflix watching documentaries about Hitler and the final solution in her spare time. I’m not really sure where my interest stemmed from, but I’m pretty sure it was a school project at primary school which had me researching above and beyond in the public library which started everything off. When the anniversary of the centenary of the start of WW1 came around in 2014, I vowed that I would spend the years between 2014 and 2018 trying to read as much war fiction as I possibly could. By war fiction, I don’t mean fiction specifically about the war but merely fiction which is set, speaks about or focuses on the wartime period. I’ve done pretty well so far and I feel like I’ve really learnt a lot about the war from a number of differing perspectives. Here’s a list of my reads so far, from most recent to least:
The Periodic Table - Primo Levi (WW2)
Uranus - Marcel Aymé (WW2)
Au Bon Beurre - Jean Dutourd (WW2)
Stay Where You Are and Then Leave - John Boyne (WW1)
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit - Judith Kerr (WW2)
The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult (WW2)
All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque (WW1)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - John Boyne (WW2)
Carrie’s War - Nina Bawden (WW2)
I plan on reading Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” at some point soon, as well as rereading “War Horse” by Michael Morpurgo, “The Absolutist” by John Boyne, which would be the first book that I’ve read by him that wasn’t considered to be children’s fiction and “Birdsong” by Sebastian Faulks, which I’ve read before, but not recently. I’ve got a number of other Great War fiction piled high and I can’t wait to delve deep into the pile! I’m always interested in adding more books to my pile so if you have any war-time fiction recommendations then please let me know in the comments!
What’re your thoughts on War Fiction? Let me know in the comments!
