BOOKS FROM BELGIUMWar and Turpentine
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Set in Belgium
Description:
Shortly before his death in 1981, Stefan Hertmans' grandfather gave him a couple of filled exercise books. Stories he'd heard as a child had led Hertmans to suspect that their contents might be disturbing, and for years he didn’t dare to open them. When he finally did, he discovered unexpected secrets. His grandfather’s life was marked by years of childhood poverty in late-nineteenth-century Belgium, by horrific experiences on the frontlines during the First World War and by the loss of the young love of his life. He sublimated his grief in the silence of painting. Drawing on these diary entries, his childhood memories and the stories told within Urbain's paintings, Hertmans has produced a poetic novelisation of his grandfather's story, brought to life with great imaginative power and vivid detail. War and Turpentine is an enthralling search for a life that coincided with the tragedy of a century—and a posthumous, almost mythical attempt to give that life a voice at last.
Reviews:
(1 year ago) |
24 Sep, 2024
Read November 4, 2020
3.5/5.0
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(6 months ago) |
21 Mar, 2025
A solid 3.5 stars.
The middle section of this book - which covers Urbain Martian’s service during The Great War is excellent, one of the best WWI memoirs I’ve read. It is engaging in a personal way which many accounts lack. It is stripped of the dry details that sometimes weigh down WWI stories.
The first part of this book is also good, the content is just as engaging and personal. I did end up getting a bit confused as the author does not present this section chronologically. It skips from the late 19th century to present time and everything in between.
The final section, the years after WWI up to the writing of the book, is decent. It is certainly needed to conclude all the stories within, but it is a bit longer than it is engaging.
Overall I would still recommend this book, especially to anyone interested in WWI who has found other books on the topic a bit dry.
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