COMPANY K PDF, EPUB, EBOOK William March | 288 pages | 30 Nov 1989 | The University of Alabama Press | 9780817304805 | English | Alabama, United States Company K - Wikipedia 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.