Rating: 
Summary: "The Good Soldier"
Review: I have found that reading "general books" on the subject of WWII does get a bit boring, but the personal accounts will draw the reader in and brings to life the good and hardships that one has during a war, any war. Mr. Novotny does this in his book so well you feel you're on the front lines with him.
His style is "right to the point" and he doesn't pull any punches. Bravo Mr. Novotny great work, great book.
Rating:
Summary: Very well written!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Novotny's story. For those of you who enjoy reading about what the common soldier experienced, this is a "must read" book. I read so much WWII and alot of it is from the top looking down. This is not the view you'll get from this great book. It was a good look at the socio-political climate, before the war from the author's perspective as well as his combat experience and captivity. He went through alot!
Rating:
Summary: Very well written!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Novotny's story. For those of you who enjoy reading about what the common soldier experienced, this is a "must read" book. I read so much WWII and alot of it is from the top looking down. This is not the view you'll get from this great book. It was a good look at the socio-political climate, before the war from the author's perspective as well as his combat experience and captivity. He went through alot!
Rating:
Summary: What it was really like.
Review: If you really want to know what life was like for the German soldier on the Eastern Front then you have to read The Good Soldier. Alfred Novotny, a member of the famed Grossdeutschland Division, writes of his experiences before and during the War, his life in a Russian prison camp, his eventual release, and life in the post war years. This book is definately a must read.
Rating:
Summary: A Thoughtful Reminiscence
Review: In 'The Good Soldier', Alfred Novotny reminisces about his life. In a concise and highly readable way the author thinks back six decades to see what he remembers after a long and dynamic life most of which has been spent in a very successful career in the hospitality industry. The central feature of this book however is his service in the elite Grossdeutschland Division in WW II. For two and one-half years he fought on the Eastern Front and although he provides an understanding of the basic savagery of this environment, he sees no healthy need for the endless repetition of the lurid details of exposed entrails. In fact, Novotny provides us with a broad picture of his military service including his training and various non-combat events. Once the war ended Novotny's unit was handed to the Soviets for imprisonment. Here he faced another challenge to his survival as he was delivered into forced labor in a coal mine in the Caucasus.
By the end of the book Alfred Novotny has taught us not only what some German soldiers experienced but also how war affects all soldiers a lifetime later. He writes that the worst memories of the war, "leap to the forefront" of his mind "on occasions that are sometimes too many for my comfort, and too few for my conscience." In his succinctness, Novotny has said a great deal about a big topic.
Rating:
Summary: A Thoughtful Reminiscence
Review: In `The Good Soldier', Alfred Novotny reminisces about his life. In a concise and highly readable way the author thinks back six decades to see what he remembers after a long and dynamic life most of which has been spent in a very successful career in the hospitality industry. The central feature of this book however is his service in the elite Grossdeutschland Division in WW II. For two and one-half years he fought on the Eastern Front and although he provides an understanding of the basic savagery of this environment, he sees no healthy need for the endless repetition of the lurid details of exposed entrails. In fact, Novotny provides us with a broad picture of his military service including his training and various non-combat events. Once the war ended Novotny's unit was handed to the Soviets for imprisonment. Here he faced another challenge to his survival as he was delivered into forced labor in a coal mine in the Caucasus.
By the end of the book Alfred Novotny has taught us not only what some German soldiers experienced but also how war affects all soldiers a lifetime later. He writes that the worst memories of the war, "leap to the forefront" of his mind "on occasions that are sometimes too many for my comfort, and too few for my conscience." In his succinctness, Novotny has said a great deal about a big topic.
Rating:
Summary: Sets the background very well
Review: Not only does this book offer many fascinating details as a personal narrative, it sets up each chapter of Novotny's experiences with background information about what was going on during the war and with Germany's war effort in particular, setting the context and putting each phase of his story into better focus.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Enough Detail
Review: Novotny's book is good, but too short. He only touches briefly on topics and he left me wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Recall of WWII in Austria
Review: Reading Alfred Novotny's "The Good Soldier" brought back memories of my days living in Austria's economic depression in the 1930's, followed by seven years of Nazism and finally, nearly ten years of Soviet Communist occupation. Mr. Novotny's book drove home a realism that was all around me then. After such a long time we tend to forget the bad experiences of life, which is probably good. And yet, there is a danger in becoming complacent instead of assuring that for all of human kind they must not recur. I wish to thank Mr. Novotny for his brilliant account of what pain war inflicts and how only a few have the strength to survive it. Excellent reading to teach all of us that war is not an alternative.
Rating:
Summary: A survivor's legacy
Review: The Good Soldier, by Alfred Novotny is a story of one man's resilience and undimished humanity in the face of incredible hardships - ending on cautionary advice for the reader.I found his account refreshingly free of bowlderization of his youthful embrace of the promises of Nazi politics in Austria in the late 30's, which would prove to have horrific consequences. Despite this, his memoire is refreshingly candid and written with surprising humor, given the ordeals he suffered as a "good soldier"in WWII and the subsequent imprisonment by the Soviets for 2 1/2 years after the wars end. His emigirant experiences in the US again reveal the resiliency that sustained his survival of war and prison, and led, I was happy to read, to success as a restauranteur in the American mid-west. It is however, the cautionary message in the very last pages of his book that set this survivor's tale apart for me. He warns the reader against being seduced by militaristic patriotic propaganda in our own times. He muses, "I still wonder how it all happened...this orgy of killing" and wonders if the world has learned from the experience, and answers his own question with a chilling "No."
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