What is your favorite World War Two Novel?

[parthianbow]

so strictly speaking, it's not a novel. However, The Forgotten Soldier, by Guy Sajer, is one of my top 3 reads of all time.

Written by a half-French (hence the name), half-German man, it tells the story of how he, without speaking a word of German, was conscripted into the German army aged 17 (:eek , and sent to the Russian front. Needless to say, he survived the war, and his account of the war and is the most compelling I've ever read.

I rate the book so highly that I've bought countless copies and given it to people.

[Anna Elliott]

I love Edith Pargeter's semi-autobiographical She Goes to War. And of course more recently The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

[parthianbow]

we've never heard from either Douglas W. Jacobsen, the thread's originator, or Schultpe, another contributor, since. Could it, just could it, just could it possibly be - not Stickman (That's where the quote is from. Sorry, been reading too many kids' of late!), but because they were promoting their own novels?

[Ludmilla]

I really liked Mal Peet's YA novel, Tamar, about SOE agents stationed in Holland during the hunger winter of 44-45. Like Zusak's The Book Thief, it's an adult crossover novel that could have been marketed just as easily as an adult novel. I actually liked it much better than TBT (I'm in the minority for hating the gimmicky narrative device of Death as narrator in that one).

Parthianbow said: so strictly speaking, it's not a novel. However, The Forgotten Soldier, by Guy Sajer, is one of my top 3 reads of all time.

Good to hear. I've had that one in the TBR and have heard great things about it. I usually have to be in the right frame of mind to read a book like this, though.

[Leo62]

[quote=""parthianbow""]we've never heard from either Douglas W. Jacobsen, the thread's originator, or Schultpe, another contributor, since. Could it, just could it, just could it possibly be - not Stickman (That's where the quote is from. Sorry, been reading too many kids' of late!), but because they were promoting their own novels? [/quote]
surely not...

Read lots of good WW2 novels but the one that's really stuck around for me is Catch 22.

[Jack]

It must be 35 years ago that I read it, and the author's name is long forgotten by me, But I really enjoyed ESCAPE FROM WARSAW. It brought the war, and the human toll it took, into my consciousness. I think young people today should be required to read it or something like it, lest we forget.
Jack

[Jack]

Another great set of books that take place (kind of) during the war are The Chronicles of Narnia. A bit of a reach I know, but still one helluva set of stories.

[Anna Elliott]

[quote=""parthianbow""]we've never heard from either Douglas W. Jacobsen, the thread's originator, or Schultpe, another contributor, since. Could it, just could it, just could it possibly be - not Stickman (That's where the quote is from. Sorry, been reading too many kids' of late!), but because they were promoting their own novels? [/quote]

Stickman? Which kids' book is that? I spend my days reading to my three year old so have to ask.

[parthianbow]

Not a WW2 novel, Anna, but Stickman is an excellent book by the prolific author Julia Donaldson. She's the same person who wrote The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and Sharing A Shell, Tiddler, Room on the Broom and many others. Discover, if you haven't already, and enjoy! (Our son is 3 and a bit, and has been reared on all these.)

[parthianbow]

Thanks, Jack, for that recommendation. I will go out and look for it. Sounds right up my street, a la The Forgotten Soldier, the film The Pianist, Schindler's Ark/List etc.