Further Proof Men Are Different From Women
August’s issue of GQ has an article on the 10 best war books of all time. Think about that for a second….would Elle or InStyle or any woman-focused magazine ever have an article like that? I’m guessing no. It would not occur to women, at least I don’t think it would, to take the time to compile a list to honor and rate war books. I’m guessing most women readers would flip by the article without ever reading it.
Sure, women’s magazine have lists of other things - things men might find frivolous or dumb or a bit too intimate to chat about in public. Some things that, admittedly, make my eyes roll back into my head. Others are okay. For example, a woman’s magazine is where you’d find a list of the 10 best chick lit books, or the 10 best self-help books or maybe even the 10 best fiction books. War books? Ummm, no.
In case you care, the best war books are things like Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five - a book I never really thought was that great - some Hemingway classics and others. You won’t be surprised to hear that there’s not a romance or comedy in the group.
August 2nd, 2005 at 8:43 am
You’re right Helen, not surprised at all..Men!
August 2nd, 2005 at 9:32 pm
Interesting, Helen. But strangely enough, I eat up war books.
Seriously.
I could tell you what I thought were the best war books ever written. I read them voraciously.
I think it’s because I liken war to motherhood. Your sensibilities get distilled. Your days consist of monitoring bowel movements and food intake and the penny-on-the-floor that lodges in the throat like a bullet.
If your “troops” are alive at the end of the day (like Roseanne said)you’ve done your job.
That being said, I would recommend:
Dispatches - Michael Herr.
All’s Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque.
And:
In Country - Bobbie Ann Mason.
We, as women and mothers, share more with men at war than we realize.
Just my take on it.
Thanks for a fascinating topic! ~Ann
August 3rd, 2005 at 12:49 pm
I’ve mentioned these books over and over on my blog but Pat Barker’s WWI trilogy?
Friggin’ AMAZING.
Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, The Ghost Road.
I don’t actively seek out books dealing with war, but I don’t shy away from them, either. I have Slaughterhouse Five, All Quiet on the Western Front and another war book by some french bloke (Sebastien… something?) on my TBR shelves.