Janet
13th March 2008, 08:11
Strange Meeting by Susan Hill (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strange-Meeting-Susan-Hill/dp/0140036954/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205395805&sr=8-1)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y65/Bagpuss/Bagpuss_Books%202008/006-2008-Mar-08-StrangeMeeting.jpg
The ‘Blurb’
John Hilliard, a young subaltern returning to the Western Front after a brief period of sick leave back in England blind to the horrors of the trenches, finds his battalion tragically altered. His commanding officer finds escape in alcohol, there is a new adjutant and even Hilliard's batman has been killed.
But there is David Barton. As yet untouched and unsullied by war, radiating charm and common sense, forever writing long letters to his family.
Theirs is a strange meeting and a strange relationship: the coming together of opposites in the summer lull before the inevitable storm.
This book is part of my Synoptic unit for A2 English Literature. It tells the story of two very different men who are forced together due to circumstances. John is from a family where they don’t talk about issues - they just keep the British stiff upper lip. David’s family are completely opposite and talk about everything openly - the writes to all of his family members whilst away and they all write back to him.
At first, John finds this odd, but they start including snippets of messages to John and eventually he starts looking forward to the letters.
He and David become so very close, although in interviews, Susan Hill is quick to point out that their love is not of the homosexual kind - more the deep intense love of two people thrown together in such awful circumstances.
This is a book about war, and as such it is not always a happy tale. The war scenes are not described graphically but are left to the imagination of the reader and Hill’s prose is beautifully written.
The paperback is 184 pages long and is published by Penguin. The ISBN number is 978-01400036954.
7/10
(Read March 2008)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y65/Bagpuss/Bagpuss_Books%202008/006-2008-Mar-08-StrangeMeeting.jpg
The ‘Blurb’
John Hilliard, a young subaltern returning to the Western Front after a brief period of sick leave back in England blind to the horrors of the trenches, finds his battalion tragically altered. His commanding officer finds escape in alcohol, there is a new adjutant and even Hilliard's batman has been killed.
But there is David Barton. As yet untouched and unsullied by war, radiating charm and common sense, forever writing long letters to his family.
Theirs is a strange meeting and a strange relationship: the coming together of opposites in the summer lull before the inevitable storm.
This book is part of my Synoptic unit for A2 English Literature. It tells the story of two very different men who are forced together due to circumstances. John is from a family where they don’t talk about issues - they just keep the British stiff upper lip. David’s family are completely opposite and talk about everything openly - the writes to all of his family members whilst away and they all write back to him.
At first, John finds this odd, but they start including snippets of messages to John and eventually he starts looking forward to the letters.
He and David become so very close, although in interviews, Susan Hill is quick to point out that their love is not of the homosexual kind - more the deep intense love of two people thrown together in such awful circumstances.
This is a book about war, and as such it is not always a happy tale. The war scenes are not described graphically but are left to the imagination of the reader and Hill’s prose is beautifully written.
The paperback is 184 pages long and is published by Penguin. The ISBN number is 978-01400036954.
7/10
(Read March 2008)