IWM- modern warfare

I'm going to step away from the Christmas posts and show you some more (rather un-festive) pictures from my recent trip to the Imperial War Museum, London.

I've followed the floor plan of the museum and split my posts to reflect the different exhibition, these pictures are all from the modern warfare section:-

The Imperial War Museum, London

This weekend I went to The Imperial War Museum. It has recently been renovated to coincide with the centenary of the First World War this year. 

 

I'm going to split up my photographs, to cover the different exhibitions in depth, but I just wanted to briefly give an overview if you are considering visiting IWM. 

The museum is free to visit, open daily 10:00-6:00. Due to the high volume of visitor at the moment, it is timed entry for the WW1 exhibition, but again this free (but still very crowded). 

Photograph is allowed in the museum, apart from (and rightly so) in the Holocaust exhibition. Another thing to note- the Holocaust exhibition is not recommended for children under the age of 14, and includes graphic photographs. 

We spent about 4 and half hours in IWM and didn't manage to see all of the exhibitions. We didn't go in Truth and Memory or A Family in Wartime, simply because we ran out of time. 

I'd recommend you bring your own food and drink. There was a poor choice of sandwiches and both the tea and coffee are horrible.    

Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North

As this was the winner of the Man Booker prize this year, I'm sure it'll be on many people's Christmas lists. Although, I've only just started to read my way through the shortlist, I'm not convinced this would have been the winner for me.

The Plot: The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, was built by Japan during WWII using forced labour. Approximately 180,000 Asian civilians and 60,000 allied Prisoners of War worked on the railway. Hundreds of thousands of people died, due to starvation, and the brutal regime of the camps.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is the account of a fictional Australian army doctor, Dorriago Evans, and his life before, during and after his experience on the Death Railway. Dorriago struggles to save the lives of the men under his care, as is forced by his captors to select the POWs to work on the railway each day. Throughout he is haunted by the memory of Amy, the wife of his uncle, who he had an affair with.

The novel is non-liner, showing the long reaching consequences of trauma, and the importance of happier memories in difficult circumstances.

Rating: 3.5/5
Full review after the jump:-

Lest we forget

Like 4 million other people, I went to pay my respects at the commemorative art installation at The Tower of London.

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red comprises of 888,236 individually hand-made poppies planted in the moat of The Tower to represent a British military fatality during the First World War.

Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

Another fantasy review for you today, The Name of the Wind. I promise this'll be the last one (for a little while) so if these isn't a genre that interests you don't worry, I've been reading a variety of other things as well.

The Plot: Kvothe is masquerading  as an unremarkable innkeeper, but his origins are a lot more eventful. When his parents are murdered Kvothe is left destitute, scrambling for survival on the streets of the city, but he still harbours ambitions to attend the prestigious university. Providing he can pass the entrance examination and scrape together the tuition fee, the university offers to teach him the magical disciplines of Sympathy, Alchemy, Artifice and Naming. This if the first book in the Kingkiller Chronicals, which recalls Kvothe's early life as he tell his story to a scribe. 

Rating: 3.8/ 5 (I liked it slightly more that The Blade Itself , but not quite as much as Assassin's Apprentice

Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

I'm still on a fantasy kick at the moment (read my review of Robin Hobb The Assassin's Apprentice here) and ordered a whole bunch from my local library after reading some samples (see my mini-review of fantasy samples here).

The Plot: Logan Ninefinger, renown warrior of the north has become separated from his comrades, who believe him dead. He is found by a wizard's apprentice and taken to meet the great Bayaz himself. Together they form an alliance against the king of the North. Inquisitor Glokta, himself crippled in the dungeons of the Gurkul Emperor, now tortures and investigates treason in the Union. Captain Jezal, arrogant and wealthy seeks glory in the fencing circle. A war is brewing between the North, the Union and Gurkul. Conspiracies, treachery and death are coming to the three countries and Logan, Bayaz, Glokta and Jezal all have a part to play.

Rating: 3.5/5

Clandon Park

We want to get as much use of possible out of our National Trust membership before the properties close for the winter, so this bank holiday we took a trip over to Clandon Park over in Guilford.

10 must read war novels

Today is Remembrance Sunday, so I've put together a list of novels that offer insight about the horrors of warfare, human resilience, and love.

In no particular order:-

1. Kevin Powers, The Yellow Birds: written by a veteran to try and answer the question of 'what was it like over there?", this novel is a fictionalised account of a soldiers first tour of duty in Iraq and his return home. Full review here

2. Andrea Levy, Small Island: 1948 and England is trying to recover from war. Gilbert Joseph was one of several Jamaican men who joined the RAF and served the Empire, but returning to London as a civilian he is treated very differently. Profoundly moving and unafraid to tackle huge themes of prejudice, empire, war, love and love, this novel won the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction.

3. Eric Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front: The seminal novel of the First World War, visceral and harrowing. Remarque speak with such authority, poetry and sadness you'll be in tears.

4. Louis de Bernieres, Captain Corelli's Mandolin: Don't be but off by the dreadful Nicolas Cage film, the book is actually really good! Love blooms between an Italian army officer and the spirited local girl on the occupied Greek island of Cephellonia.

5. Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong: It has rather slow beginnings, but the chapters about the WW1 trenches are deftly handled. The narrative follow the life of Stephen Wraysford, before, during and after the war. The most interesting character for me is Jack Firebrace, a sapper.

6. Carsten Jenson, We, the Drowned:  Full review here. A chronicle of maritime warfare from 1848 to the Second World War. The latter section of the novel has some of the shocking and distressing descriptions of combat I have ever read.

7. Joseph Heller, Catch 22:  Touted as one of the greatest novels of ever written, it is a comical, cynical and original look at the madness of war.

8. Pat Barker, Regeneration: The first in a trilogy, a fictional account of an army  psychiatrist attempt to heal his shell shocked patients, including the famous war poet Siegfried Sassoon.  A sympathetic and knowledgeable novel about post traumatic stress, psychiatry and love.

9. Markus Zusak, The Book Thief: Narrated by death, Liesal is fostered by the stoic and kindly Hubermanns. As WWII progresses, the Hubermanns open their home again to another person in need, Max, a Jewish boxer. Love and hate in all its numerous forms are examined in this novel.

10. Ian McEwan Atonement: Robbie is imprisoned for a crime because of the testimony of a sensitive and creative child, he is released after 3 years on the condition that he enlist in the army. Robbie's conviction and the war fracture a family. Guilt, betrayal and redemption are all key themes in this beautifully written novel.

Kevin Powers- The Yellow Birds

My sister came over last weekend and gave me my birthday pressie, which included The Yellow Birds,. To begin with I wasn't sure it was going to be my thing, I thought it was some macho war story, but my sis delivered- this is a sensitive and moving account of soldier's psyche.

The plot:  Private Bartle, 21 years old and a veteran of the occupation of Iraq is haunted by his experiences and a promise he made to his comrade's mother. Written by a former U.S solider, the novel attempts to answer the question 'what was it like over there?'

 

When the mortars fell

"When the mortars fell, the leaves and fruit and birds were frayed like ends of rope. They lay on the ground in scattered piles, torn feathers and leaves and the rinds of broken fruit intermingling.'

-Kevin Powers, The Yellow Birds 

The convoy sailed to deliver that cargo, not to rescue drowning sailors

"shipwrecked men would drift behind and disappear on the vast sea. The last trace of them would be the red distress lights on their life jackets. They were the lucky ones. As their body temperatures dropped, they'd drift into sleep, and then death [...] The red lights glowed on for a while longer [...] Knud Erik stood on the bridge, his hands on the wheel, and sailed into a whole poppy field of red distress lights [...] He'd heard the frantic pummelling against the ship when the life-jacketed survivors drifted alongside and desperately tried to push off so not to be caught by the screw propeller. The ship's wake foamed red with blood from the severed body parts"

- Carsten Jensen, We, the Drowned