For every war, there is a story. There are the stories
learned in grade school, the stories told by grandpa, the stories watched on
the history channel, or for some, the stories made right in front of open eyes.
For those who witness war firsthand, either soldier or civilian, their stories
are some of the most valuable when it comes to learning about what war was
actually like. These narratives can provide emotional and psychological
experiences that one would not be able to read about in a regular text book. In
the book The Soldiers’ Tale, Samuel Hynes offers his take on war narratives, describing
typical qualities these narratives usually possess and War in Val D’Orcia, a
personal war diary by Iris Origo, helps to solidify and broaden some of the
main topics brought to light by Hynes.
