Teaser Tuesday: Letters from a Lost Generation

The last book of Caroline's Literature and War Readalong for 2014 is a nonfiction book of correspondence.  When she first posted her list of selections I was quite pleased to see it on the list and ordered it without a second thought to have it safely tucked away until the end of the year.  Then life got busy and I've done poorly when it comes to reading along in general, so I considered just letting it go like so many other books I have let go of of late.  But when we chatted a bit about it and I heard how good it was and how accessible--easy to pick up and set down since it is a collection of letters I decided maybe it was worth attempting to squeeze it in after all, even if I don't finish it in time to add to this year's list of books (or in time for the forthcoming discussion).

While I'm unsure whether I will indeed finish it this year (am trying to keep my plans and expectations for my winter work break low--I never manage half of what I hope to do during breaks), I am so glad I picked it up and decided to read it after all.  I'm only a fourth of the way in and I know what's coming so am reading it with a heavy heart, but it is an amazing book.  Letters from a Lost Generation, edited by Alan Bishop and Mark Bostridge is a collection of letters (only a selection of them have been included) between Vera Brittain, her fiancé, brother and two other school friends written just before and during WWI. 

I'll be playing catch up for the remaining days of the year, trying to get in a few last posts about books I read and didn't write about, so today seemed a perfect day to share a few teasers of what I have been reading.  I have always meant to read Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth (as well, I have a biography of Brittain, one of her novels and a biography she wrote about her friend Winifred Holtby) and am very tempted to begin a little reading project about her life and times.  Something to carry over into 2015 and a reading path I am quite happy to follow now.

I suspect you are already quite familiar with Vera Brittain's story--she lost all four men she corresponded with in this book in World War I.  If you want an honest and accurate picture of what the world was like then, I think you couldn't do much better than to read a book like this.  Roland Leighton, a school friend of her younger brother, was her fiancé.  Edward Brittain was her brother, and Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow were close friends of the young men.  The letters contained in this volume give an interesting view of the war and of Britain at the time.  The letters give a varied look at things--from both male and female perspectives  as well as from the battlefield, military hospitals, as well as the homefront as the introduction notes.

Reading these letters, what strikes me is the honor of the men fighting.  It's a common theme in the war literature I have read, that young men chose, they wanted to go off and fight for the honor of their country and themselves.  I think it has become quite a cliché to say that the best and the brightest of young men were lost in this war (though the editors do note that that isn't entirely true--certainly the letters show that it was the case to some extent).  But you do get a sense in reading these letters that it was understood the chances the young men were taking, but time and again the feeling was there that no matter what they couldn't let their country down.

The book is broken into eight sections, and I am in the midst of the third.  The letters begin in 1913 just when Vera meets Roland.  He and her brother were friends--Roland had won a place at Oxford already, Edward was hoping to go, and Vera decided to make a try for it as well.  She did earn a place as well, and just as the group were set to go, thinking they would be students at the same time, war breaks out and the young men almost immediately want to volunteer.

These first sections show primarily Vera and Roland's growing friendship and blossoming romance.  The other thing that strikes me in reading these letters is the quality of the writing.  Letter writing truly was an art, though the editors note that Roland's letters "are the most self-consciously literary of the collection."  Truly they are almost like little work's of art--how he will be sitting in the middle of a war zone and reflecting on nature.  The letters are both beautiful and horrible, as I know what's coming.  The latter half of the book concentrates on Vera's correspondence with her brother, Victor and Geoffrey.

My teaser's are a few excerpts from the letters themselves to give you a flavor of the correspondence and the quality of the writing and sentiments (though there is nothing sentimental about the letters either).

Vera to Roland (8-23-14)--"You are constantly apologising for your letters being egotistical.  Please do not.  Any letters worth having are always so; one does not trouble to correspond with people unless one is interested in them personally ". 

"I do hope you will be able to go to Oxford just the same.  But it seems impossible to expect anything from the future just now; life is so indefinite & one has to wait each day to know what to do next.  That is a great source of depression to a person life me, who am always working in the present for what I hope from the future."

* * *

Roland to Vera (9-29-14)--"In fact if I do not get to Oxford at all, as seems possible, I shall not much regret it,--except perhaps in that I shall miss the incidental pleasure of seeing you there.  Of course, all being well, I could go up after everything is over.  I feel, however, that I am meant to take some active part in this war.  It is to me a very fascinating thing--something, if often horrible, yet very ennobling and very beautiful, something whose elemental reality raises it above the reach of all cold theorising.  You will call me a militarist.  You may be right."

* * *

Roland to Vera (2/15/15)--"I am writing this in front of an open casement window overlooking the sea.  The sky is cloudless, and the russet sails of the fishing smacks flame in the sun.  It is summer--but it is not war; and I dare not look at it.  It only makes me angry, angry with myself for being here, and with the others for being content to be here [he was at home in Britain--at a hotel in Lowestoft].  When men whom I have once despised for being effeminate are sent back wounded from the front, when nearly everyone I know is either going or has gone, can I think of this with anything but rage and shame?"

* * *

Vera to Roland (4/17/15)--"Kingsley's idea that 'Men must work & women must weep', however untrue it ought to be, seems in one sense fairly correct just at present.  I certainly try to do as much as possible of the former, & very rarely have an inclination towards the latter--but I do feel like it as little when you tell me you have been kissing my photograph; it is more fortunate than its original.  She never seems quite to have got past your reserve or been able to know you properly.  I suppose it is the nearness of death which breaks down the reserves & conventions which in the midst of elemental things are sen to matter so little after all."

"I never thought I should ever say to anyone the sort of things I write to you.  At ordinary times one little knows how deeply one can be moved."

These letters are utterly compelling to read and hard to put down even knowing what is going to happen.  If I manage to finish reading the book this year it will surely end up on my best reads list.  And indeed, I think I will be reading more in the same vein.  Certainly more by and about Vera Brittain.

Comments

[Lark]

Just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas! I hope it's filled with family, friends, and many good books. :)

[Rohan]

It's a really memorable volume. One thing I was really struck by was the very ordinary stuff they talk about, amid the crises and traumas of the war -- lost luggage, books they are reading, their love lives. I think you'd really enjoy following that path: I read a lot of VB (and WH) a while back and have been following up on it one way or another every since. If you can get ahold of Testament of a Generation, which is a collection of their journalism, I recommend it! (I got it through AbeBooks, I think, since it's out of print.)

[Caroline]

I finisehed it on Sunday and was reading little else before the final page. It's been on my mind constnatly and I've immediately started Testament of Youth. thingking that i would like to dedicate my reading to British literature between the wars for a while.
Yesterday was the anniversary of Roland Leihton's death. 99 years since he was killed. It was an eerie thought. Once you've read those letters you almost think of them as your friends as well.
I wonder how you will feel about it in the end. At first I put it aside frequently but I've read the last 200 pages pretty much in two sittings.
I wish you a Merry Christmas too! I'll be sending you an email soon.

[elizabeth Wix]

I haven't read Testament of Youth and obviously need to!
I found Siegfried Sassoon's Sheraton Trilogy - Memoirs of a Foxhuntingman/Infantry Officer etc
stunning.
Happy winter reading, dear Danielle!

[cathy]

Counting down the hours until Christmas, now, and wanted to say "Merry Christmas" to you, Danielle and everyone on the blog. Happy New Year, too.

[Stefanie]

A good book of letters is a real treasure. Not only are they enjoyable in themselves but they always make me want to be a better letter writer. You are right to say the art of letters because it is an art. One, I hope to be better at practicing in 2015!

[Danielle]

Hi Lark, Thank you! I hope you are enjoying the holiday festivities, too, and that Santa has been generous!

[Danielle]

It is very engaging reading. Letter writing was such an art and the letters are really pretty amazing--as you say the ordinary is mixed in with the extraordinary. What strikes me is how Roland and Vera talk about the war and the possibilities of dying interspersed with their mutual attraction. I have been reading a bit every day and I think I will indeed continue on with more about Vera Brittain. I will look for Testament of a Generation--I have never gotten around to reading Testament of Youth so will dig out my copy of it. I have a novel she wrote as well--in a Virago edition. I am so glad I decided to pick up the book after all as I had thought I would perhaps give it a miss for the time being. A little sad going for this time of year, but so worthy, too.

[Danielle]

I'm still reading part three so have not gotten to Roland's death yet. I know it's coming, but I have a feeling it is going to be difficult to read it nonetheless. I am so glad I decided in the end to read the book--I have a feeling I won't finish by the end of the year (though will try--and if not--will finish soon after), so I wanted to at least give it a mention now. I can see how you would feel so engaged by the letters to keep reading them straight through--I read a bit of this and then pick up a novel that is lighter going, but I expect there will come a time when I don't want to put the book down. I am thinking I will read more about her or by her as well. You'll have to tell me how you get on with Testament of Youth! Did you know that a movie was made of ToY? I just discovered that--though I have not heard anything about the film and think it has not yet been released in the US.

[Danielle]

I haven't actually read it yet either, but the letters between Vera, Roland, her brother and their friends is pretty amazing. If you want to know what it was like during the war, this is a pretty good place to get a feel for what life was like then. I have not read anything by Siefried Sassoon but need to look for these books as well--I am not a very good poetry reader, but I might like WWI poetry. Happy reading to you, too, Elizabeth!

[Danielle]

Hi Cathy--Happy Holidays--I hope you are enjoying a peaceful and happy Christmas week!

[Danielle]

I forgot how much I like reading books of letters and hope I can pick up more of them in 2015. This is a really amazing collection! I know what you mean--I think my letters are nothing like these--letter writing was such an art form--something to strive for, yes?!

[Caroline]

Guy mentioned the movie and said it was very good. I know his taste so I'm sure it's well worth watching but I want to read the book first. Oh my - I think I wrote Robert Leighton in my post. I need to correct that.

[Danielle]

....I am slowly catching up on posts, so I'll be reading yours soon! I am happy to hear that Guy liked the movie--there is a companion book being published here in the US sometime in the next few months--must look it up and see if the movie will ever be released here or not...