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But what was the Great War, anyhow? How, in these empty, symbolic gestures, has the real war been lost? WWI was a stupid, pointless war fought by a dying aristocracy. Millions of men snuffed out with mechanic It's Remembrance Day here in Canada, a day set aside each year to show respect for veterans who served in the great wars. Millions of men snuffed out with mechanical banality. William March pen name of a serviceman, see Wikipedia for more gives these men life and purpose. Company K comprises of every short chapters, each a vignette of war-time and afterwards, the survivors trying to regain a sense of normalcy. Hear the cries of the dying, bleeding out in no man's land. See a soldier commit an ironic murder of his commanding officer. Get the feels for a former piano prodigy, returned to small-town civilian life with less digits. Watch as a lovelorn soldier gets grifted by a French prostie. Even in the darkness, there are moments of laughter and levity. This isn't a war book, this is a book about humanity. It's not a Harper speech, it's real. A soldier is haunted by the ghost of a German he killed. Forces of evil? War is the evil, and so is forgetting. View 1 comment. Apr 13, Chris rated it it was amazing. One of my favorite books, one that has accompanied me on every cross-country move, a piece of WWI literature that deserves far more recognition than it gets. Written by an decorated veteran of the Great War, Company K offers an semi-fictionalized account of the unit's experiences, from deployment to decades after the war ends. Each member of the group tells his own story in the first person, and each has a very different perspective, from deserters to cold-blooded murderers, philosophers to poli One of my favorite books, one that has accompanied me on every cross-country move, a piece of WWI literature that deserves far more recognition than it gets. Each member of the group tells his own story in the first person, and each has a very different perspective, from deserters to cold-blooded murderers, philosophers to politicians. The stories are hardly more than snippets; most don't continue beyond two or three pages, with a few notable exceptions. A sad but beautiful masterpiece. Apr 09, Matt rated it really liked it. Really good WWI book. A series of very short two or three pages stories that interconnect. Surprised I'd never heard of this one before One of the best books I have ever read. A revelatory and soul jarring comment on the folly of war as we know it. The writing is exceptional and the style is totally fresh to me at least. Read this book. Sep 11, Ker rated it it was amazing Recommended to Ker by: Mr. In high school, the book that got me labeled a communist by my friend's dad. Should be read with Slaughterhouse-Five to ward off ignorance, arrogance, and tendencies of warmongering. Mar 30, Walter rated it liked it Shelves: fiction-historical-wwi. This novel is one of the unpatriotic novels about the First World War. Along with "All Quiet on the Western Front", "Three Soldiers" and "A Farewell to Arms", this novel broke through the barrier of war novels that served to glorify the side of a war on which its author had once fought. It traces the experience This novel is one of the unpatriotic novels about the First World War. It traces the experiences of the members of the unit from training in the States, to the crossing of the Atlantic, through the war in the trenches in France, to the return to the States and the lives of the veterans of the company after the war. The story is told in the first person by each member of the company, which makes the narrative quite a bit disjointed. Furthermore, the personalities of the narrators do not seem to vary from each other, which is understandable given that each narrative only lasts a few pages, and there is not enough room to do anything like character development or plot development. The story covers some pretty disturbing ground. There are scenes involving the murder of officers by their own men, and men who are considering or about to commit desertion in the face of the enemy. One of the veterans of Company K commits a capital crime after the war and is executed in his narrative. Another tries to start an anti-war organization at home, but when the potential members of the group hear this veteran's stories of the war, they become filled with patriotic feeling and go out to enlist in the National Guard! This is probably the only piece of humor in this novel, and I don't believe that the author intended it to be humorous, but I found it to be funny. The bottom line here is that this is a hard book to read. The realities described by the author undoubtedly were real problems experienced by recruits, soldiers and veterans of the First World War. In it, members of the army unit describe their experiences before, during and after the Great War. A hundred young men - hardly any of them having any experience on the battlefield - start their training filled with enthusiasm and bravery. But from the prologue, years after the war in which a conversation regarding the evil of murder is discussed, we know most of these men who will survive the war, will do so embittered, broken and lost. Because of the extremely short chapters, it sometimes felt like I was skimming through a much larger novel, only reading a paragraph here and there. Despite being a highly decorated WW1-veteran himself, author William March regarded war as pure evil, so most of the stories are mean, coldblooded chapters of madness without any hope or comfort. One of the characters at the beginning of the book, who has penned down his experiences as a soldier, hopes his words will not only be understood by American combatants, but by those all across the world where men are plunged into war. Apr 14, Vic Nicholas rated it it was amazing. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. William March's Company K is a series of vignettes in all of the various members of this fictional but no doubt autobiographical WW1 US Marine company in France in When I first read this as a teenager, I found it entertaining, sad, and in parts disturbing. Every scene is described in stunning detail from one who could only have been an eye witness to the events described. The scene where they shot the freshly surrendered German prisoners in a ravine is told from a few view points, a William March's Company K is a series of vignettes in all of the various members of this fictional but no doubt autobiographical WW1 US Marine company in France in The scene where they shot the freshly surrendered German prisoners in a ravine is told from a few view points, and it is harrowing. The detachment and disillusionment of the post war vignettes of the lives of those that survived the horrors of the front is no less sad. This book covers every range of emotions, from the funny boot camp episodes to the description of watching comrades walk straight into an artillery bombardment that wipes them out. It is not a book you will easily forget. That's the thing with this singular and remarkable work, it is not so much a novel of war, but war itself rendered through the mouths of these men. It can be despairing, hopeful, violent, funny, tragic and dastardly at any moment. For me, March has achieved the purest form of war novel imaginable. One that is honest. It is not glorious, though glory is to be found, it is not condemning these men, though there are rogues amongst them. It merely allows them to speak so that they may not be forgotten. I can think of few better reasons to write than that. May 06, Ridgewalker rated it it was amazing. All most of us know of war is through the movies we have watched. They knew the truth of what war was like and that it was nothing like what he had portrayed on screen. This book is a story of a company in WWI. It is raw and honest in its descriptions. You read about senseless violence. The language is true to the era, as it was written by a member of this comp All most of us know of war is through the movies we have watched. The language is true to the era, as it was written by a member of this company. This book stands as a stark contrast to the broader narratives you will read of battles and strategies being executed. It is told man by man, by each member of the company. Even if you have no interest in military history, this is an excellent book to read. Sep 13, Fred Dameron rated it it was amazing Shelves: owned. If the fate of todays veterans concerns you the last pages of Co. K are a must read. March has the credentials to talk about what really happens to people involved in a war. His descriptions of pre - enlistment, training, combat, and, most important to me the aftermath are spot on. Those of us who have served can see those we served with in these pages. We can also see those who did well after their service and those who have not done well. The post war part is truly moving and I see some of If the fate of todays veterans concerns you the last pages of Co. The post war part is truly moving and I see some of myself in those last pages. AS this nation continues to fight in Afghanistan the questions we ask today are the same ones March asked years ago. All our politicians need to read CO. K before they vote for another troop increase in Afghanistan. Sep 08, Chloe rated it really liked it Shelves: ww1-fiction. Short, brutal, and heart-breaking. Company K is made up of over a hundred short narratives and vignettes, most of them two to three pages long, told in no particular order, about what happened to the soldiers of that company over the course of a year in the first World War, and in some cases about how the war follows them even back in the States. It's not an easy read, and many of the stories are ones that make you put down the book for a moment to marvel at the cruelty of mankind, and the hopel Short, brutal, and heart-breaking. It's not an easy read, and many of the stories are ones that make you put down the book for a moment to marvel at the cruelty of mankind, and the hopelessness of an individual soldier during wartime. Ideal for someone with an interest in WW1 memoirs and fiction, and a strong stomach. Nov 21, Janis rated it it was amazing. This is an awesome read! It consists of a bunch of very short chapters. External Sites. User Reviews. User Ratings. External Reviews. Metacritic Reviews. Photo Gallery. Trailers and Videos. Crazy Credits. Alternate Versions. Rate This. Marines company but nightmares about the German soldier he killed haunt him still. Director: Robert Clem. Writers: Robert Clem , William March novel. Watch on Prime Video included with Prime. Added to Watchlist. Halloween Movies for the Whole Family. Lista Filmes Primeira Guerra. Films to avoid before you die. Oorlog in bezit. Best World War I Dramas. Share this Rating Title: Company K 5. Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Edit Cast Cast overview, first billed only: Ari Fliakos Joseph Delaney Terry Serpico James Dunning Steve Cuiffo Edward Carter Joe Delafield For example, two soldiers take bread from a dead German, discover the bread is covered in blood, then eat it anyway. Some seventy years before "flash fiction" got its name, Company K may have been the first successful American novel written entirely in flash. Spoon River , however, is written in verse. Graham Greene credited March with "finding a new form to fit the novelty of World War 1 protest. March may also have been one of the first writers to both explore the battle experience and its impact well after the shooting stops. A good third of the stories are set before and after the fighting. March matters because he told the truth about things that lesser artists keep secret even from themselves. He does it with heart, depth of vision, and without regard for self-protection. In his most moving story, a soldier, days before armistice, encounters a German relaxing beneath a tree. He plunders the German's ring then throw it in the bushes, but the ring repeatedly returns to glue him to that moment forever. March often recalled a similar experience and clearly suffered from what we now call PTSD. This was the story that March, the war hero, felt most compelled to share. It's his gift to future generations and should be required reading until we find some better reason than war for killing our young. He also serves as the fiction editor for Wordrunner e-Chapbook. Company K - William March - Google книги

Full Cast and Crew. Release Dates. Official Sites. Company Credits. Technical Specs. Plot Summary. Plot Keywords. Parents Guide. External Sites. User Reviews. User Ratings. External Reviews. Metacritic Reviews. Photo Gallery. Trailers and Videos. Crazy Credits. Alternate Versions. Rate This. Marines company but nightmares about the German soldier he killed haunt him still. Director: Robert Clem. Writers: Robert Clem , William March novel. Watch on Prime Video included with Prime. Added to Watchlist. Halloween Movies for the Whole Family. Lista Filmes Primeira Guerra. Films to avoid before you die. Oorlog in bezit. It is a selected, partial, bitter picture, but a picture we need. It will live. None of the acts of bravery for which the author was decorated during the War was as brave as this anthology of dismay. However, published only by the University of Alabama Press, this is another novel of the caliber of All Quiet on the Western Front , deserving the same readership. This is a book with the staying power of any novel written on the horror of war. Find it. Read it. You cannot forget it. View all 7 comments. Jul 22, Mark Mortensen rated it really liked it Shelves: wwi , usmc , fiction. Drawing from his personal experiences he wrote this powerful fictitious novel using the pen name William March. View 2 comments. Aug 06, Rebecca McNutt rated it it was amazing. Really excellent book by the author of The Bad Seed. The war experiences in the story are vivid and powerful, and every character is interesting. Oct 24, Jamie rated it really liked it Shelves: history-military , history-military-ww1 , fiction. Ordinary men: career soldiers, volunteers, and draftees; compassionate and callous; reluctant combatants and enthusiastic murderers; educated and illiterate; smart and stupid, honorable men and criminals, cowards, and shirkers. Some are true believers in the idea of war to end all war, or in the allied propaganda that all Germans are murderous brutes deserving of whatever they get. Others sneer at the idea of the fighting having any noble aims or higher purpose, and see only the inefficiency and Ordinary men: career soldiers, volunteers, and draftees; compassionate and callous; reluctant combatants and enthusiastic murderers; educated and illiterate; smart and stupid, honorable men and criminals, cowards, and shirkers. Others sneer at the idea of the fighting having any noble aims or higher purpose, and see only the inefficiency and incompetence of Army life. Taken altogether, they are a cross section of men thrown together by chance and sent off to war. The book consists of short tales, more vignettes than stories. Some are as brief as two paragraphs, most less than two pages. Each is told by a different soldier in the form of reminiscences from a few years after the war. Most are from survivors, but some are from beyond the grave as they relate the manner of their death. In the first story, which serves as an introduction to the collection, the author says that he sees each tale as a tiny slice of the totality of war. If you could put them all together in a circle like a roulette wheel and spin it until they merge together, and add in the sounds and smells and the rest of the experience, you could gain an appreciation of what it was really like to be there. The illusions of the recruiting campaigns and the patriotic speeches and songs were long gone. These are tales of cold and fatigue, of hunger and fear. Inexperienced officers made stupid mistakes that cost lives, or order prisoners murdered in cold blood. Even the humor is dark and bitter: the company commander is regarded by his officers and NCOs as utterly incompetent. When one of the soldiers reports to a sergeant having seen him killed with a bullet through the head, he mentions a spoonful of brains spilling out. The sergeant laughs and says it could not have been their company commander, because a spoonful was more than he ever had. The dominant theme of the stories is cynicism, as befits men who are looking back at the war from enough perspective to understand the madness and futility of the fighting. A secondary theme is ironic detachment, as bad things happen to people for foolish reasons, or no reasons at all. A man marries his girlfriend just before shipping out and finds that she only wanted his money. An elderly French couple who had lost their only son early in the war go out of the way to show kindness to the soldiers when they are billeted near them, only to have one of them steal their most cherished memento of their lost child as a souvenir. Some live, some die, but all are changed. The final section of stories deals with the homecomings. Some of the men are scarred for life: blinded, maimed, or disfigured, and even the ones who came back physically whole have to deal with the mental and emotional trauma of what they had gone through. The author, William March, served with distinction in the Marines. Even so, this book shows he did not allow his awards to turn him into an apologist for war. Some of the stories are searing, some inexplicable, and some just show ordinary men trying to survive the inferno, whether through courage, resignation, or despicable behavior. Taken together March brilliantly recreates the experience of men at war. Aug 21, Christian rated it really liked it. A masterful work by March, this novel is a rich and powerful description of much of WWI. March speaks from experience to create entries by various characters, many of these entries being short, but nonetheless complete stories describing multiple aspects of the war. Although the entries are often brief, March effectively submerses the reader into the world each soldier lived in, describing with such detail the experiences of each soldier that one can almost feel the uniform on himself and hear t A masterful work by March, this novel is a rich and powerful description of much of WWI. Although the entries are often brief, March effectively submerses the reader into the world each soldier lived in, describing with such detail the experiences of each soldier that one can almost feel the uniform on himself and hear the marching of boots on either side. However, what makes this novel so important as a reflection of history is the realistic description of the war down to every chilling detail. March spares nothing as he describes the horrid smelling trenches, the childlike fear one is struck with when he is being shelled, and even the humbling final thoughts one faces as his last breath escapes him on the field of battle. He also skillfully captures the feeling of the Lost Generation as he describes the aftermath the war plays on a soldier's everyday life following the war. The author also describes the futility of the war and how foolish the war was. March's artistic portrayal of the war through his concise entries make this a must read for anyone who seeks a novel describing one of the most important events in the world's history. It's Remembrance Day here in Canada, a day set aside each year to show respect for veterans who served in the great wars. Politicians stand in front of war memorials and yap about young men making the ultimate sacrifice against the forces of evil. It's all very shallow, sappy and sacrosanct. But what was the Great War, anyhow? How, in these empty, symbolic gestures, has the real war been lost? WWI was a stupid, pointless war fought by a dying aristocracy. Millions of men snuffed out with mechanic It's Remembrance Day here in Canada, a day set aside each year to show respect for veterans who served in the great wars. Millions of men snuffed out with mechanical banality. William March pen name of a serviceman, see Wikipedia for more gives these men life and purpose. Company K comprises of every short chapters, each a vignette of war-time and afterwards, the survivors trying to regain a sense of normalcy. Hear the cries of the dying, bleeding out in no man's land. See a soldier commit an ironic murder of his commanding officer. Get the feels for a former piano prodigy, returned to small-town civilian life with less digits. Watch as a lovelorn soldier gets grifted by a French prostie. Even in the darkness, there are moments of laughter and levity. This isn't a war book, this is a book about humanity. It's not a Harper speech, it's real. A soldier is haunted by the ghost of a German he killed. Forces of evil? War is the evil, and so is forgetting. View 1 comment. Apr 13, Chris rated it it was amazing. One of my favorite books, one that has accompanied me on every cross-country move, a piece of WWI literature that deserves far more recognition than it gets. Written by an decorated veteran of the Great War, Company K offers an semi-fictionalized account of the unit's experiences, from deployment to decades after the war ends. Each member of the group tells his own story in the first person, and each has a very different perspective, from deserters to cold-blooded murderers, philosophers to poli One of my favorite books, one that has accompanied me on every cross-country move, a piece of WWI literature that deserves far more recognition than it gets. Each member of the group tells his own story in the first person, and each has a very different perspective, from deserters to cold-blooded murderers, philosophers to politicians. The stories are hardly more than snippets; most don't continue beyond two or three pages, with a few notable exceptions. A sad but beautiful masterpiece. Apr 09, Matt rated it really liked it. Really good WWI book. A series of very short two or three pages stories that interconnect. Surprised I'd never heard of this one before One of the best books I have ever read. A revelatory and soul jarring comment on the folly of war as we know it. The writing is exceptional and the style is totally fresh to me at least. Read this book. Sep 11, Ker rated it it was amazing Recommended to Ker by: Mr. In high school, the book that got me labeled a communist by my friend's dad. Should be read with Slaughterhouse-Five to ward off ignorance, arrogance, and tendencies of warmongering. Mar 30, Walter rated it liked it Shelves: fiction-historical- wwi. This novel is one of the unpatriotic novels about the First World War. Along with "All Quiet on the Western Front", "Three Soldiers" and "A Farewell to Arms", this novel broke through the barrier of war novels that served to glorify the side of a war on which its author had once fought. It traces the experience This novel is one of the unpatriotic novels about the First World War. It traces the experiences of the members of the unit from training in the States, to the crossing of the Atlantic, through the war in the trenches in France, to the return to the States and the lives of the veterans of the company after the war. The story is told in the first person by each member of the company, which makes the narrative quite a bit disjointed. Furthermore, the personalities of the narrators do not seem to vary from each other, which is understandable given that each narrative only lasts a few pages, and there is not enough room to do anything like character development or plot development. The story covers some pretty disturbing ground. There are scenes involving the murder of officers by their own men, and men who are considering or about to commit desertion in the face of the enemy. One of the veterans of Company K commits a capital crime after the war and is executed in his narrative. Another tries to start an anti-war organization at home, but when the potential members of the group hear this veteran's stories of the war, they become filled with patriotic feeling and go out to enlist in the National Guard! This is probably the only piece of humor in this novel, and I don't believe that the author intended it to be humorous, but I found it to be funny. The bottom line here is that this is a hard book to read. The bartender picked up a bottle and then put it down again. THE fourth day out was a Sunday, and that morning the Captain held services on deck. It was December, but the sun was shining on the surrounding water, its light reflected blindingly in the ship's brass. It was almost too warm, in the sunlight, for the heavy overcoats we wore. We stood there for a while, and then the services began. They were very simple: a hymn, a prayer and a short sermon. Then, at the end, a benediction in which the chaplain asked God to give our hearts courage, and our arms strength, to strike down our adversaries. He said we were not soldiers, in the accepted sense of the word: We were crusaders who had dedicated our lives and our souls to our country and to our God that the things we revere and hold sacred, might not perish. When we got back to our quarters, we were all silent and thoughtful. We lay on our bunks thinking of the chaplain's words. Sylvester Keith, whose bunk was next to mine, gave me a cigarette, and lit one himself. Bob Nalls had come up, and joined us. I don't mind getting killed to do a thing of that sort. I don't mind, since the people coming after me will live in happiness and peace Each man in our detail was given a pair of glasses and assigned a certain angle of water to watch, so that the entire horizon was constantly observed. My angle was to and in the tower with me was Les Yawfitz, whose angle joined mine. There was a telephone by each of us which communicated with the engine room below and the gun crews standing by on deck. Late one afternoon, when it was cold and raining, I saw a tomato crate floating on the water. I looked at it for a long time, trying to make up my mind if it was moving with the tide. Then when I'd about decided that it was, I noticed it had moved backward a foot or two, contrary to the direction of the waves. I grabbed my 'phone and reported to the gunners, and the engineers, that there was a periscope concealed under the crate. The transport swung to one side quickly, and at the same moment the gunners began to fire. Immediately we saw a submarine come to the top, flounder, and turn sidewise in a burst of steam. Everybody gave me the old glad-hand and wanted to know how I could tell that the tomato crate camouflaged a periscope. I didn't know, as a matter of fact, I just guessed right; that's all: So I was an intelligent hero, and got the Navy Cross. If I'd been wrong, and there'd been nothing under the crate, I would have been a dumb bastard, a disgrace to the outfit, and, like as not, would have been thrown into the brig. They're not fooling me any. IT felt good to be on solid land again after fourteen days on a crowded transport. Our hobnailed boots clattered on the cobblestones, as we marched at ease down the main street of the town and up the hill that led to the barracks. It was cold, but the sun was out, and everybody was in high spirits, and full of fun. We laughed and shoved each other about. Then Rowland Geers passed his pack and rifle to Fred Willcoxen and began to turn handsprings, and clown. But the French people stood there looking at us, with their mouths open, a surprised expression on their faces. They weren't at all like an American crowd: We tried to joke and kid them, but they wouldn't answer. They just looked at us like we were crazy, and turned their heads away. Where's their spirit? Then a woman in the crowd, standing near the curb, answered me in a broad, English voice: "The people wearing black are in mourning," she said, as if she were speaking to a child. ONE thing that puzzles me about these new men is why they are always writing letters home, or getting packages from their mothers or sweethearts. You didn't see much of that in the old days, when I came into the service. Most of the boys then didn't have any people to write to, and the only letters they got were from strumpets they'd met while on liberty. But, as I said, these new men are always writing letters and sending letters off. I can't understand that. I was raised in an orphan asylum, myself. No chance of anybody who was raised in an orphan asylum, under Mrs. McMallow's care being homesick I'll never forget the old Tartar. Company K - University of Alabama Press

Each is caught in one lurid moment of his life, as if March had composed by the light of a Very pistol. It is the only War-book I have read which has found a new form to fit the novelty of the protest. The prose is bare, lucid, without literary echoes. Join Our Mailing List. Company K, Company K, , , , , , , Company K, , , , ,. Quality Paper Library of Alabama Classics Series. With an Introduction by Philip D. Beidler This book was originally published in William Edward Campbell served courageously in France as evidenced by his chestful of medals and certificates, including the Croix de Guerre, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Navy Cross. However, without the medals and citations we would know of his bravery. Simmonds Morley added his kudos to that of Greene: "It's queer about this book--it suddenly made me wonder whether any other book about the War has been written in this country. It's a book of extra-ordinary courage--not the courage of hope but the quiet courage of despair. It will make patriots and romanticists angry--yet it is the kind of patriotism that is hardest and toughest. It ranks at once with the few great cries of protest. It is a selected, partial, bitter picture, but a picture we need. It will live. None of the acts of bravery for which the author was decorated during the War was as brave as this anthology of dismay. However, published only by the University of Alabama Press, this is another novel of the caliber of All Quiet on the Western Front , deserving the same readership. This is a book with the staying power of any novel written on the horror of war. Find it. Read it. You cannot forget it. View all 7 comments. Jul 22, Mark Mortensen rated it really liked it Shelves: wwi , usmc , fiction. Drawing from his personal experiences he wrote this powerful fictitious novel using the pen name William March. View 2 comments. Aug 06, Rebecca McNutt rated it it was amazing. Really excellent book by the author of The Bad Seed. The war experiences in the story are vivid and powerful, and every character is interesting. Oct 24, Jamie rated it really liked it Shelves: history-military , history-military- ww1 , fiction. Ordinary men: career soldiers, volunteers, and draftees; compassionate and callous; reluctant combatants and enthusiastic murderers; educated and illiterate; smart and stupid, honorable men and criminals, cowards, and shirkers. Some are true believers in the idea of war to end all war, or in the allied propaganda that all Germans are murderous brutes deserving of whatever they get. Others sneer at the idea of the fighting having any noble aims or higher purpose, and see only the inefficiency and Ordinary men: career soldiers, volunteers, and draftees; compassionate and callous; reluctant combatants and enthusiastic murderers; educated and illiterate; smart and stupid, honorable men and criminals, cowards, and shirkers. Others sneer at the idea of the fighting having any noble aims or higher purpose, and see only the inefficiency and incompetence of Army life. Taken altogether, they are a cross section of men thrown together by chance and sent off to war. The book consists of short tales, more vignettes than stories. Some are as brief as two paragraphs, most less than two pages. Each is told by a different soldier in the form of reminiscences from a few years after the war. Most are from survivors, but some are from beyond the grave as they relate the manner of their death. In the first story, which serves as an introduction to the collection, the author says that he sees each tale as a tiny slice of the totality of war. If you could put them all together in a circle like a roulette wheel and spin it until they merge together, and add in the sounds and smells and the rest of the experience, you could gain an appreciation of what it was really like to be there. The illusions of the recruiting campaigns and the patriotic speeches and songs were long gone. These are tales of cold and fatigue, of hunger and fear. Inexperienced officers made stupid mistakes that cost lives, or order prisoners murdered in cold blood. Even the humor is dark and bitter: the company commander is regarded by his officers and NCOs as utterly incompetent. When one of the soldiers reports to a sergeant having seen him killed with a bullet through the head, he mentions a spoonful of brains spilling out. The sergeant laughs and says it could not have been their company commander, because a spoonful was more than he ever had. The dominant theme of the stories is cynicism, as befits men who are looking back at the war from enough perspective to understand the madness and futility of the fighting. A secondary theme is ironic detachment, as bad things happen to people for foolish reasons, or no reasons at all. A man marries his girlfriend just before shipping out and finds that she only wanted his money. An elderly French couple who had lost their only son early in the war go out of the way to show kindness to the soldiers when they are billeted near them, only to have one of them steal their most cherished memento of their lost child as a souvenir. Some live, some die, but all are changed. The final section of stories deals with the homecomings. Some of the men are scarred for life: blinded, maimed, or disfigured, and even the ones who came back physically whole have to deal with the mental and emotional trauma of what they had gone through. The author, William March, served with distinction in the Marines. Even so, this book shows he did not allow his awards to turn him into an apologist for war. Some of the stories are searing, some inexplicable, and some just show ordinary men trying to survive the inferno, whether through courage, resignation, or despicable behavior. Taken together March brilliantly recreates the experience of men at war. Aug 21, Christian rated it really liked it. A masterful work by March, this novel is a rich and powerful description of much of WWI. March speaks from experience to create entries by various characters, many of these entries being short, but nonetheless complete stories describing multiple aspects of the war. Although the entries are often brief, March effectively submerses the reader into the world each soldier lived in, describing with such detail the experiences of each soldier that one can almost feel the uniform on himself and hear t A masterful work by March, this novel is a rich and powerful description of much of WWI. Although the entries are often brief, March effectively submerses the reader into the world each soldier lived in, describing with such detail the experiences of each soldier that one can almost feel the uniform on himself and hear the marching of boots on either side. However, what makes this novel so important as a reflection of history is the realistic description of the war down to every chilling detail. March spares nothing as he describes the horrid smelling trenches, the childlike fear one is struck with when he is being shelled, and even the humbling final thoughts one faces as his last breath escapes him on the field of battle. He also skillfully captures the feeling of the Lost Generation as he describes the aftermath the war plays on a soldier's everyday life following the war. The author also describes the futility of the war and how foolish the war was. March's artistic portrayal of the war through his concise entries make this a must read for anyone who seeks a novel describing one of the most important events in the world's history. It's Remembrance Day here in Canada, a day set aside each year to show respect for veterans who served in the great wars. Politicians stand in front of war memorials and yap about young men making the ultimate sacrifice against the forces of evil. It's all very shallow, sappy and sacrosanct. But what was the Great War, anyhow? How, in these empty, symbolic gestures, has the real war been lost? WWI was a stupid, pointless war fought by a dying aristocracy. Millions of men snuffed out with mechanic It's Remembrance Day here in Canada, a day set aside each year to show respect for veterans who served in the great wars. Millions of men snuffed out with mechanical banality. William March pen name of a serviceman, see Wikipedia for more gives these men life and purpose. Company K comprises of every short chapters, each a vignette of war-time and afterwards, the survivors trying to regain a sense of normalcy. Hear the cries of the dying, bleeding out in no man's land. See a soldier commit an ironic murder of his commanding officer. Get the feels for a former piano prodigy, returned to small-town civilian life with less digits. Watch as a lovelorn soldier gets grifted by a French prostie. Even in the darkness, there are moments of laughter and levity. This isn't a war book, this is a book about humanity. It's not a Harper speech, it's real. A soldier is haunted by the ghost of a German he killed. Forces of evil? War is the evil, and so is forgetting. View 1 comment. Apr 13, Chris rated it it was amazing. One of my favorite books, one that has accompanied me on every cross-country move, a piece of WWI literature that deserves far more recognition than it gets. Written by an decorated veteran of the Great War, Company K offers an semi-fictionalized account of the unit's experiences, from deployment to decades after the war ends. Each member of the group tells his own story in the first person, and each has a very different perspective, from deserters to cold- blooded murderers, philosophers to poli One of my favorite books, one that has accompanied me on every cross-country move, a piece of WWI literature that deserves far more recognition than it gets. Each member of the group tells his own story in the first person, and each has a very different perspective, from deserters to cold-blooded murderers, philosophers to politicians. The stories are hardly more than snippets; most don't continue beyond two or three pages, with a few notable exceptions. A sad but beautiful masterpiece. Apr 09, Matt rated it really liked it. Really good WWI book. A series of very short two or three pages stories that interconnect. Surprised I'd never heard of this one before One of the best books I have ever read. A revelatory and soul jarring comment on the folly of war as we know it. The writing is exceptional and the style is totally fresh to me at least. Read this book. Sep 11, Ker rated it it was amazing Recommended to Ker by: Mr. In high school, the book that got me labeled a communist by my friend's dad. Should be read with Slaughterhouse-Five to ward off ignorance, arrogance, and tendencies of warmongering. Mar 30, Walter rated it liked it Shelves: fiction-historical-wwi. This novel is one of the unpatriotic novels about the First World War. Along with "All Quiet on the Western Front", "Three Soldiers" and "A Farewell to Arms", this novel broke through the barrier of war novels that served to glorify the side of a war on which its author had once fought. It traces the experience This novel is one of the unpatriotic novels about the First World War. It traces the experiences of the members of the unit from training in the States, to the crossing of the Atlantic, through the war in the trenches in France, to the return to the States and the lives of the veterans of the company after the war. The story is told in the first person by each member of the company, which makes the narrative quite a bit disjointed. Furthermore, the personalities of the narrators do not seem to vary from each other, which is understandable given that each narrative only lasts a few pages, and there is not enough room to do anything like character development or plot development. The story covers some pretty disturbing ground. There are scenes involving the murder of officers by their own men, and men who are considering or about to commit desertion in the face of the enemy. One of the veterans of Company K commits a capital crime after the war and is executed in his narrative. Another tries to start an anti-war organization at home, but when the potential members of the group hear this veteran's stories of the war, they become filled with patriotic feeling and go out to enlist in the National Guard! This is probably the only piece of humor in this novel, and I don't believe that the author intended it to be humorous, but I found it to be funny. The bottom line here is that this is a hard book to read. The realities described by the author undoubtedly were real problems experienced by recruits, soldiers and veterans of the First World War. In it, members of the army unit describe their experiences before, during and after the Great War. A hundred young men - hardly any of them having any experience on the battlefield - start their training filled with enthusiasm and bravery. But from the prologue, years after the war in which a conversation regarding the evil of murder is discussed, we know most of these men who will survive the war, will do so embittered, broken and lost. Because of the extremely short chapters, it sometimes felt like I was skimming through a much larger novel, only reading a paragraph here and there. Despite being a highly decorated WW1-veteran himself, author William March regarded war as pure evil, so most of the stories are mean, coldblooded chapters of madness without any hope or comfort. One of the characters at the beginning of the book, who has penned down his experiences as a soldier, hopes his words will not only be understood by American combatants, but by those all across the world where men are plunged into war. Apr 14, Vic Nicholas rated it it was amazing. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. William March's Company K is a series of vignettes in all of the various members of this fictional but no doubt autobiographical WW1 US Marine company in France in When I first read this as a teenager, I found it entertaining, sad, and in parts disturbing. Every scene is described in stunning detail from one who could only have been an eye witness to the events described. The scene where they shot the freshly surrendered German prisoners in a ravine is told from a few view points, a William March's Company K is a series of vignettes in all of the various members of this fictional but no doubt autobiographical WW1 US Marine company in France in The scene where they shot the freshly surrendered German prisoners in a ravine is told from a few view points, and it is harrowing. The detachment and disillusionment of the post war vignettes of the lives of those that survived the horrors of the front is no less sad. This book covers every range of emotions, from the funny boot camp episodes to the description of watching comrades walk straight into an artillery bombardment that wipes them out. It is not a book you will easily forget. That's the thing with this singular and remarkable work, it is not so much a novel of war, but war itself rendered through the mouths of these men. It can be despairing, hopeful, violent, funny, tragic and dastardly at any moment. For me, March has achieved the purest form of war novel imaginable. One that is honest. It is not glorious, though glory is to be found, it is not condemning these men, though there are rogues amongst them. It merely allows them to speak so that they may not be forgotten. I can think of few better reasons to write than that. May 06, Ridgewalker rated it it was amazing. All most of us know of war is through the movies we have watched. They knew the truth of what war was like and that it was nothing like what he had portrayed on screen. This book is a story of a company in WWI. It is raw and honest in its descriptions. You read about senseless violence. The language is true to the era, as it was written by a member of this comp All most of us know of war is through the movies we have watched. The language is true to the era, as it was written by a member of this company. This book stands as a stark contrast to the broader narratives you will read of battles and strategies being executed. It is told man by man, by each member of the company. Even if you have no interest in military history, this is an excellent book to read. Sep 13, Fred Dameron rated it it was amazing Shelves: owned. If the fate of todays veterans concerns you the last pages of Co. K are a must read. March has the credentials to talk about what really happens to people involved in a war. His descriptions of pre - enlistment, training, combat, and, most important to me the aftermath are spot on. Those of us who have served can see those we served with in these pages. We can also see those who did well after their service and those who have not done well. The post war part is truly moving and I see some of If the fate of todays veterans concerns you the last pages of Co. The post war part is truly moving and I see some of myself in those last pages. AS this nation continues to fight in Afghanistan the questions we ask today are the same ones March asked years ago. All our politicians need to read CO. K before they vote for another troop increase in Afghanistan. Sep 08, Chloe rated it really liked it Shelves: ww1-fiction.

Company K - Custom Design and Fabrication by Jack Kearney

For an outsider, that this occurs makes not sense at all, but for March it made perfect sense, at least by the time he got it put down on the page. They are doing what they can to make the best of the lift the lives they have returned to and to leave the horror that they endured behind them. That is what March did. But it is hard to ignore the anti-war sentiment. It may not have been what he wanted to focus on, but it is very present. In certain chapters, particularly the ones in which they are dealing with a group of German prisoners, that sentiment just cannot be ignored. It has endured, I believe, because it is honest without being overly sentimental. The short vignettes, rather than long, rambling chapters full of exposition, paint a clearer picture and make a stronger impact. I know that there are not many of you out there who have read this book. No spam. We promise. So much bookish goodness—all day, every day. With an Introduction by Philip D. Beidler This book was originally published in William Edward Campbell served courageously in France as evidenced by his chestful of medals and certificates, including the Croix de Guerre, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Navy Cross. However, without the medals and citations we would know of his bravery. For it is clear in the pages of Company K that this book was written by a man who had been to war, who had clearly seen his share of the worst of it, who had somehow survived, and who had committed himself afterward to the new bravery of sense-making embodied in the creation of major literary art. It is of that bravery that we still have the record of magnificent achievement, the brave terrible gift of Company K. Thomas J. Cypert, edited and with an introduction by Margaret M. Log In Account Info. Cart Checkout. E Book

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