Under Fire

One of the most influential of all war novels, Henri Barbusse's 'Story of a Squad' was first printed in 1916 and sold 200,000 copies in French. Under Fire (along with Remarque's All Quiet) remains one of the most powerful descriptions of the madness and horror of war. What is most compelling in Barbusse's novel is the author's use of language in describing "the tortured earth" during a passage in which French troops are being shelled. The author introduces readers to a score of characters who experience the unspeakable conditions under which they are forced to survive and fight. One hesitates to use the term beautiful in referring to descriptions of carnage and agony but there is no other way to convey the power and, yes, poetry of his words. His language is clear--graphic--the scenes are enormously vivid. A great book written with sympathy towards those victims who are asked to participate in the insanity of war.