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Summary: Every politician should be made to read...
Review: A classic account of the terror and sheer destruction of war. If you were affected by the opening scenes of Steven Speilberg's "Saving Private Ryan", this book is sure deliver the same impressions of one of the Second World War's lessor glorified but most destructive of campaigns. To imagine the mud, snow, ice, wind of an endlessly barren landscape and the thousands of tanks and waves of soldiers thrown at one another by their respective commanders is confronting in itself. For the picture to be painted by a soldier who started his campaign at 16, is to bring home the unimaginable horror that must have confronted every soldier who saw combat in the ebb and flow of the Russian Front. Powerful scenes of combat and the camaraderie of the private soldier are recounted in a vivid and confronting style, the writer at times deliberately unable to describe the scenes undoubtedly replayed in his mind. The final pages contain perhaps one of the most brutalising occurances of Sajer's account, as he is returned to "normality" - somewhat incongruous after having fought halfway across Russia and back, but emotionally devastating. Any politician who reads accounts such as this and still orders troops to war lacks the essential humanity they sell to us with interest at election time.
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Summary: Best book fromm the soldier's perspective
Review: I have been reading and studying about WWII for 30 years, with the war in the east, between the Nazis and the Russians, my specialty. The vast majority of books I've read depict the overall battles, such as what army did this or what division or general did that and on what date. But a war as vast as that begun with Operation Barbarossa, involving millions of soldiers, you would think there would be more books written by the "common" soldier, those who actually dug the foxholes, saw their buddies killed, and survived through the incredible physical hardships. There are numerous books by the field marshals and the generals, but precious few by the men who actually fought it on the front lines and Guy Sajer does an absolutely unbelievable job of describing all he lived through, as seen through the eyes of the enlisted man. You can perhaps begin to imagine some of the true stories that have gone to the graves of these now old men, of a war that was often unmatched in terms of feriocity and barbarism on both sides. A spellbinding, riveting book! About the best war book I've ever read. Incredible action and hardships.
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Summary: Makes you think
Review: I've just finished the book & the 150 reviews on this cite. Without going into details about the book (true v. fiction, or pro v. anti nazi), the book made me (and apparently 150 other reviewers) think. With so much fluff bombarding our literary, educational & entertainment senses, why wouldn't you read a book that makes you sit back and think. It was both the fastest read (I too, couldn't put it down) & the slowest as I reread passages over & over again. I've just ordered every used copy I could find to hand out to my friends.
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Summary: Classic Military Literature
Review: The Story: The young (16!!) Frenchman Sajer is forced into the Wehrmacht in 1942 and starts on supply routes on the eastern front. After the fall of Stalingrad the Wehrmacht withdraws from the Don and Sajer joins the Grosse Deutschland Division and becomes a hardened fighter on the eastern front, moving forwards, backwards and fowards again. Finally he flees Prussia on the frozen ice of the baltic sea only to find himself in an american POW.The Execution: The writing is unbelievably gripping. A lot of people do believe that this is a novel, not an autobiography because Sajer is able to describe himself and his sourroundings in a way that draws the reader into his mind and actions. This is a big difference to a lot of autobiographical accounts on the war: You're not detached, you're with them. This makes for a frightening read and you're not sure whether to fear and cheer for the Wehmacht or not. This is very unorthodox and I found it therefore to be very intense. One Warning: Sajer does not ommit anything. And truly, fighting in Russia was hell and some of the scenes he describes are so unbelievably gruesome and beyond any humanity that one wonders if such things really happened. Is it real? A lot of people have questioned whether Sajer is real or/and if he really has seen all he writes about. Question 1 can be answered positively: He is a well-known cartoonist in France, publishing Comic Books on WWII under the name of DIMITRI (check and order at www.amazon.fr). He never tried to hide, but never gave in depth interviews on the book (at least not in english). Has he seen it all? Hard question to answer, sometimes me too thought that he overdramatizes a lot, but I grew up in post-war Germany and spoke with a lot of eastfront fighters and can tell you that all of these things Sajer describes have happened like this frequently - not as an exception. Essential reading for any human being.
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Summary: Superb book
Review: I've already bought a lot of books about war, including many personal accounts, and this one is one of the best. Mr. Sajer was a half french soldier in the german WWII army. He fought in the eastern front and, with great skill, tell us the story of life and death in Russia. While thousands of personal narratives have been written about the war in the west, the eastern front remains in a distant second place. This book fill a large gap. Based on previous reviews I bought it and I can't stop reading. It is a vivid account of a ordinary soldier life in a wild and bitter enviroment. There is no such a glory or a idealized fight like Rudel's "Stuka Pilot" nor the officer point of view as the excelent Knappe's "Soldat", just a man, like you and me, and his comrades trying to survive the war. I have no words to recommend it.
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Summary: If you accept Guy Sajer as legitimate
Review: This book is stupendously gripping. I've served in the military, but I have never encountered such unspeakable ferocity, desperation, and naked will to live as I have in this book. The inefficient Wermacht supply system is readily apparent from the story. The sense of frail hope and crushing despair sets into your bones with each new Russian offensive, and escape seems impossible, or if possible, simply fleeting. Sacrifice, pain, death, and every destructive scene will float through your mind as you read this book, and you will know war, as well as is possible without taking part in it. If Guy Sajer is a fraud, well it's not a crime, but it should be. Then again, we may never really know. Make your decision after reading his book.
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Summary: Absolutely Incredible!
Review: Having just read this book I must share the opinion of the reviewer M.Ballard (below) "the greatest literary work I have ever read" as well. This book is far and away the greatest war story ever told. Disregard the opinions of those who question the absolute accuracy of facts- that is not what this book is about. It is the story of an average human being's quest for survival against terrific odds and the search for the meaning of life, love and friendship in the mind of a seventeen year old who is experiencing a horrific war from the front lines. Sajer's recount of his experiences is vivid, disturbing, and deeply thought provoking. Sure to make anyone who reads it value life and the many comforts that we enjoy today as the result of so many others' past sacrafices. Forgotten Soldier is surely one of those books never to be forgotten, by me or anyone else who reads it.
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Summary: Very moving, as provoking as Frankls Search for Meaning
Review: Fantastic book and despite the one negative review from the gentleman from Canada...(The world has it's nit pickers who seek importance from irrelevant inaccuracies) This book drills to the core of suffering and our relations to each other during extreme duress... May we never know the suffering of this time again. And a great gift to that someone on your list that needs a heavy dose of "Gee I guess I don't have it so bad after all". It has the power to change lives to the better..
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Summary: A piece for all of humanity....
Review: I would just like to say, very simply, that this is the greatest literary work I have ever read. And I choose those words very, very carefully. The fact that this book has been debated to be false, (those sources are very poorly researched by the way and keep that in mind), is irrelevant. After I had read only half of the book, I knew that the everday elements of peacetime living would seem forever trivial. When I finished however, my outlook on my entire life had changed. I don't want to bore you, or blow this work into a bunch of hype, but this book, this work of soul, has forever transformed me. This is not just some old war story. I believe that the words written on those pages are a window to the very core of human beings. Perhaps, almost certainly, you will see a piece of yourself in every word. Of course, you must ultimately be the judge of what you take from it. All I can say is, read it as soon as possible. You will never forget it.
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Summary: Tremendous
Review: This is one of my favorite books, not just because the material itself is fascinating, but because it influenced my thinking so much. Our culture often villifies the Germans categorically, and this book shows us that they should not be stereotyped or oversimplified. This French-born German infantryman shows us the hell of war on the front lines in Russia from his own point of view, a view that is tragic, vivid, and poignant.
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