Well, this wasn't a novel as such. It was a play written by some English barney name R. C Sherriff. (He wasn't an actual police officer. I just thought, with the name and all, it was only fitting to call him that.) Unlike the modern day script, this 1920's classic lacks the descriptions of emotions and thoughts of a character and rather, relies on the character's words to tell the story. Okay, I know that the dude lived when "The Toaster" wasn't fully mechanized yet, but that doesn't give him an excuse to make the rest of us grumpy. Granted, the story had it's highlights and it was precariously funny on occasion, but I wasn't excited about the product as a whole. Don't get me wrong, towards the end, the story line turned out to be pretty profound, but the build up was just arid. Or maybe I'm just being picky and I should try to walk a mile in the shoes of a person who lived when there was no such thing as Satellite TV. Maybe it's because I'm arrogant and I've written 2 other book reviews, and now I feel like a full blown critic. Maybe. But I still think the whole thing was mediocre if not slightly edging the line between "OK" and "GOOD."
Now, instead of being a joy kill, let me at least state the things I liked about it. It had an underlying dankness to it. Not overdone, but it definitely kept me on my toes. And a Uli on her tippy-toes, makes for a good Uli. Raleigh was my favorite character, hands down. Everybody else was either, drunk, old or lying bloodless on No Man's Land. I loved Raleigh's desperation to be perfect in Stanhope's eyes. And I don't understand why Stanhope was perfect in Raleigh's eyes. I mean, I understand why Stanhope was the gaunt, merciless leader that he was, but he also struck me as this good-for-nothing-except-being-drunk-and-mean person. Even if he was shell shocked.
Overall, this was a little boring but it is a necessary read if you want more insight about how the soldiers who fought in WWI felt. Makes you glad that you were born much later.
3 and a half stars.
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