Book Review: Notes of a War Story

I love visiting the library because I always come home with a few good books that I can add permanently to my own small library of books. My library sells books that have been withdrawn from the system for only 25 cents, and really, where else can you find a deal like that?


One of the books I recently took home was Notes for a War Story, by Gipi. It was translated from Italian (I believe) into English by Alexis Siegel. Before I go on any further, I must point out that this book is a comic book, done in green and black overtones.

Comic: Notes for a War Story
Author: Gipi
Genres: War, Friendship
Rating: 7/10

As the title suggests, Notes for a War Story deals with a trio of friends during an unnamed war in what is perceived to be modern times. To survive, the three resort to petty crimes and eventually find themselves under the tutelage of a thug named Felix. From there, their actions escalate in immorality, which is undeniably linked to higher risks and consequences. It is from these wartime adventures that we begin to understand each character's background and the road they've chosen for themselves.

The narrator is Giuliano, who gave up a life of certain privilege to be with his friends - Christian and Stephano, dubbed the "Little Killer". The camaraderie that builds between these three friends is their way of dealing with circumstances of the war. However, there is an inevitable bridge that the narrator cannot cross, as he has a past with a family that he does not want to forget, while Christian and Stephano can only look forward to tomorrow to escape theirs.

It is Gipi's exploration of the relationship between these lost boys and their perceptions of the world around them that speaks volumes. The cry for humanity in a world that has lost touch with morality and order is visible in each character's urge to connect with something that holds sentimental value - from Christian's admiration of a perfect home to Stephano's willingness to connect with Felix, the father he never had.

Though it's fictional, the book is filled with very fine observations that go far in the development of characters. Throughout the book, these boys transform from subjects of examination into animated livelihoods, holding the readers captive in the way they speak, look and act. The art seems entirely too appropriate for the content of the book, with dark shades of green and gray daunting every page.

Nothing is truly resolved in this book, but this is simply a reflection of the lives that go on after the ravage of the war. Gipi has outdone himself with the curiosity he provokes in the readers and the pure, emotional impact of an imaginary world that is only one step away from reality.

One cannot read this book and not be affected in some way.


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I'm happy today because I just received a new copy of Persepolis today for free. It's interesting - Remembrance Day is coming up and I'm reading numerous war books.

I've been out these past few days due to my busy schedule and lack of inspiration. I needed some time to relax and read - the weekend provided ample opportunity. I should be preparing for a very important interview, but I'm currently hooked on a nonfiction I picked up out of curiosity - True Stories from the Nation's ER. It has proved to be worth much more than it cost ($0.25), and has literally made me laugh and cry.

Book Review: All Quiet on the Western Front

I've decided to first add some content to this blog before continuing with the layout. This means taking some old reviews out of the drawers and dusting and polishing them a bit for this site. There will be reviews of classics, though I don't think I'm going to do them in this format. I'll play around with a more consistent one later.

Fiction: All Quiet on the Western Front
Book by: Erich Maria Remarque

Genres: Historical, War

Rating: 3.5/5

In a little dark corner of the library, wedged between imposing hard-covers, sits a book that holds unimaginable power. This slight, flimsy novel is called All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque and published in 1929. Looking at those four tiny numbers, you might wonder if it’s another old, grotesque narrative with moth-bitten English that you’ll find feeding the dust bunnies underneath your bed in a week. Well, far from it.

It is a book that presents World War One through the eyes and mind of one German schoolboy-turned soldier, Paul Baumer. Refreshingly, it’s different from the victorious perspective that we are usually associated with. The German boy, fresh out of high school, is swept up by the war and thrown into front-line trenches along with others from his class. It is through his eyes that we see Germany ripped apart; his hometown, family and friends taken away from him one by one.

There are funny parts and sad ones, describing every aspect the war and excluding nothing that pertained to his experiences and feelings. Through Baumer’s entertaining stories, we are able to understand that the war was everything to him and his generation. Before the war, he had neither a job nor a family of his own. During the war, all he knew was to kill and the terror of being killed. To him and others his age, the opportunity of life afterwards was bleak. The war took everything from him, and yet without it, he would have nothing.

“This book shows us very clearly that war is something else: war is not about heroism, but about terror, either waiting for death, or trying desperately to avoid it, even if it means killing a complete stranger to do so, about losing all human dignity and values, about becoming an automaton; it is not about falling bravely and nobly for one’s country, but about soiling oneself in terror under heavy shellfire, about losing a leg, crawling blinded in no man’s land, or being wounded in every conceivable part of the body.”

This novel does not spin or weave or tell its story to the reader. It shares the horrors and delights of something that took the lives of millions and made others that much richer. We laugh with Baumer as he skirts an exploding shell unscathed while carrying a stack of hot potato pancakes. We cry with him when he sits peacefully by a dying comrade, waiting for him to die so he can get the leather boots. All Quiet on the Western Front does not try to persuade or change the views of its reader. It only shows what happened to one particular soldier in World War One, with his happiness and grief, his insecurities and dreams.

- Annie