Books

I just finished reading The Road Back, by Erich Maria Remarque, more well-known for his classic All Quiet on the Western Front. The Road Back is a continuation of that story.

To say it's a really good read is an understatement. Both books are excellent, really. I've read All Quiet twice, and shed tears both times, and did the same during the movie based on the book. I truly believe anyone who votes to send boys off to fight in wars should read both these books before they vote.

There is another, Three Comrades, that I'm anxious to read, but I've checked out a couple books from the library that I have to read first.

And...a song by Elton John. Can't embed it in here so I've enclosed a link. (Warning: a few graphic images.)

Probably what those books did for me is show me the universality of war. In that war (a completely unnecessary one, by the way) Germany was supposed to be our enemy. Yet in these books, one can't help but feel sympathy and grief for these poor fellows fighting a war that their government has told them is necessary, that they don't really understand, don't really care to be fighting, and all they really want is to get home. Could that not be any soldier fighting any war anywhere in the world? And since people are people everywhere, do we really need to be killing our fellow humans??

Tough reads but well worth it.