265. Under Fire

Under Fire
Henri Barbusse
Around 350 pages
1916

I thought that All Quiet on the Western Front was the quintessential World War I novel, but I guess Under Fire beat it by quite a few years. It's hard to say which novel is better; both contain grim accounts of trench warfare that are hard to stomach.

Under Fire doesn't exactly have a plot. The novel is made up of journal entries from a French soldier during World War I. He describes the violence he witnesses in shocking, fairly disgusting detail. He also relates the deaths of several of his fellow soldiers, as well as an account of a trench assault.

Obviously, it is impossible to capture all the horrors of war in a novel format, but Barbusse does an effective job of communicating the emotions of the soldiers, from absolute despair to steely resignation. It was surprising reading this novel after The Inferno, the other Barbusse novel on the List, that was much more domestic in its plot. Just shows how many ordinary men were ripped from normality into the nightmare of warfare.  

This isn't a book I would recommend for the quarantimes, since we are all miserable enough already, but still a moving novel.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Published before the war ended.

One of the first novels about World War I to be published.

UP NEXT: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Nooooooooooooooooooooo.

No.

264. Rashomon

Rashomon
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
1915
Around 30 pages

I read this story because I really like Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. Turns out, this really has nothing to do with that film. Apparently, that movie is actually based off of another one of Akutagawa's stories, "In A Grove." Ugh, so many good books to read, so little time.

A recently fired servant and an old woman meet at the dilapidated Rashomon (which was the southern gate of Kyoto and a place where unclaimed corpses were dumped). They have a discussion on the ethics of the woman's behavior, as she is busy stealing the hair from corpses to make wigs. 

I like the inclusion of short stories on the List. And I always find works like Rameau's Nephew intriguing, where you simply read a philosophical conversation between two characters. I am sure there have been many college essays that dissect the morality of this story.

I can't wait to read more Japanese literature on the List, which, knowing the Listmakers, probably won't be for awhile.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa died by suicide at the age of 35. 

He wrote over 150 short stories.

UP NEXT: Under Fire by Henri Barbusse. I'm not opposed to reading another Barbusse, The Inferno was really good. 

263. The Good Soldier

The Good Soldier
Ford Madox Ford
1915
Around 200 pages

The novel starts with the line "This is the saddest story I have ever heard." I groaned when I read that line. Hey, 2020 has been rough, and I could do with some good old-fashioned escapism. Fortunately, this wasn't as emotionally devastating as the introduction seemed to promise. 

John Dowell tells us the story of his marriage to Florence, and their friendship with another couple, Captain Edward Ashburnham and his wife Leonora. Edward has a long series of affairs, but Leonora believes he will eventually "come back" to her, if she manages his finances and lets him get on with his infidelity. Oh, honey. Edward becomes involved with Florence, and John doesn't react the way you'd expect.

I think the narration style might bug some people. John tells the story in much the same way a real person would. The story isn't recounted chronologically, and John often goes on tangents. He'll provide background details here and there. He's a prime example of an unreliable narrator and putting together the "real" story is what makes this novel such a good read.

I am excited to read more books from this era, as I find this period of history fascinating.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The title of the novel was sarcastically suggested by Ford, and stuck.

Ford originally used the name Ford Madox Hueffer, but changed it because Hueffer sounded too Germanic.

UP NEXT: Rashomon by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. This is a nice and short one.

262. The Voyage Out

The Voyage Out
Virginia Woolf
1915
Around 400 pages

This is the first of nine Virginia Woolf novels on this List, which seems a scooch excessive, even though I like Woolf. This is her debut novel, and probably her most accessible work. 

Rachel Vinrace embarks on a trip to South America on her father's ship. On the voyage, she meets many unique individuals. One of these characters is Mrs. Dalloway, who is the central figure of a later Woolf novel. Slowly, Rachel begins to break free of the confines of London life.

I really liked this novel. Woolf can get a bit too experimental for my taste. I like her best when she is satirizing British society, which she does very well here. It's also fascinating to see the inception of so many themes that she would elaborate on more fully in future novels.

So this is a nice introduction and a good way to ease into Woolf's style.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

E.M. Forster said of the novel, "It is absolutely unafraid... Here at last is a book which attains unity as surely as Wuthering Heights, though by a different path."

Woolf attempted suicide at one point while writing this novel.

UP NEXT: The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. Never heard of it, but digging the author's name.