Marc Dugain
1998
1-86159-177-2
Lieutenant Adrian, arriving at the front lines at the beginning of the Great War, is blown up on his very first day and removed to Paris, where he spends the entire war in a hospital ward built especially for men who have lost their faces.
Between operations to repair the damage and rebuild what they can, Adrian finds three friends, and together they find the strength to continue living in the face of fear and pity in the outside world.
Written sparsely, this book is strangely moving; in spite of the sometimes bald narration, you are drawn in to the world of the sheltered and injured, so that the ending is both poignant and heartbreaking. This was a surprise find, and one that will be with me for a long time.
Date finished: 17/06/08
Year total: 23
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