Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > War fiction > First World War fiction
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Under Fire (Paperback)
Loot Price: R257
Discovery Miles 2 570
You Save: R63
(20%)
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Under Fire (Paperback)
Series: Casemate Classic War Fiction
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List price R320
Loot Price R257
Discovery Miles 2 570
You Save R63 (20%)
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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Under Fire, first published in French as Le Feu, was one of the
first novels about WWI, appearing in December 1916, before the
outcome of the war was clear. Set in early 1916, it follows a squad
of French volunteer soldiers through the eyes of an unnamed foot
soldier, who participates in and also observes the action. It
combines soaring, poetic descriptions with the mundane, messy,
human reality of soldiers living in their own excrement. Then
slowly names and features are given to the men who emerge from the
mud, from the dignified leader Corporal Bertrand, to the ebullient
Volpatte and the obsessive Cocon. Intermingled with details of how
they navigate daily life in the putrified atmosphere of the
trenches are both harrowing descriptions and a political, pacifist
argument about this war and war more generally. Caught up in events
they cannot control, the soldiers go through their daily routines:
foraging for food, reading letters from wives and mothers,
drinking, fighting in battle, and in heavily realistic scenes which
the novel is noted for, discovering dead bodies in advanced stages
of decomposition; the human detritus of a brutal conflict. Through
it all, they talk about the war, attempting to make sense of the
altered world in which they find themselves. Under Fire drew
criticism at the time of its publication for its harsh realism, but
won the Prix Goncourt. The original translation by Fitzwater Wray
which first appeared in 1917 is published here. It captures the
essence of the era; a glossary is also provided to help with
unfamiliar vocabulary.
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