Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man, Memoirs of an Infantary Officer

[Tony B]

Both these books were published in the 1930's by Sigfried Sassoon, better known as an 'Anti War Poet'. Both are semi autobiographical. I read them just after Dusty Warriors and found some interesting parallels. I won't explain why I put anti war in commas, read the books and think about it. not normal fodder for MV owners but worth a read.

[Snapper]

Got to get these. Don't know how I've missed them so far but I seem to know them vicariously. Sassoon was not anti-war as Tony rightly says, he WAS anti the profiteers and politicians and establishment who gained from it. He loved his troops and thought some monuments like the Menin Gate insulted them. He chucked his MC ribbon in the Mersey in 1917 when he made his famous Statement against the war. He was more or less goaded into doing it by the upper class twits he hung round with who never did a thing for the war effort themselves but loaded the guns for others to complain about it. Sassoon was an odd man, a repressed homosexual, a bad tempered man, he just wanted peace. He was a bad picker of boyfriends and not very good to all his close friends. But they were stunning times. He was a close friend of Graves and Blunden and was devoted to the fatherly Thomas Hardy. He knew Wells and so many others. His friendship with Wilfred Owen and influence on the younger man's work is much picked over. He was a bloody brave and daring soldier and of course, he was a great poet and writer plus an accomplished cricketer. The books Tony recommends are written in a semi-autobiographical way with names and places changed. One of the villages he recalls cycling through as a lad in happy times is.......Beltring.

 

Thanks for the pointer Tony. An old/classic books guide is something I would like to see built up here.

 

[LeeEnfield]

Read 'Fox Hunting Man', a while ago, now,.....libary copy, and thought then, "must add this one to my collection,................then promptly forgot it :oops:",.........so cheers for the 'nudge. :-D

 

Brilliant thought provoking book, from what I remember.

 

Andy

[Tony B]

Absolutely right Snapper. Sassoon was not anti the war, his statement was that the war was being prolonged unnecessarily because the Allies would not publish their war aims. I won't go into the history, the books do it far better.

[Tony B]

As a side issue, have a read of the last part of the Lord of the Rings again.

But also read the preface.

[Snapper]

I like a side issue. So here's one. The father of a good friend of mine spent his war doing clever stuff, although he was always in uniform. He has the brain the size of a planet. The army made him learn Mandarin in a couple of months and then Russian. He spent a lot of time mucking about with signals and stuff. After the war he worked his way up to being a prof of some sort at Oxford and two of his colleagues were JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. He only describes Tolkien as being a "Very odd man". I think he had a bit more time for Lewis, but thought they were both bonkers.

 

[Tony B]

Ah, Tolkien was a Philologist, forensic study of language. As was the hero in Lewis''Silent Planet trilogy.