Bright Young Things discussion

BYT 2014 Reading Challenge: World War 1 Centenary


2014 will mark 100 years since the start of the First World War. Here at BYT we plan to mark the war and its consequences by reading 12 books that should give anyone who reads them a better understanding of the First World War.

The First World War was a turning point in world history. It claimed the lives of over 16 million people across the globe and had a huge impact on those who experienced it. The war and its consequences shaped much of the twentieth century, and the impact of it can still be felt today.

The BYT 2014 Reading Challenge will be our way of helping to remember those who lived, fought and served during the years 1914-18.

There's a thread for each of the 12 books.

Welcome to the thread for...



Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
(Category: Home front Allies)

You can read the books in any order. Whilst you're reading them, or after you've finished, come and share your thoughts and feelings, ask questions, and generally get involved. The more we all participate, the richer and more fulfilling the discussions will be for us all. Here's to a stimulating, informative, and enjoyable BYT 2014 Reading Challenge.

I've just started started reading this book. My copy is a special anniversary edition - published by Virago in 2004 for the 90th anniversary of WW1.

Here's the cover...


Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

Like Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves, it's a re-read. I don't remember much about it, only that I read about twenty years ago, it was straight after I'd first read Goodbye to All That, and that I found it very moving and informative.

With all my growing knowledge of WW1 I suspect it will be an even more rewarding experience this time round.

I'll update our this thread as I work through the book.

I look forward to reading a few of your thoughts and feelings when you read the book too.

I read it many years ago as well, although I gave my copy to someone who did not return it and so will have to borrow one from the library to read it again.
Vera Brittain was more articulate and better educated than a lot of young women of her generation, so while it is her own story it also speaks for other women who lost relatives, friends, lovers, etc. to the war.

I read it just after watching the BBC serial in the 1970s and remember that it made a huge impact. I found myself completely engrossed and Vera Brittain's writing conveyed the emotional impact of events in a very intimate way.

I agree with both of you. Vera gives voice to so many women who were perhaps less articulate or educated. I'm 100 or so pages in. Vera is determined to create some independence despite the constraints placed on women in early 20th century Britain. Ironically after getting into Oxford, WW1 begins, and - as we now know - the repressive British society is changed forever.

It's interesting coming to this book straight from The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks. Although the eras are 40 years apart there are still some similarities in terms of the perception of women and their place in society.

By the way I notice BBC films are making a new adaptation of this book - they start shooting in March so I guess it'll be out in about a year or so.

http://www.theknowledgeonline.com/the...

This is every bit as good as I'd remembered. Vera Brittain's lively intelligence, determination, bravery and passion all shine through.

She's just had some very, very bad news (anyone who has read this already will know what I refer to) - it also happens in the most appalling way for her. Heartbreaking.

Despite finally getting into Oxford, after an incredible effort to overcome her parents' objections (of course it was accepted that the son would go there - but why would a woman bother?) she turned her back on that to take on arduous, and physically and emotionally demanding nursing work that required incredible courage and endurance.

This is probably the best of the three WW1 memoirs I've read for this challenge (the other two being Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, and Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves) although all, in their own ways are essential books. Actually I don't really know why I mention this might be the best - read them all. I know you will anyway.

Death follows death - this really brings home the personal cost to families all over Europe of this ghastly conflict. A brilliant memoir.

Here's my review...


Testament of Youth was a best seller when it was first published in 1933, and became a bestseller once again in the 1970s. It is every bit as good as I'd remembered when I read it first about twenty years ago. Vera Brittain's lively intelligence, determination, bravery and passion all shine through.

At the start of World War One, and despite finally getting into Oxford University after an incredible effort to overcome her parents' objections (of course it was accepted that the son would go there - but why would a woman bother?), she turned her back on that to take on arduous, and physically and emotionally demanding nursing work with the VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment - women who volunteered to nurse the war-wounded) and which required incredible courage and endurance.

This is the third WW1 memoir I've read in 2014 (the other two being Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, and Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves) and it was both interesting and refreshing to get a female perspective on the conflict. Vera Brittain arguably endured as much hardship and horror as the men in the trenches. Worse, she had to endure survivor's guilt after the war was over. 'Why couldn't I have died in the War with the others?' she lamented, and perhaps not surprisingly, as she lost four of the people she was closest to, including her brother and her partner. These deaths, and her war time experienced, turned Vera Brittain into a committed pacifist.

After the war, she returned to study at Oxford where she became close friends with writer Winifred Holtby. Both young women shared a flat and became writers. Convinced she would never marry, Vera Brittain finally succumbed to the attentions of George Catlin, marrying him, and ensuring a happy ending to this excellent memoir.

4/5

I've just started this, and so far I'm really enjoying it. Thankful for this group, because who knows if I've ever of read it otherwise!

About 100 pages in, and Vera Brittain is so good at conveying her emotions- she's very articulate. I am enjoying how she is including her journal entries from the time, as well as poetry etc from her other friends/acquaintances because it makes everything feel more immediate. Recollections are plenty material as is, but the excerpts from her journal entries are somehow more haunting, perhaps because they aren't written with the knowledge of what's to come.

Can't wait to finish this!!

^ That's great news that you are enjoying the book Amanda.

Please keep us informed with your thoughts and reactions.

Finished this last night.

This was such a well-told account! Because it's a firsthand account, it really drives home how much the war affected everyone involved in a way history books cannot. I got a sense of the irredeemable loss that was felt when so many young men died in war. Not only were these personal losses, but they were great losses for England, France, Germany, etc. So much potential gone forever. Her strongest argument for pacifism comes with this and the ending, as the peace negotiations are occurring. She believed it serves no purpose to fault an entire country for the decisions of their leaders. Even a couple of years after the war, a second war seemed inevitable.

I did sometimes get lost in the last two chapters because I don't know a lot about British political history and only have rudimentary knowledge of British politics anyways. I realized I know almost nothing about European history (other than Russia) in the post WWI, pre WWII era so I am going to need to remedy that.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

^ Thanks for that wonderful review Amanada. I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I agree with your conclusions too.

Off the top of my head I cannot think of any obvious recommendations for an overview of European history (there's so much of it) but I will let you know if I have any ideas.

I've just started to read this properly today, after a false start a few weeks ago, and am liking it very much so far - Vera Brittain's witty, dry prose is extremely readable. I have previously read her novel The Dark Tide, which is heavily autobiographical, and also came across a lot about her when reading a biography of her friend, another great writer, Winifred Holtby - but somehow have never read this.

I'm interested to see how much there is before she gets on to the war, about her girlhood and education - fascinating in themselves.

I'm now wondering if I have in fact read this before, many years ago, as some of it seems quite familiar - but I might just have read extracts of it in another book somewhere along the line.

I'm now about 200 pages in, and thoroughly gripped by it. Must agree with Amanda's comments above that the poetry and letters make it all feel more immediate, and I'm particularly impressed by Roland Leighton's poems. I did wonder if they had been collected in a book - sadly that doesn't appear to be the case, so maybe he didn't write enough, but the First World War Poetry Archive does have a short biography.

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/colle...

Also if you click the "search for any poem" link at this site, you can see the manuscripts of six poems.


The "related resources" link leads to a number of photos of Roland, including this one of him with Edward Brittain and Victor Richardson, the 'Three Musketeers':

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/colle...

The edition of 'Testament of Youth' that I'm reading doesn't have any illustrations, so it is good to see these pictures.

^ That photo is really interesting. So, so young, weren't they? Thanks.

Judy wrote: "I'm now wondering if I have in fact read this before, many years ago, as some of it seems quite familiar - but I might just have read extracts of it in another book somewhere along the line."

I had read it before, many years ago, but only some of it was familiar. I am wondering whether the original book I read was a revised extracts version or whether I just forgot much of it.

Yes, so young, Nigeyb - I have a 20-year-old son and can't begin to imagine him living through all this.

I've just realised that the same website also has a section on Vera Brittain, with many of her poems and some photos of her as a VAD.

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/colle...

I hadn't realised that there were so many military hospitals in Malta until reading the section about Vera nursing there.

This site has some interesting info about it, plus a link to an etext of a book about the hospitals in Malta written by an army chaplain.

http://www.firstworldwarcentenary.co....

I was also surprised and interested to see that Vera travelled out to Malta on the Britannic, originally a sister ship of the Titanic, which had been turned into a hospital ship. Sadly, as she says in the book, it was sunk shortly afterwards.

I found a site about the ship and from this it seems that it isn't certain exactly how it sank.

http://www.titanicandco.com/britannic...

How amazing that one of the stewardesses, Violet Jessop, had also been on the Titanic when it sank, and on the other sister ship, the Olympic, when it was damaged in a collision!

I have read Violet Jessop's memoir, Titanic Survivor, which I borrowed it from my Titanic obsessed neighbour. The Titanic part is only small, it is about her life as a stewardess in the heyday of the luxury liners.

Violet Jessop's sounds really interesting, Val - thanks for mentioning it. Yet another book that I'd like to go on to read in future.

I'm nearing the end of this now - I'm glad that Vera Brittain included quite a lot about her time at Oxford and her career as a writer, to show how she rebuilt her life. To me it's a bit frustrating at times in the sections about her nursing that she doesn't tell us more about her relationships with colleagues and we don't always get a feeling of what daily life was like all the women working together during wartime - understandably, she is preoccupied with the deaths of her fiancé and brother.

However, her friendships with other women come to the fore more in the Oxford section. It's nice to see a lot about Winifred Holtby, who was such a great novelist - I've really liked most of the books of hers that I've read, especially South Riding and The Land of Green Ginger, which is a haunting, powerful story about a couple on a farm in the aftermath of the First World War.

I've found myself wondering what Vera Brittain's voice was like while reading this book - I kept assuming that it was similar to her daughter, Baroness Shirley Williams. I've now found a little radio clip of her and she does indeed sound very similar to Shirley:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/suffrage...

She's introducing a talk by a suffragette arrested in 1912, Dame Ethel Smyth - this is also very interesting in its own right.

Thanks, Judy. You always share the most interesting clips. Dame Ethel Smyth--what a familiar name. Now I have to look her up....

Oh right--she was a composer as well as a suffragette. I have some of her music in a book of pieces by female composers.

I love all the inter-connections we discover as we learn more. What a wonderful journey life is.

Thanks, Barbara, very kind of you to say so! I didn't know Ethel Smyth was a composer. I agree with you about the inter-connections - every new read seems to connect to something else in an unexpected way!

I see Sarah mentioned the BBC series above - I didn't see it at the time, but am thinking I'd like to watch this on DVD after finishing the book. (Almost there now!) Has anyone else watched the series recently - or back then?

Still trying to catch up with reviews I've been meaning to write - I've now written one of this book, which was one of my favourite reads so far for this challenge:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

^ Thanks Judy. I enjoyed your five star review.


On Saturday night I was talking to an acquaintance and he tends the grave of Victor Richardson (Victor/Tah) who is buried where I live. He wrote this which explains the story...

http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/p...

He was there yesterday removing ivy and cleaning it up.

We were also discussing WW1 sea poets, but that's another story for another day. Though for now, here's his sea poets website (I might add this to other info once I read it myself)...

http://greatwaratseapoetry.weebly.com

Many thanks Nigeyb, the article about Victor Richardson is interesting. The sea poets website looks good, though I find it hard to read white on black text - I'll have to read a little bit at a time!

I think it's definitely true that there isn't much awareness of sea poetry from the war and I'm now also wondering if there is much air poetry - I think the only one I know is 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death' by Yeats.

^ I don't know any other air poetry, however - and I hope you'll permit a small digression - the Waterboys did an album of Yeats poetry to music including 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death' which is quite beautiful...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwsye...

I saw them perform the whole album "An Appointment with Mr Yeats" - which was marvellous, especially as the second half of the show was a trawl through their many finest moments.

Sorry to be slow in replying, Nigeyb, but I've only just had a chance to watch this after returning from holiday in Cornwall - gorgeous scenery and great to hear this poem set to music. Do you know if it is Yeats himself reading at the end?

Just heard that the new feature film adaptation of 'Testament of Youth' made by BBC Films is being premiered at the London Film Festival today - it will get its full UK release in January and will also be released in the US some time next year.

Alicia Vikander stars as Vera, with Kit Harington as Roland. Here's a link to a report from Variety, including a trailer:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/tes...

Judy wrote: "Do you know if it is Yeats himself reading at the end? "


I assume so but I don't know for sure.

Judy wrote: "Just heard that the new feature film adaptation of 'Testament of Youth' made by BBC Films is being premiered at the London Film Festival today - it will get its full UK release in January.

Sounds very promising doesn't it?

I think it looks really good from the trailer. I've been meaning to watch the older TV version - will try to do that soon, so that I don't see it too close to the new one and fully appreciate both of them!

This is the blog for the film: http://testament-ofyouth.tumblr.com

Thanks, Nigeyb - good stuff. It looks as if that blog is mainly about Colin Morgan, who plays Victor. I've also found another one which is mainly about Alicia Vikander, who plays Vera - it has a few different articles:

http://alicia-vikander.com/category/m...

^ Thanks Judy.


By the by Judy, I note that you seem to be immersing yourself in WW1 and the challenge. I was musing the other day that, perhaps, for those that have finished/enjoyed this challenge, we could agree a few books, say 4 or 5, nothing too onerous, that now we're better informed we think would be good follow ups, and read and discuss them in 2015. What do you think?

Although I have addressed Judy the question is open to anyone who embraced this challenge. As it has turned out, it was only a few of us that seemed to really get into it. And just to clarify, my suggestion is that we keep it low key, not a load of nominating and voting, just a few suggestions we can agree.

Nigeyb, must admit I haven't read much about WWI outside the challenge books, just three other novels on the theme, but I'd like to go for a few follow-ups - I'd probably have to go on other people's recommendations rather than suggesting much myself. Would it be a good idea to post on this in the general thread for the challenge so that more people see it?

I was wondering if there would be a different challenge next year on another theme, as I've been enjoying this one - but, even if we do go for something completely different, it would still be good to read a few more books on the WWI topic.

^ Thanks Judy.


All good points. I was just tentatively suggesting it. I don't really mind what we do. I'm up for reading a few more WW1 books though if others are keen.

I'd want to avoid the huge nomination and voting scenario we had last year. I've noticed people get very involved in, and excited by, discussing nominations and voting but this doesn't translate into involvement and debate, which I find a bit dispiriting. To illustrate the point, 18 people took part in the poll that resulted in the nomination of this marvellous book however only five of us have contributed to the discussion (so far). So that's a long winded way of explaining why I am reticent to start up a new more general discussion - it feels more appropriate to keep it low key (a bit like the hot reads concept). That said, all other thoughts and ideas are welcome - and of course any else is welcome to start a 2015 challenge discussion thread.

I read some of the other books nominated for the challenge and added others to my to-read list. I would say that of the books in the challenge, the memoirs and semi-autobiographical novels were usually better than the histories. (Barbara Tuchman's was excellent, although it did not cover the prelude to war in any detail.)
We have had lots of BBC coverage of the history this year, including analysis, debates, re-enactments, personal stories etc., which has added to the discussions. I am quite happy to continue with the discussions we have open now, including the general ones, but don't see much point in extending them further. If not many people want to read and discuss the challenge books, even fewer are likely to read the additional ones.

^ Thanks Val.


Good points - as ever. You're probably right too. I'll just add to the existing discussion as and when.

I agree with this point: "the memoirs and semi-autobiographical novels were usually better than the histories.". Talking of which, I'd quite like to read Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon. I thoroughly enjoyed its predecessor Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man.

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer is a fictionalised account of Sassoon's life during and immediately after World War I. It's been heralded as a classic and was even more successful Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man.

Maybe you could nominate the Sassoon for a group read, Nigeyb? I have read it and remember thinking it was excellent, but it was many years ago - I liked it a lot more than the fox-hunting one.

Val, I think you are probably right about the levels of participation - it might be best just to keep adding to the existing discussions.

I'd be up for joining in another challenge next year, but if there isn't one then I might take up the Ulysses challenge!

Another great article on this book and well worth reading....

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2003...

Thanks, Nigeyb. This was a very interesting article. I have yet to read Testament (I'm on a wait-list for it at the library) but am really looking forward to it.

A week or so ago I watched the mini series from the 70s. It was excellent and wouldn't leave my thoughts for days. It's available for free on youtube. You have to watch each of the 5 episodes separately and they are broken into short segments, so not quite as nice as watching from beginning to end. But it's all there and the segments flow pretty seamlessly.

Thanks Judy and Nigeyb for your links about the upcoming new production.

As for the idea of continuing with the challenge next year--I'm already planning to do that on my own. Have identified 12 books I plan to read and no doubt more will come up as I read more. The 12 for anyone who's interested are:

The Last of the Doughboys by Richard Rubin
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Chris Clark
Three Soldiers by Dos Passos
The Beauty and the Sorrow by Peter Englund
Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
A Mad Catastrophe by Geoffrey Wawro
The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell
A World Undone by GJ Meyer
The War that Ended Peace by Margaret McMillan
Le Feu by Henri Barbusse
Her Privates We by Frederic Manning
The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek

Some of these were nominated for our current challenge. They all sound great!

Barbara wrote: "Thanks, Nigeyb. This was a very interesting article. I have yet to read Testament (I'm on a wait-list for it at the library) but am really looking forward to it.

A week or so ago I watched the m..."

I think I am reading 5-6 of those on your list and hope soon to add 2-3 others. I haven't really gotten into Testament of Youth yet.

There's certainly no shortage of Great War books to read! I'll be interested in your comments on any of those you read, Jan.

Barbara wrote: "12 books I plan to read"

Thanks Barbara - that's a helpful list that I will research.

Vera Brittain readers will probably be interested in this document....


https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/h...