The Forgotten Soldier was first published in 1965, and concerns events that happened over 20 years previously, when the author was a teenager living in France who was drafted into the German army. The memoir has since become the subject of much criticism by historians who question much of the historical detail, especially with regards to troop movements and dates. Supporters of the work argue that historical facts of strategic troop movements can be found elsewhere, and that the strength of this particular work is in the emotion and the visceral experience, and I'll have to agree. The Commandant of the US Marine Corps must also agree, since this was on his official reading list in 2013.

This isn't exactly an easy read, but it hit me so much harder than I'd expected. Sajer maybe doesn't have the writing chops of Cather or Steinbeck, and even apologizes a few times for his "inability" to do his topic justice in prose--and I have in fact been tempted to take a shot of scotch each time I encountered the simile "like an automaton" (maybe it sounds less weird in the original French?)--but then I'll stumble into some little gem of poetic self-awareness that wows me. I think he's at his best when he doesn't appear to be trying.

We're thrown in with Sajer and his companions when they first arrive on the Eastern front, and there isn't really a chance to get to know the characters befor things start to happen to them--I suspect this is why it took me a while to get emotionally involved (but when I did...dang). Since he starts out in a transportation batallion as a truck driver, Sajer's introduction to war is surprisingly gradual, and he is emotionally shattered by the first (comparatively small) wartime effects he sees. He's utterly convinced that he's a coward, but his teenage naivite rubs off quickly. He doesn't exactly grow numb to his surroundings, but sort of alternates between cynicism--especially around even younger untested, brainwashed & eager teenaged boys--and determination to empty his head of anything that is not in his immediate surroundings or in the immediate present. At some point he seems to realize that the only thing he's really fighting for is self-preservation. It's like watching a kid shrivel emotionally and die intellectually, if that makes sense. The battle scenes do go on a little long, though, and it's the kind of book that requires significant mental breathers.

The part that really got me, though, is when Sajer meets his father (a Frenchman, who fought on the French side in the Great War) during a brief leave to Berlin. The father's awkward sadness with what his son has become is just devastating. On the other hand, he doesn't stray too far away from humor, either. There's a great scene involving his scrawny & underfed teenaged self, a handful of eggs, and a strapping farmer's wife...yeah, just go read it.

I was curious about what happened to Guy Sajer after the war--and it turns out that, interestingly, he became a very prolific cartoonist. There's a lengthy entry on him on the "Lambiek Comicopedia" (http://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/mouminoux_guy.htm) and it looks like he did everything from cute kids cartoons to some pretty racy-looking pulp, mostly under the pennames Dimitri Lahache and Mouminoux. Looking through some of the images, there is a lot of material reflecting his war experiences, such as:

Though certainly not all of it:

Anyway, fascinating stuff.

removed my fantasies of going to war
made real certain aspects of war which seemed to have been stuck in kind of cultural memory but not elaborated on

one of the most real books i've read, both for love and for fear/terror

kind of suffered some amnesia in reading the second half as I missed pieces of how he ended up in this or that village, or where the tanks came from, or whatever, but this seemed appropriate

not enjoyable, but very glad I read this

About as visceral as Sledge's With the Old Breed.

To, czego można się przede wszystkim dowiedzieć z tej książki, to że wojna jest najgorszą rzeczą na jaką wpadła ludzkość. To wszystko dzięki wręcz naturalistycznym opisom. Bodajże w nocie od wydawcy przeczytałem, że autor nie będąc pisarzem używał zbyt wielu metafor, generalnie starał się upiększać tekst, co jest częstym błędem początkujących - mi natomiast stylistyka przypadła do gustu, wcale nie było to tak nieporadnie napisane jak sugerowano.

Wojna jest brutalna, wyniszczająca zarówno fizycznie jak i psychicznie. Książki takie jak ta powinny stanowić przestrogę dla przyszłych pokoleń. To nie jest powieść wojenna nastawiona na spektakularną akcję. Tutaj, jak to na prawdziwej wojnie, przez spory kawał czasu nic się nie dzieje, tylko natura daje w kość (zima w Rosji to nie przelewki). Ale jak już zacznie się walka, to jest tylko strach. To nie Call of Duty, tutaj liczy się każda śmierć, a żołnierze prawie mdleją z przerażenia. Opisy są bardzo sugestywne, przytłaczające, ciężkie. Jest mi ciężko sobie w ogóle wyobrazić jak zachowałbym się w tych samych sytuacjach. Sam autor kilka razy mówi, że nie jest w stanie oddać na papierze tego jak było naprawdę i jego słowa wydają mu się tylko lekko dotykać istoty rzeczy, są zbyt banalne.

Możemy przeczytać o cierpieniu niemieckiej ludności cywilnej, o bohaterstwie niemieckich żołnierzy, o niedoli niemieckich żołnierzy, o tym że Hitler chciał dobrze, że Rosjanie to diabły wcielone (przynajmniej żołnierze, bo z ludnością cywilną to różnie bywa), a w ogóle Operacja Barbarossa niosła kaganek oświaty do ciemnych ludów azjatyckich i walczyła z bolszewizmem zagrażającym Europejczykom. Jest to spojrzenie na sprawę szeregowego żołnierza Wehrmachtu, zupełnie prywatne. Na pewno interesujące, chociaż spodziewałem się, że autor pisząc pamiętnik jakiś czas po wojnie może doszedł do nowych wniosków. Zdaje się on jednak patrzeć z wyrzutem na społeczeństwo Francji i innych narodów zwycięskich.

W każdym razie - warto sięgnąć po "Zapomnianego żołnierza", szczególnie, że przedstawia konflikt z punktu widzenia wielkich przegranych (w roku 2015 nieaktualne), a jak wiemy - to zwycięzcy piszą historię.

I enjoyed this book even though I had read some criticism. Sure there may be some areas that the author has muddled, but has also been implied he may have a bit to hide. With all that in mind this is still a read about a brutal time for a young man. For those that are considering reading this be warned though, it is long and the "action" is non stop.

My absolute favorite book.