Something a little different with the next book I read. This time it was a three-act play set during the First World War. Similar to the previous book, Passage of Arms, I had at some point been recommended this story, but couldn't remember why. I think it might have been after reading or watching All Quiet on the Western Front, as they are both anti-war pieces displaying the psychological heartbreak of trench warfare.
The story was good, but I do prefer Erich Maria Remarque's German novel. What I found more interesting than the actual play itself was that Laurence Olivier starred in the first performance of the show in London's Apollo Theater. Olivier is a tremendous actor of Hollywood's Golden Age and to see him in a theater production would have been stupendous. I can picture him in the role of Captain Stanhope and I'm sure he was phenomenal, as he is in nearly everything he did.
There have been revival productions of Journey's End and even some film, television, and radio adaptations throughout the years. It took me only a day to read through the entire thing and the copy I received had notes written throughout by someone who was either studying it for school or performing it as a play. If you want to be reminded of the horrors of war, then by all means go ahead and spend a couple of hours going through this. However, I would still recommend All Quiet on the Western Front as a more insightful look into what the men of World War One went through and how it took a toll on those young men.
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