This was a remarkably human work of writing. This book was on fire with life and death. This book is not about the characters or the story, it's about the human experience and about war. World war I was one of if not the single most horrific wars in human history and this book really does a great job of putting you there. It's easy to look at historical wars from a distance to see the numbers of lives lost, the costs and outcomes of the war, the world leaders of the time but it's often very hard to see the people that were really affected by the war. This novel takes you through the trenches of the western front but it gives insight into more than just war. It gives a great perspective on what dire circumstances can do to a man's psyche. It explores fear and death. It explores all sorts of human exchanges from the altered perspective of a war torn soldier. I fully intend to read this book again someday at a slower pace and really meditate upon the perspective's in this book. This is a must read for all humans.
