Paul Gallico and two World Wars – quite a mix!
In the first half of this episode, we look at the books of the World Wars – whether written at the time or later – and decide which we are more drawn to. Thanks to Faith for the suggestion!
In the second half, we compare two novels by Paul Gallico – Coronation and Love of Seven Dolls. I deleted the bit where we talked about books we’d do next time – we’d talked about The Demon Lover by Elizabeth Bowen vs The Devastating Boys by Elizabeth Taylor, but we might have to postpone that. Watch this space!
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The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray
Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man by Siegfried Sassoon
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon
Sherston’s Progress by Siegfried Sassoon
Wilfred Owen
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Regeneration by Pat Barker
A Curious Friendship by Anna Thomasson
Siegfried’s Journey by Siegfried Sassoon
The Weald of Youth by Siegfried Sassoon
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
Undertones of War by Edmund Blunden
Diary Without Dates by Enid Bagnold
…Not So Quiet by Helen Zenna Smith
William – An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton
London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes
Doreen by Barbara Noble
To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski
Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski
The Provincial Lady in Wartime by E.M. Delafield
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
Henrietta’s War by Joyce Dennys
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
On the Other Side by Mathilde Wolff-Monckeberg
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
A House in the Country by Jocelyn Playfair
Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico
Coronation by Paul Gallico
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico
Flowers For Mrs Harris by Paul Gallico
Jennie by Paul Gallico
The Fur Person by May Sarton
The Foolish Immortals by Paul Gallico
Too Many Ghosts by Paul Gallico
The Snowflake by Paul Gallico
The Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico
GREAT podcast, as always! That’s a really great subject for debate — I’m quite sure I’ve read more books on WWII than WWI, but I don’t know if that’s just personal preference, or that there are more books available. I suspect the latter. I should also check and see if I’ve read more books written in the period vs. historical fiction set in the period — I know WWII is a hugely popular time period in historical fiction, but I wonder if there’s been a resurgence in WWI fiction because of the centennial.
I would agree with Rachel also in that I think WWII has been a bit more romanticized than WWI. I feel like in retrospect WWI had more ambiguity about the purpose and the futility of the war (which is of course easy to say in retrospect). I do love how WWII gave women more active roles, and of course, there is a clear villain in WWII. I myself prefer WWII fiction, both written during the period and historical fiction. I think the last WWI fiction I read was Birdsong which I found incredibly depressing.
And I must now research Paul Gallico because my library has quite a few of his books! I’ve only read Mrs. ‘Arris goes to Paris which I greatly enjoyed. Don’t know if I should stick with Mrs. ‘Arris or try one of the others first.
Thanks Karen! It turned out to be much easier to distinguish between them than I’d anticipated – a fun discussion.
I also love that Mrs Harris became Mrs ‘Arris on the other side of the Atlantic, just to emphasise that cock-er-ney accent :)
I wrote down quite a few book titles from and about WWI (which I always found more interesting than WWII, partly because it is a historical period that is not much studied in school, at least in France) thanks to this podcast ! I am especially interested in “Not so quiet” by Helen Zenna Smith.
I expected you to mention “Testament of Youth” by Vera Brittain which I read 3 years ago and absolutely adored. It such a heartbreaking book about a whole generation that I just know I will reread it one day.
I’ve had the HZS on my shelf for SO long that I must read it soon.
And I did mean to mention the Brittain – but only to say that, somehow, I have yet to read it.
I thought that the books written long after WWI was over were such a pale imitation of those by contemporary authors that I can’t imagine why they were ever printed. Pat Barker’s trilogy is an inferior rehash of Sassoon’s work. Birdsong was so bad I couldn’t even finish it – I’m sure some people loved the chopped up narrative but I found it irritating and too modernist for the WWI period. I didn’t get any of the visceral feel for the war that contemporary writers evoke. The best WWI novels I have read are Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (very poetic translation – the German original title is more nihilist and despairing: Im Westen nichts Neues – Nothing New in the West) and Her Privates We by Frederic Manning. Manning is the better writer and he evokes the battlefield and the camaraderie brilliantly. Remarque captures the sense of an entire generation being betrayed.
The best WWII books I have read are When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr and Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski. Kerr wrote the book to explain to her children how she came to England, and it is a brilliant child’s eye view of the growing menace of Nazi Germany. Laski’s books are all brilliant, but Little Boy Lost captivated me, enraged me and stayed with me more than any other book I can name. Chilling, bleak, exasperating, truthful – it is a powerful read. The best work by Beverley Nichols I have read is Men Don’t Weep, when he evokes the late 1930s in a collection of short stories showing the effect of the rise of fascism on everyday life.
I didn’t enjoy the Henrietta books by Joyce Dennys. The middle class characters clearly thought themselves superior to the evakcuees and came across as snobbish, elitist and pompous, her husband in particular. The Mrs. Tim books and Delafield’s PL in wartime were far superior.
Thanks for your comment, Anon! I haven’t heard of that Nichols, so there are clearly still avenues for me to explore.
First, a reference to the Bakewell tart question at the beginning. I had never heard of a Bakewell tart until I went to Bakewell, and I live in the U.S. Funnily, I just read a reference to Bakewell tart in At Home in Thrush Green by Miss Read, and I laughed aloud. :)
I really enjoyed your discussion about WWI v. WWII books. I have definitely read more books about WWII, no contest. The main fiction book I’ve read that is directly about WWI is The Summer Before The War by Helen Simonson, which is historical fiction and quite good. But, as I was writing this, I thought of something in my reading related to WWI. The final book in the Anne of Green Gables series deals with the effects of WWI on Anne’s sons. Something so sad happened at the end of that book in connection with WWI that I have never been able to read it again. Maybe that put me off reading more about that war. Who knows?
I also wonder if there are fewer books about and less knowledge of WWI in the U.S. because we entered the war so late. I remember being in London in early November 2008 and seeing the red poppies everywhere. I was so struck by that, even though I was much too young at the time to understand what it meant and had little historical context.
I’ve never heard of Paul Gallico. How fun! I’m listening to the audiobook version of Parnassus on Wheels now, and it’s a delight. Thank you!