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Summary: Rivals Remarque and James Jones
Review: I first read Guy Sajer's remarkable autobiography as a teenager. I have continued to re-read it every two or three years during the past two decades.I cannot offer enough praise for Sajer's ability to convey the emotional horror of the battlefield. This book chronicles the destruction of a child's soul over three years of combat. Not everything in Sajer's world view is admirable, at least from an American point of view. He waxes nostalgic at times about the comraderie of the foxhole in distinctly Hitlerian terms and the speeches he places in the mouth of the one officer who earns his respect and admiration are outright Nazi drivel. That caveat aside, this is a book well worth reading and well worth assigning teenage and young adult students to read. Sajer's naive, romantic heart at 16 is blasted and shriveled by war before he turns 20. His story may resonate with kids who otherwise would take no interest in war stories. And why should they read war stories? So they know the stakes involved when important matters of state are settled on a battlefield with the blood of young men and women. Guy Sajer offers eloquent insight into the abyss into which combat hurls the soul and the mind. His is an important, supremely humane, voice.
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Summary: Complete your Education.....
Review: How did I not discover this Book before now? I have read all the reviews posted on the Net & realise it was published some Years ago, I have never been interested in War novels but Stumbled on to this in the Russian section in a large Bookstore - read the back cover & took it home. As Sajer himself says throughout the Book -words cannot describe the Horror that these men were catapulted into - forget wether it's true, forget the critics who drone on about facts & details , this is a book that shows the Horror of War & the shocking cruelty that stems from this. Sajer enters the War & from there is caught inexorably in the Guts of the whole machine - he responds in the same way that you or I would under the circumstances , I have read reviews where some describe him as a coward for surviving only because he was the first to hit the ground when the firing started-so would I have been - who but a lunatic would'nt! The Book describes a Man's terrible journey through War - forget wether he was French German or Russian - this story is every Soldiers account of War on the Front, I am going to lend this Book out to a friend & read it again when I get it back. When I was reading the final chapter I could'nt speak the whole story consumed me, I do wish that he had found Paula again or that he met up with Hals after the War - but this was real life , it did'nt have to have a happy ending. Go on read the Book yourself - post your own review, & be forever changed by what you see in your minds eye.......
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Summary: The Russian War
Review: This book is a largely overlooked account of a young soldier's 2 years spent on the Russian front starting during the retreat from Stalingrad. It is so well written that you can close your eyes and see the vast expanse of Russia, you can feel the sub zero cold and weeks of starvation that Sajer went through. It documents the forgotten, largely unknown battles of Belgorod, Kharkov and Memel, where thousands of Germans and Russians died. I recommend this for anyone interested in the war on the Russian front.
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Summary: Believe the Hype - Read this Book!
Review: If you have any desire to understand the trauma of battle as seen through the eyes of an infantry soldier, read this book. I read it in a matter of four days. My brother read it in two days. The best book of its genre that I have ever read.
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Summary: Mandatory reading for evry human being.
Review: This is the book for anyone who has any misconceptions about war. Glory, honor, all rubish. This book shows how unglorious, and dishonorable warfare can be. One of the most poignant messages I think this book gives, is that when it all comes down to it, you're not fighting for country, mother, or what ever ideals have gotten you into the mess you're in. You're fighting for the guy next to you. I have owned and read this book no less than 4 times. For some reason people seem to borrow it, and never return it. Being that I am actually in the militery, I will never forget some of the passages in this novel. Particularly the tank battles at Kursk. This entire novel is a testament to the depths of human cruelty, and an individuals will to survive even the most desreately hopeless situations. Guy Sajer denys whole heartedly being any type of hero. And this book demonstrates quite well that heroes are dead men. Trully a spectacular account of a facet of WWII that is almost unheard of. And how many novels dealing w/ WWII do we see from the German Prospective? There are no politics in the book what so ever, making it very approachable for anyone, no matter what their views. It is merely an account of fellow human beings, wrapped up in all the misery that is war. I deem it a must read, and a human tale that should be told to every generation to come.
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Summary: A definate read for both the novice and military historian
Review: A caveat. I've spent 23 years of my life as an infantryman as both an enlisted man and officer. I am a product of the cold war, my mother married my stepfather, after my biological fathers death, whilst stationed in Germany 1962-64. I was born in 1957 in Germany, thereby, affording me the first hand German perception via my Opa (Grandfather) through 1964. I I've read a myriad of books relative to the Eastern Front. This book is the creme'd la creme. This book is written in the first person point,hence, the view of war at the ground level. The author's resolution and attention to detail is unmatched. His perspective encompasses that of a lower enlisted man who goes with the flow. He does not advocate his personal feats of courage -- he was a doer with minimal leadership potential. This adds credence to his ability to recreate his personal experiences, situations and battlefield calculus. He goes as far as to talk to the different texture and smell of the soil. This supports his position of digging holes versus oversight of the digging. His attention to detail has raised the ugly head of the skepticism. However, one must remember the rigid German educational system, coupled with, the German draft system. These conditions, generally speaking, earmarked the best and brightest to serve in the infantry. The quality is relative to the war years proper. In closing, the author does a fantastic job of describing the hellish nature of War.
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Summary: The Forgotten Soldier
Review: Framed in the formidable Eastern front campaigns of Germany in WWII, this classic tracks an Alsatian German through these bitter Russian Campaigns. Guy Sajer provides the reader with a sense of the plight of the German Soldiers as they survive the bitter Russian winters. Alsace is on the border of Germany and France and as such those Alsatians joining the German Army were sent as far away from the western front as possible as their loyalty was questionable. Guy Sajer survives WWII despite the continuing lunacy of the German High Command that began with Operation Barbarosa. After reading this book, it became crystal clear why the soldiers in the German Army feared a posting to the Eastern Front as a fateful sealing of their doom.
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Summary: Outstanding. One of the best books I have ever read.
Review: Mr. Sajer is extraordinary in describing his personal experience in WWII. This is a MUST READ BOOK. I wonder if somebody can explain me why bookstores do not carry this book. Go figure! Thanks Mr. Sager and Amazon.com
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Summary: Memoir of a dunce
Review: This book did a better job of describing the horrors and naked brutality of war than any I've ever read. It also did a fantastic job of describing the reality of the Russian and Ukranian steppe in winter. And of Soviet Gen. Zhukov's brutal tactics with his own soldiers. And of Hitler's lunacy is pursuing the Russian front. And of the collapse of that effort. Of course, this book does not deal with the tactical history, and that's what makes it so good. It's a daily diary of a dumb, bumbling teenager in the midst of some of the most horrifying carnage in human history. I, like many people, still hate the Nazis, and would gladly have lobbed a grenade into Sajer's trench during WW II. But Sajer's muddled devotion and incomprehension of duty did nothing, for me, to promote Nazism. Quite the opposite. The fact that he sometimes spouted a confused version of Nazi blather while struggling for his life in subzero temperatures across the Russian steppe made it all sound ridiculous. What was he doing there, I asked myself. The truth came quickly: Guy Sajer was a blockhead, cow-like. He was sent to the Russian front because he was French, something he never comprehended. He survived the horrors he described so well because he wasn't brave and wasn't smart. He was like an animal, really, who knew only to hit the ground at the first sound of fire, and protect his head at all costs. Other than that, he seemed to be pretty useless as a soldier. God protects fools, and that's how Guy Sajer survived to tell us this harrowing tale. I'm glad he did, because for me, it really shows not only that Hitler and the Nazis were evil and brutal, but stupid as well.
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Summary: Like a kick in the gut.........
Review: Often, in books on WWII, a central character will rise above the odds and, with one heroic sweep of the hand, slay the enemy and carry the day. Throw that nonsense out the window with "The Forgotten Soldier". This book brought home the reality of war unlike any book I have ever read. It was completely read by myself in 5 days, at work, before work and wherever possible. When describing the brutal reality of the Eastern Front is somewhat like passing by a fatal accident, you know you shouldn't slow down to gawk but you do anyway. This book will make anyone fear war. If you read about WWII, and have not read this book, then your circle is definitely incomplete.
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