A Very Long Engagement in Reading with Style

Feb 13, 2019 Connie G rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, france, world-war-i

The French trenches on the Western Front during World War I were muddy, cold, and infested with lice and rats. The men lived in constant danger, and saw their good friends die by their sides. Some soldiers suffered "shell shock", some deserted, some committed suicide, and others wounded themselves to get away from this hell on earth. The book opens as five soldiers, who have allegedly shot themselves in the hand, walk through the mud to the Front. Their punishment is to be brought to the area be ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

Nov 21, 2018 Elizabeth (Alaska) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: from-friends, world-war-one, late-20th-century, france, 5-star-reads

This is a powerful novel which touches on how war can destroy the human psyche. As I read, I thought that each of us has a breaking point. Some reach that point sooner than others, and, if we're lucky, most of us never have to find out for ourselves what triggers it. The five men of the GR description reached their breaking point and chose self-mutilation in order to avoid further time at the front. Each has been court-martialed for that offense and sentenced to death. Instead of facing the firi This is a powerful novel which touches on how war can destroy the human psyche. As I read, I thought that each of us has a breaking point. Some reach that point sooner than others, and, if we're lucky, most of us never have to find out for ourselves what triggers it. The five men of the GR description reached their breaking point and chose self-mutilation in order to avoid further time at the front. Each has been court-martialed for that offense and sentenced to death. Instead of facing the firing squad, their sentence was to be sent over the top into No Mans' land to await their discovery by the Germans.

The novel is mostly taken up with the story of one young woman, Mathilde Donnay, who was engaged to the youngest of the five. She, and the families of the other four, were notified of their loved one's death as having been honorable in the line of duty. Mathilde learns such may not have been the case. A determined woman, she tries to learn the truth of what happened that day.

I have read a few books of late where I didn't like any of the characters. This novel is quite the opposite - I liked everyone. Of course, there were some soldiers referred to who were not likeable, but they were not the actual characters in the book, just those spoken about. But while "the five" had reached their breaking point, there were heroes as well. I quite liked Mathilde, who had been in
a wheel chair since the age of three. Sylvain, one of her care givers, was marvelous. There were soldiers who had been there on "that day" who shared their memories - and not necessarily memories of themselves, but of others.

While I have given more plot than I usually do in my reviews, I never felt this was solely a plot-driven novel. Some might think so. The writing fits the story perfectly, and the manner in which the story is told is varied. Mathilde wrote letters, and though the contents of her letters are never included, we get the contents of her responders. I found the characterizations of the main characters to be quite good, and even those of the minor characters was more a good cameo than wooden representations.

I don't know if I would read more by this author or not, as I haven't looked to see anything about other titles or whether they have been translated. I wanted to read this novel in my pursuance of learning/experiencing more about World War One. It served that purpose magnificently, and am more than happy to give it a full 5-stars. ...more

15 likes · Like · see review

Feb 02, 2019 Rosemary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In 1919 a determined French girl sets out to discover what happened to her fiancé who was reported killed in action but with everyone shying away from the details.

I read this very fast, easily seeing ahead to the ending but without that diminishing my enjoyment. I thought I hadn't seen the movie, but maybe it had one of those trailers that virtually tell the whole story, because I seemed to know a lot of it. Still, it's really the characters that Mathilde meets along the way that make this story ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 24, 2019 Deedee rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical-fiction, translation, read-2019-literary-fiction, rws-group-reads-read, read-2019, world-europe-france, historical-fiction-world-war-one, challenge-2019-winter, read2019translated

I'm reading this book now and I agree with the comment from another goodreads member:
In this book just about all the characters go by numerous names. They go by their name given at birth, their military rank, where they come from and other nicknames too. I jotted down all these details and still was lost much of the time. I was always asking, “Who is that?!” I think I'd be liking this story better if I could keep better track of the characters. ...more

Like · see review