2008-04-16 more than a novel

This is a book that requires a level of intelligence to enjoy it and an even higher level to really understand it. It is superficially a novel that is against war but is a study of the human psychological state where every personality is represented, not always simply in one character but often you will find your own personality blended in different characters. It deals with who we are, who we want to be, how we see ourselves and how others see us and it sets this against the backdrop of the second world war. To desribe it as one reviewer does as a disappointing attempt to show how ordinary soldiers are smarter than their officers entirely misses the point of the whole book and perhaps he is just out of his depth with a work of this magnitude.

It is a book I read every year and every year find something new, something deeper and understand my own personality more clearly. Don't only read it for a story about war, you will enjoy the wit and the satirical humour, but look for more and you will not be disappointed.