Great War Fiction: Yea or Nay?

[truthergw]

I am saying that a good writer creates a world where I accept it and its logic, however different from everyday life it may be. If the writer chooses to set the story in the real world then he ought to do it in a manner where details do not jar with my knowledge of it. If he has chosen to set a story in a military setting then it ought to be accurate. If the calibre of the gun is not important and a writer is relying on the reader to neither know nor care about it, then why is it being mentioned? What purpose is the gun serving in the story? I think what we are highlighting here is the difference between a good story, well told and a poor one, badly told.

[salesie]

I am saying that a good writer creates a world where I accept it and its logic, however different from everyday life it may be. If the writer chooses to set the story in the real world then he ought to do it in a manner where details do not jar with my knowledge of it. If he has chosen to set a story in a military setting then it ought to be accurate. If the calibre of the gun is not important and a writer is relying on the reader to neither know nor care about it, then why is it being mentioned? What purpose is the gun serving in the story? I think what we are highlighting here is the difference between a good story, well told and a poor one, badly told.

Good, we agree - fiction or non-fiction is irelevant, it's the quality of the writing that counts.

As for a gun and its calibre: It all depends on its place in the story e.g. catching the bus, she travelled across town to meet him ............ pulling the lanyard, he sent the shell across the valley to smash the gates............. We know what a bus is and does, unless it's vital to the story do we need to know it was a Routemaster with a 5 litre diesel engine? We know what an artillery piece is and does, unless its vital to the story why do we need to know its calibre?

Cheers - salesie.

[truthergw]

As I suspected at the start, we will agree to disagree. By the way, no artilleryman would send a shell across the valley to smash open the gates. It doesn't work like that.

[salesie]

As I suspected at the start, we will agree to disagree. By the way, no artilleryman would send a shell across the valley to smash open the gates. It doesn't work like that.

Funny, I thought we'd agreed to agree.

As for your point about gunnery, not being an ex-artilleryman (just ex-REME) I'd be interested in knowing exactly how it does work?

Cheers - salesie.

[PoW1988]

Like in most debates on this forum, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree once more. My view on this one is pretty simple. I think any writing on the Great War is great, it shows that the events have touched someone so much that they felt it was their duty to write about it! I think fiction is good as a "release", when you want to take a break from the "hard facts", which can be pretty draining. What the person should remember though is that the book is only based on real events but it is actually fiction and shouldn't be followed to the letter.

Lynz

[Kate Wills]

Reviving this thread was prompted by tonight's announcement from the WFA:

WFA Education Needs You!

Tuesday, 26 February 2013 22:23 Web Editor

Are you creative?

Do you enjoy writing short stories?

Do you have the time to help the WFA?

If you answered "Yes" to the above questions then please get in touch.

The WFA needs a creative story teller to work with me to create short stories for students that have a WW1 theme. These stories will be published on the new education site that is being developed and in the e-newsletter for students.

http://www.westernfr...-needs-you.html

I have responded to the WFA's notification of this on Facebook to the effect than fact is surely more appropriate to an educational charity, though I appreciate their response of the value of hooks into the Great War.

Personally I have always found fact to be much more enthralling than fiction; though of course we all take different routes into the Great War.

[moggs]

Thanks Kate for renewing this thread. I had not come across it previously. Many fascinating points on both sides of the wire.

I sit in favour of fiction, hopefully well written, as a means to give a richer picture of human endeavour from within the most extremes of circumstances. Mind you, I am biased - I have written a work of GW fiction albeit based on the facts of my grand father's war history. Hopefully, most people have an open enough mind to appreciate what both genres truly offer.

Jonathan

[David B]

When I was young I always thought that Biggles was true and not fiction, W.E. Johns wrote quite convincing books.

[Guest]

When I was young I always thought that Biggles was true and not fiction, W.E. Johns wrote quite convincing books.

You mean it's not true?

I can't be bothered with fiction of any sort (apart from TLOTR) I wish I could, but I find it a bit of a waste of time.

Mike

[Old Tom]

Having just skimmed this rather literary thread and noted that of the books mentioned the ones I had read, or started and not finished, had not been enjoyable. May I mention one that I have read several times over the years. It is the triolgy by John Masters which deals,largely, with the imaginary Weald Light Infantry, the families of its officers and men and the towns and villages where they have lived. To me it seems to accurately reflect the history of the Great War. John Masters was an army officer in WW2 and his descriptions of military events he has included are convincing.

Old Tom

[Guest]

John Masters was an army officer in WW2 and his descriptions of military events he has included are convincing.

Old Tom

He was an officer in the Chindits 111th Indian Inf Bde. I have read " The Road Past Mandalay " Blames everyone bar himself. Was certainly ' through the wringer '

Mike

[Marilyne]

Hi all,

Interesting thread to revive... i happen to like WWI fiction very much. Apart from the classics, I'm right now enjoying the reading of the Bess Crawford series, by Charles Todd. Bess is a nurse on the front. Another series I particularly like is Maisie Dobbs, by Jaqueline Winspear. It's set in the 30s, but the main protagonist, investigator Maisie Dobbs is herself haunted by her time as a nurse and her cases are all somehow linked to the war.

And then of course is the great book by Jeff Shaara: to the last man. If there is only one WWI fiction you want to read, then this one !! I wrote a review on it a few months ago ...

For the French part, I can not too strongly recommend Un long dimanche de fiancailles - a very long engagement I believe is the title in english by Sébastien Japrisot.

Just some ideas...

So yes, I think WWI fiction is good. Fiction is always a part of what we are. Mysteries are written because people like to play detective but the writers take their inspiration in their own world (look how Agatha Christie took the work of her husband, an archeologist, into her novels) and so why not write about the war in fiction. it's a way of making those who died somehow alive again and more importantly, keep their memory alive.

but I'm going further in fiction: not only novels.. . in Belgium and France, there are more and more comics (as in Bande Dessinée, the ninth art) about the War. Starting with the comic-version of The Living Unknown Soldier, there is now a series called Ambulance 13 http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-25903-BD-Ambulance-13.html , another one that's very dark is Notre mère la guerre : http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-21488-BD-Notre-Mere-la-Guerre.html and finally one I like very much is about a flying ace called Le pilote à l'Edelweiss: http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-31081-BD-Pilote-a-l-Edelweiss.html

And before anyone thinks comics are for children... think again. Those are real workds of art. Half of the message behind the stories is in those drawings. and it takes a lot of guts to "tell" the war with all its horrors in a comic like this.

Greetz,

Marilyne

[scrivener]

I write WWI novels, so naturally I think they're a good idea. But in my experience as a writer of fourteen or so books, I find that readers tend to be polarized between either fiction or non-fiction fanciers. I think it depends, in the end, on why you read: is it to be enlightened as to the facts, or is it to be entertained by a creative spin on a subject?

I don't intend to defend fiction and its storytelling -- stories have always been a part of human communication. But stories can give insights into a topic that are unattainable through a mere marshaling of the facts.

If anyone wants to try the first in a new series of novels, one for each year of the Great War, look for "Charentin, 1918" on Amazon and B&N. At Christmas it will be followed by "Denderbeck, 1915."

Happy reading.

Scrivener

[gilly100]

Whatever spins your wheels or yanks your chain I say. Good on those that write fiction (I am not creative enough for that!) and good on those that write non fiction.

I have only ever read one or two war based novels, and enjoyed them, but I much prefer non fiction. It is entirely up to the punter. If war based novels add to ones education with some factual stuff within, and it attracts new readers, sounds good to me.

Well, back to Hill 60 and sifting through the 'facts'!!!

Enjoy your reading (and writing!)!

Ian