bookstabob's reviews
69 reviews

There is a reason not all diary writers have published great novels, and it’s a simple reason: not all people who write are (great) writers. The same goes for Louis Hagen. He wasn’t a great writer and his diary on the battle of Arnhem seems rather tedious and dull. But that’s because it’s a detailed account of what happened. If you look at this book not from the perspective of “is it a great novel?” but through the question “is it a great historical document?” than one has to answer, yes. Yes it is. And anyone who wants to understand the life of a simple soldier on both sides of the frontline should read it.

This Is How You Lose the Time War is confusing, heartwarming, mind boggling and sweet at the same time. Written in what could be prose instead of more standardised fictional writing, it is sometimes difficult to make sense of what is written and that is it’s exact power. You don’t know how Red and Blue look, you don’t know what worlds they live in. And that’s because it doesn’t truly matter. Because they are still relatable as in that they are the two sides of the current struggle in the world. Do we eventually lean to technology and let it run us? Or do we fight against the extinction of nature and let that overcome us again?

Orwell has a way to twist tales and note down states of society and the world, talents which he uses again in Down and Out in Paris and London. Looking at the world and society with a critical note without being condescending, he observes the poorest of society and how they are treated. But it’s also Orwell who writes it and his tone and choice of worlds can be an absolute struggle to get through, and sometimes it’s easy to miss steps which makes it hard to remember where the story took turns and twists to follow