War. War never changes.
(series of post-apocalyptic video games Fallout)
The senselessness and absurdity of war are the themes of the best works of modern literature. Most of these works have been honored with prestigious literary awards because they clearly and vividly convey to the world the endless horror and unbearable hardships of the most tragic events in our history.
We live in the 21st century, and each of us has enough intelligence to solve any problems in a civilized manner, without repeating the insane mistakes of the past. AdmiGram.com recalls the best books about how war is the worst thing that can exist in the modern world.
The best anti-war books of our time
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
This book is neither an accusation nor a confession. It’s just an attempt to tell about a generation destroyed by war, about those who became its victims, even if they escaped the shells. With these words begins one of the best anti-war novels of modern times, vividly telling us what real war is, and what turns ordinary people into enemies and killers. A must-read to realize that in any war there is neither good nor evil, only death and wounds that never heal.
A Farewell to Arms
by Ernest Hemingway
An absolute masterpiece about love and war, written by Hemingway at the peak of his creative powers. A beautiful and tragic novel about those who try to distance themselves from the harsh reality and simply, even for a moment, immerse themselves in a normal, familiar life. After all, in the end, we were created by God to love, not to kill. And everything would be fine, but war is still war. And even if it didn’t break you, passing you through its meat grinder of pain and death, it still kills everything dear and close to you.
Boys In Zinc
by Svetlana Alexievich
Boys In Zinc is one of the newest books about war, revealing all the intricacies of armed conflicts. The distinctive feature of the narrative is documentary prose from monologues-confessions of those who witnessed the war with their own eyes, as well as those whose sons, husbands, and fathers were taken away by the war. Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Prize laureate in literature, shows war as it is, without patriotism, heroism, and feats, focusing on what remains with people after the real hell.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
by John Boyne
Another ‘fresh’ book from the 2000s that screams at us with all its essence that we are created for love, friendship, and familiar human values. About how normal human psyche resists and does not understand what those who consider themselves superior have invented. On the other hand, the novel perfectly illustrates those who, due to their beliefs or peculiarities, do not want to accept the horrors and atrocities committed by their compatriots. After all, sooner or later, everyone has to pay for everything, and this novel confirms it perfectly.
Death of a Hero
by Richard Aldington
Classics have an amazing feature – they do not age and always remain relevant. There are few such works in world literature, and this novel is the brightest confirmation of that. The plot of the book is a protest against war, a protest against its absurd essence, inhumanity, and the blurring of the boundaries of humanity. This book is about terrible hopelessness, when it becomes all the same, and when we, ordinary people, turn into those who fell in this war and died in vain, died for nothing, for a gust of wind, in the name of empty talk, in the name of idiotic nonsense, newspaper lies, and the belligerent arrogance of politicians.
