A Soldier Erect

Horatio Stubbs #2

by Brian W. Aldiss

The ebullient ‘average-man’ hero of The Hand-Reared Boy is now a year older. He is on excellent form when his regiment is despatched overseas to India to become part of the unforgettable Forgotten Army, were heat and dust are in conflict with the sexual urges of the young soldiers. Once in Burma, the men are plunged into the Battle of Kohima. The sexuality and blunt language of fighting men in crisis is humorously conveyed in this, the onl

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Novels

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Pseudonyms: Jael Cracken, Peter Pica, John Runciman, C.C. Shackleton, Arch Mendicant, & "Doc" Peristyle.

Brian Wilson Aldiss was one of the most important voices in science fiction writing today. He wrote his first novel while working as a bookseller in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he wrote his first work of science fiction and soon gained international recognition. Adored for his innovative literary techniques, evocative plots and irresistible characters, he became a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 1999.
Brian Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, just after celebrating his 92nd birthday with his family and closest friends.

Brian W. Aldiss Group on Good Reads

Reviews

[Manny]

In his review of Lysistrata, Bird Brian argues that soldiers in WW II were willing to give up sex for several years in order to rid the world of the scourge of Fascism. But is this true? Read another Brian's novel for a dissenting voice...

[Nathan]

Youg man signs up in WWII and is sent to India to fight the Japanese. First 2/3 of the book has the hero waiting in camps and depots trying to stave off boredom by picking fights with the cooks and getting his end away with local prostitutes. Final section sees him fighting in Burma. Pretty graphic scenes in both sections, with a huge and acknowledged disconnect between the two. Well written, and not as quick to read as you may think looking at the page count. Warning: a lot of the secondary characters don't make it to the final page. 3.5/5

[Paul Lloyd]

It was a bit odd expecting to read a Science Fiction book that ended up being a World War 2 story. Still it was a good story a about Haratio Stubbs and his exploits in India with some insight into the tragedies, realities and harshness of war. It had me researching maps, You Tube vidios and Wikipedia to find out more.

[John Barclay]

A lot of build up to a very exciting and vividly terrible account of fighting in the mountains of Burma.

A little too repetitive in the first half, but it does the job of conveying the awfulness of army life even when not in danger from combat.

[Paul Marc Fay]

Superb book

Funny with great pathos entwined with dramatic tales of jungle warfare. Recommended for all ages. Now for the last of the trilogy.

[Terence Park]

As a complete SF geek, I needed a continual SF fix. At that time (the 70s and 80s) to get a feel for the field, you depended on reading between the runes of monthly magazines / author comments in paperback collections / the occasional fanzine. Bought this in hope of seeing some of the inputs to Brian's writing - a slight variation to my reading diet, or so I thought. In that sense, I was to be disappointed - although tolerably well written, it veered away too strongly, leaving me with just part of a pretty normal auto-biography.
I suppose the phallic cover design should have been warning enough.

[Paul Girdler]

Aldiss strays into Virgin Soldier territory - historically, geographically and thematically. Nonetheless, throws some light however skewed onto an often overlooked campaign of World War II and Aldiss is always readable

[Anthony Faber]

Sequel to "The Hand Reared Boy" dealing with the war years. If you liked that, you'll like this.