Oct 22, 2004 15:23
The British reaction to WWI and WWII fascinates me, especially in the books of the time. From books that go into detail about a man's experiences, like Roald Dahl's second autobiography, and such, to things like, Peter Wimsey's described recovery from shell shock in the early Wimsey books. This one I find particularly interesting.
"Siegfried and I had both Volunteered for the R.A.F. and were on deferred service but that is all I am going to say about the war. This book is not about such things which in any case were very far from Darrowby; it is the story of the months I had with Helen between our marriage and my call-up and is about the ordinary things which have always made up our lives; my work, the animals, the Dales." -James Herriot in All Things Bright and Beautiful.
For an autobiography that takes place almost entirely framing the war years, in a series where the war is the big thing happening, certainly affecting life at home as well as abroad, it stands out to me that he completely refuses to talk about it. This man was a member of the R.A.F, and if you know much about WWII you know that they were very active during the war. We know he was called up, but he won't say anything about what he did, or even how he felt about it when he came home. This is so very different from the masses of books in the USA that were touched by the vietnam war, whether the author faught in it or not. It just fascinates me.