Fred aptly chose The Middle Parts of Fortune by Frederic Manning for this month's book choice. July 28, 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. The Middle Parts of Fortune has been described as a classic and one of the best descriptions of a soldier's experience fighting in that war. I really should have asked Fred to write this entry because I nearly failed World History as a freshman in college. However, I brought my notebook, took notes and asked a lot of questions. I still don't completely understand what caused the war and what the issues were, but that is because, I was assured by Ed, Tim, and Fred that it was complicated. At one point I learned that the unresolved issues of WWI were the beginnings of the unrest in the Middle East which led to a lively side discussion. At another point, I learned that the Boer War had everything to do with the outbreak of WWI.
Perhaps it was hard to really focus while Mindy and Chrysanne were singing along to Fred's background music of WWI inspired songs. For those members who understand WWI and the experience, they found the book to be an excellent rendition of trench warfare. Fred had visited some of the sites of the trenches involved in the war and he was able to help us understand the very difficult nature of fighting in that war. He described soldiers tossing grenades and weapons across a short distance of land (No Man's Land) to the trenches on the other side and at some point having to run through No Man's Land to attack the other side. This method of warfare led to the loss of 16 million men or 6,500 lives a day over the course of the four years. There were 20 million casualties in all.
Our meeting was quite informative and I am tempted to read a history book so that I can better understand how the war led to current day conflicts between countries, not to mention King Ferdinand, Sophie and the Serbian anarchists. Fred suggested several books including the following:
Fear by Gabriel Chevelier
The War Poets by Robert Giddings
Under Fire: The Story of a Squad by Henri Barbusse
Fred served an excellent curry paired with very nice beverages. I was glad he did not cook the rabbit described in the novel. Also happy that he did not ration rum.
* If there are any inaccuracies in my reporting of world history, do not hesitate to let me know.
We are set to meet September 29th at Tim's house. We chose the novel Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
