Sub Rosa

I have been busy on the poetry, trying to convey the similarities of the poems (Owen and Borden) and there are some amazing similarities.  Namely the ill health, exhaustion and bewilderment that contribute to the casualties of war.  When you think how the Somme is described in slick fetid terms, is it any wonder that the ground eventually swallows people, drowning some of the battle-exhausted men?

As I mentioned last week, I was asked to watch All Quiet on the Western Front, but reading some of the book in class has made me buy it, as it is beautifully written and quite likely I will write an essay on it.  I hear that Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong is a good read as well and used to be studied in tandem with the other book, although not on the syllabus this year.  Anyway, finished the day on 656 - not a lot, but a LOT of close reading and some 'quality' writing :-)