Very early on whilst watching the play Flarepath last week a thought struck me...
Here was war written by a man, with men waiting to go to battle and all their thoughts and feelings. I reflected that most of the books I read tend to be about the women who are long term left behind by their husbands and their thoughts and feelings. I don't really read about the side of war that is portrayed in Flarepath. Visiting your husband, waiting for him to come back from the latest RAF mission. The tension. How the men cope with this day to day, every day.
It's an unfinished thought but did the men who were fighting write poetry - it's more immediate can be written on a scrap of paper. The women books - longer as they had longer to explore their feelings.
Please help me finish this thought - by sharing yours.
Fruit Punch
1 year ago
It may be also that poetry lends itself to expression of absolute raw feelings (of sorrow, fear, despair) which the men would have felt, whilst books are more reflective and thought through, much as you have said.
ReplyDeletepotterjotter - yes 'absolute raw feelings' so well put. Thank you your thoughts have helped mine.
ReplyDeleteOne of the great classics of a different war, All Quiet on the Western Front - written by a WW1 veteran but written 10 years later in 1928. Definitely one of the finest novels ever written about the futility of war.
ReplyDeleteAnd did you ever see Journey's End, which was based on RC Sherriff's experiences in the trenches? There was a brilliant production in the West End a few years ago with David Haig (who is very distantly related to the General).
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't have to be poetry to express the raw emotion of war ...
Mary - Thank you for your thoughts. Maybe the books came later for the men and then the raw emotion really was expressed.
ReplyDelete