![]() When we read the literature of the past we not only gain an access to that (historical) past but we gain it through a particular (in this case, literary) mode of access. They can be read as surviving fragments of the past, offering insights into what people were feeling and thinking at the time.Ģ The second interest of ‘war literature’ is philosophical: in writing about a particular war, writers probe the raison d’être of war in general. The poems, novels and short stories written out of the experience of war are historical documents in their own right. ![]() One is historical: we are interested in what writers can reveal about the lived experience of a particular war. Whether written in prose or verse or both, ‘war literature’ as a category holds out two attractions. Despite the plural noun in the title, the plot of Findley’s third novel focusses on the Britannic world in the First World War, a time and place which is also well-known for producing some very fine and innovative poetry. 1 This would make an excellent description of the author Timothy Findley himself and, indeed, it could be argued that it is precisely its combination of poetry and story-telling that makes The Wars so compelling a novel. ![]() The original edition of the novel was p (.)ġ One of the characters of The Wars, Harris, is described as "Almost, if not, a poet.
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