What do you think?
Rate this book
A Passionate Prodigality: Fragments of Autobiography
Following the declaration of war in 1914, Chapman joined the Royal Fusiliers as an adjutant and was sent to the Western Front in August 1915.
Chapman survived the Battle of Arras in 1917 but was badly affected by a mustard gas attack. Following treatment for this he returned to the Western Front, remaining until the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918.
Chapman survived the Battle of Arras in 1917 but was badly affected by a mustard gas attack. Following treatment for this he returned to the Western Front, remaining until the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1965
4 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 28, 2014
This is the fourth World War One memoir I've read recently, and the third from the Western Front. Once again, I am left stunned on finishing the book and I am not sure what I could write that would do the book justice. Nevertheless, I am saddened that there is only one review on Goodreads so I thought I might try and write something.
First of all what I didn’t like. I disliked the frequent classical and literary allusions and the occasional French was sometimes a little beyond my easy comprehension. There is even a line on the final page in an ancient or foreign script (ancient Greek? Sanskrit?) with no translation given. 'Her Privates We' starts every chapter with a quote from Shakespeare and has quite a bit of French but there was a little too much here for my taste.
The author is or was an old school stiff upper lip junior British officer (are our soldiers still like this? - I’d like to think so) who paints a picture of British infantry life on the Western Front very much in accord with ‘Goodbye To All That’ and ‘Her Privates We’. But there are shocks and surprises. One of these is an account of the execution of a prisoner of war pp99:
‘What’s the matter, Terence?’ I asked.
‘Oh, I don’t know. Nothing…At least…Look here, we took a lot of prisoners in those trenches yesterday morning. Just as we got into their line, an officer came out of a dug out. He’d got one hand above his head, and a pair of field-glasses in the other. He held the glasses out to S_____ you know, that ex-sailor with the Messina earthquake medal – and said, “Here you are sergeant, I surrender.” S____ said “Thank you, sir,” and took the glasses with his left hand. At the same moment, he tucked the butt of his rifle under his arm and shot the officer straight through the head. What the hell ought I to do?’
Another quote from ‘A Passionate Prodigality’ pp226:
For long watching my colonel, I believe – I do not think falsely – that he enjoyed the war, even in its most terrifying aspects. The worst the trial to be faced the more perfect became the balance of his nervous system and the greater the increase of his physical and moral power. This quiet and level-headed man was lifted to a higher plane, bewitched by apparitions. He seemed to be nourished by them, while to myself they brought only shrivelling fear.
And yet, in spite of it, there grew a compelling fascination. I do not think I exaggerate : for in that fascination lies War’s power. Once you had lain in her arms you could admit no other mistress. You may loathe, you may execrate, but you cannot deny her. No lover can offer you defter caresses, more exquisite tortures, such breaking delights. No wine gives fiercer intoxication, no drug more vivid exaltation. Every writer of imagination, who has set down in honesty his experience has confessed it. Even those who hate her most are prisoners to her spell. They rise from her embraces, pillaged, soiled, it may be ashamed ; but they are still hers.
There are many more quotes I dogeared that I could share, but perhaps suffice to say, this is another WWI memoir that is bewildering and shocking. I had read a few war memoirs before reading any World War One memoirs, but I can’t help but consider there is a very good reason why they called it The Great War.
This is an excellent book. I have read other reviewers claim it is one of the best of WWI literature. I expect they are right.
First of all what I didn’t like. I disliked the frequent classical and literary allusions and the occasional French was sometimes a little beyond my easy comprehension. There is even a line on the final page in an ancient or foreign script (ancient Greek? Sanskrit?) with no translation given. 'Her Privates We' starts every chapter with a quote from Shakespeare and has quite a bit of French but there was a little too much here for my taste.
The author is or was an old school stiff upper lip junior British officer (are our soldiers still like this? - I’d like to think so) who paints a picture of British infantry life on the Western Front very much in accord with ‘Goodbye To All That’ and ‘Her Privates We’. But there are shocks and surprises. One of these is an account of the execution of a prisoner of war pp99:
‘What’s the matter, Terence?’ I asked.
‘Oh, I don’t know. Nothing…At least…Look here, we took a lot of prisoners in those trenches yesterday morning. Just as we got into their line, an officer came out of a dug out. He’d got one hand above his head, and a pair of field-glasses in the other. He held the glasses out to S_____ you know, that ex-sailor with the Messina earthquake medal – and said, “Here you are sergeant, I surrender.” S____ said “Thank you, sir,” and took the glasses with his left hand. At the same moment, he tucked the butt of his rifle under his arm and shot the officer straight through the head. What the hell ought I to do?’
Another quote from ‘A Passionate Prodigality’ pp226:
For long watching my colonel, I believe – I do not think falsely – that he enjoyed the war, even in its most terrifying aspects. The worst the trial to be faced the more perfect became the balance of his nervous system and the greater the increase of his physical and moral power. This quiet and level-headed man was lifted to a higher plane, bewitched by apparitions. He seemed to be nourished by them, while to myself they brought only shrivelling fear.
And yet, in spite of it, there grew a compelling fascination. I do not think I exaggerate : for in that fascination lies War’s power. Once you had lain in her arms you could admit no other mistress. You may loathe, you may execrate, but you cannot deny her. No lover can offer you defter caresses, more exquisite tortures, such breaking delights. No wine gives fiercer intoxication, no drug more vivid exaltation. Every writer of imagination, who has set down in honesty his experience has confessed it. Even those who hate her most are prisoners to her spell. They rise from her embraces, pillaged, soiled, it may be ashamed ; but they are still hers.
There are many more quotes I dogeared that I could share, but perhaps suffice to say, this is another WWI memoir that is bewildering and shocking. I had read a few war memoirs before reading any World War One memoirs, but I can’t help but consider there is a very good reason why they called it The Great War.
This is an excellent book. I have read other reviewers claim it is one of the best of WWI literature. I expect they are right.
August 29, 2012
Chapman wrote a very matter-of-fact, very laconic account of his service during the Great War.
This book is often used by some WWI-hobbyists to prove that things weren't half-bad, that a lot was boredom, or marching to-and-fro, that the pacifists and oxbridge-veterans-turned-pacifists along with the liberals and lefties of the 1960s have it quite wrong.
I can't say I am convinced. No, not at all.
Chapman has a writing style as dry and stiff-lipped as tinder. If one is willing to overlook certain extremely distantly written passages for what they are, then yes, one might arrive at such ideas. However, I've read a few too many of these dry, distanced memoirs by now, and I've also read up on the effects of PTSD and PITS not to recognise what I am reading there. The horror makes it through quite intact when you know where to look:
"...my eye caught something white and shining. I stooped. It was the last five joints of a spine. There was nothing else, no body, no flesh..."
"...This area was strewn with dead. The dead had haversacks. The haversacks had socks...The allowance was two pairs per man...we acquired some thousands pairs of unauthorized socks..."
"...One private ran across No-Man's-Land with an apron full of bombs, drew the pin of one, slung the whole lot into the trench and jumped in on top of them..."
"...the privates were nearly all children, tired, hardly able to drag their laden shoulders after their aching legs. Here and there an exhausted boy trudged along with tears coursing down his face..."
"...and there is a 'still' of the grey puzzled face of a boy, in the arms of two pals, who has been shot through the testicles, the scrotum swollen to the size of a polo ball..."
Chapman's voice is so far detached that it sounds as if he is retelling a tale he read in a book in his early childhood, yet what he tells is quite often so gruesome, you--the reader--groan, and the very fact of this detachment alone makes this quite the reverse of what some people wish to make out of it, for he also peppers his account with at times quite vicious attacks on the upper echelons and their stupidity. Chapman was in a perfect position to observe exactly this, as he served for a long time as adjutant and intermediary between the NCOs and the general staff--not quite here and not quite there. As a consequence he could directly observe the blunders and arrogances committed and he had no compunction mentioning these in the very same acerbic, dry tone.
This is one of the more important accounts of this war.
This book is often used by some WWI-hobbyists to prove that things weren't half-bad, that a lot was boredom, or marching to-and-fro, that the pacifists and oxbridge-veterans-turned-pacifists along with the liberals and lefties of the 1960s have it quite wrong.
I can't say I am convinced. No, not at all.
Chapman has a writing style as dry and stiff-lipped as tinder. If one is willing to overlook certain extremely distantly written passages for what they are, then yes, one might arrive at such ideas. However, I've read a few too many of these dry, distanced memoirs by now, and I've also read up on the effects of PTSD and PITS not to recognise what I am reading there. The horror makes it through quite intact when you know where to look:
"...my eye caught something white and shining. I stooped. It was the last five joints of a spine. There was nothing else, no body, no flesh..."
"...This area was strewn with dead. The dead had haversacks. The haversacks had socks...The allowance was two pairs per man...we acquired some thousands pairs of unauthorized socks..."
"...One private ran across No-Man's-Land with an apron full of bombs, drew the pin of one, slung the whole lot into the trench and jumped in on top of them..."
"...the privates were nearly all children, tired, hardly able to drag their laden shoulders after their aching legs. Here and there an exhausted boy trudged along with tears coursing down his face..."
"...and there is a 'still' of the grey puzzled face of a boy, in the arms of two pals, who has been shot through the testicles, the scrotum swollen to the size of a polo ball..."
Chapman's voice is so far detached that it sounds as if he is retelling a tale he read in a book in his early childhood, yet what he tells is quite often so gruesome, you--the reader--groan, and the very fact of this detachment alone makes this quite the reverse of what some people wish to make out of it, for he also peppers his account with at times quite vicious attacks on the upper echelons and their stupidity. Chapman was in a perfect position to observe exactly this, as he served for a long time as adjutant and intermediary between the NCOs and the general staff--not quite here and not quite there. As a consequence he could directly observe the blunders and arrogances committed and he had no compunction mentioning these in the very same acerbic, dry tone.
This is one of the more important accounts of this war.
December 11, 2017
Justifiably considered a WW1 classic. I'll start with the negatives. There is a fair bit of jargon and acronyms so it helps if you're familiar with British army terms of the time. He doesn't really tell you much about his companions, or at least not enough for you to care when they are killed or mutilated. It's pretty dry and stiff upper lip and the reader has to sometimes pause and enlist their imagination to appreciate the full horror of what is being described, e.g. soldiers bedding down among corpses in various stages of decomposition.
There are no descriptions of 'going over the top' and charging machine-gun nests and bombing and bayoneting the way through trenches because the reason why Chapman survived over three years at the front without serious injury was that he was lucky enough to be in battalion reserve or on leave when his battalion attacked, and then later he became the battalion adjutant.
But he was certainly in the front line, he became something of a connoisseur of shelling and there are good descriptions of being under shellfire or hearing bullets flying past. He is strong on describing the reality of trench warfare, which basically meant a lot of marching and being shifted around, a lot of time in rear areas waiting to go up the line, and a lot of time spent in trenches under the constant tension but with not a lot happening - though always with the sense of threat. And he certainly saw more than his fair share of the devastation and his descriptions of what he saw are accurate if detached. On the other hand there is also a fair bit of humour - not his own, but his descriptions of soldiers' witticisms and foibles.
This is definitely up there with Graves, Blunden and Sassoon. I don't know if it would be my first pick as an introduction to the subject - though you could do worse - but if you are interested enough to have read other books you should read this one.
There are no descriptions of 'going over the top' and charging machine-gun nests and bombing and bayoneting the way through trenches because the reason why Chapman survived over three years at the front without serious injury was that he was lucky enough to be in battalion reserve or on leave when his battalion attacked, and then later he became the battalion adjutant.
But he was certainly in the front line, he became something of a connoisseur of shelling and there are good descriptions of being under shellfire or hearing bullets flying past. He is strong on describing the reality of trench warfare, which basically meant a lot of marching and being shifted around, a lot of time in rear areas waiting to go up the line, and a lot of time spent in trenches under the constant tension but with not a lot happening - though always with the sense of threat. And he certainly saw more than his fair share of the devastation and his descriptions of what he saw are accurate if detached. On the other hand there is also a fair bit of humour - not his own, but his descriptions of soldiers' witticisms and foibles.
This is definitely up there with Graves, Blunden and Sassoon. I don't know if it would be my first pick as an introduction to the subject - though you could do worse - but if you are interested enough to have read other books you should read this one.
April 14, 2023
Although the summer pace of reviews has slowed somewhat, today's book deserves to be discussed in depth. We are in fact facing one of the masterpieces that came out of the trenches of the Great War, "A Passionate Prodigality", or Guy Chapman's account of the war years, memories that are constantly cited and included in other books.
The book, first published in England in 1933 and in this edition by Pen & Sword in 2019, is one of the classics of the Great War. Chapman with his detailed writing, was an officer of the 13th Battalion of Royal Fusiliers, which were part of the 111th Brigade of the 37th Division. His story, full of funny, cheerful, gruesome, terrible anecdotes, is the story of a war that slowly loses its meaning for the one who tells it, a war which becomes a bestial routine. It is something that I believe amazed readers in 1933 as it amazes and moves today, with an undiminished force.
His testimony of events has often been used in essays on the Great War, Chapman is a faithful witness to what happened, and although he was relatively fortunate, most of the time going to fill administrative roles in the battalion he was a part of, the story of the war, even if often filtered through indirect experiences, largely returns what was the experience of fighting and of the places hit by war. The particular language, the habits induced by a war in the trenches, to hide and get dirty, the sense of fatalism of the British Tommies come to life, so much so that perhaps to make the most of this work it is essential to know the way of speaking, the slang of the British soldier who developed it over those terrible 4 years in France. The book, divided into three large parts, is precisely a description of that disenchantment that those thousands of volunteers of the Kitchener battalions felt from 1914 to the end of the war.
"The Amateurs", "The Professionals", "The Grognards" describe exactly that change of perspective that accompanies the growth or loss of innocence of soldiers and officers. The lack of meaning of a war that is now difficult to decipher or valid, the disenchantment of those who had started with Victorian principles and values and now saw the true face of a mechanical, brutal, nihilistic war.
Excerpts from Chapman's book have also been used by other historians for their immediate and faithful value of combatant psychology. One of those passages is the famous tale of the brutality resulting from the action, the dehumanization of even the most sensitive or principled subjects, that is the act, by someone decorated with the Messina Earthquake Medal (in 1908 there was a terrible earthquake in Reggio and Messina, in southern Italy, in which rushed to help the naval forces of many countries including Great Britain) during the first day of the Battle of the Somme, with the cold-blooded killing of German prisoners. The passage is used in the beautiful book by the great John Keegan "The Face of Battle", which describes the combat experience through three great battles in British history, Azincourt, Waterloo and the Somme.
What more can I say? "A Passionate Prodigality" is like one of those great paintings full of characters, like "The Night Watch" by Rembrandt, who deserve more views to fully appreciate their beauty, and with every glance they make you discover new details. The book in the same way deserves more reading to fully appreciate every nuance of what is a rich writing, full of pathos and details. A book that is a classic and that deserves to be in the library of every Great War buff.
The book, first published in England in 1933 and in this edition by Pen & Sword in 2019, is one of the classics of the Great War. Chapman with his detailed writing, was an officer of the 13th Battalion of Royal Fusiliers, which were part of the 111th Brigade of the 37th Division. His story, full of funny, cheerful, gruesome, terrible anecdotes, is the story of a war that slowly loses its meaning for the one who tells it, a war which becomes a bestial routine. It is something that I believe amazed readers in 1933 as it amazes and moves today, with an undiminished force.
His testimony of events has often been used in essays on the Great War, Chapman is a faithful witness to what happened, and although he was relatively fortunate, most of the time going to fill administrative roles in the battalion he was a part of, the story of the war, even if often filtered through indirect experiences, largely returns what was the experience of fighting and of the places hit by war. The particular language, the habits induced by a war in the trenches, to hide and get dirty, the sense of fatalism of the British Tommies come to life, so much so that perhaps to make the most of this work it is essential to know the way of speaking, the slang of the British soldier who developed it over those terrible 4 years in France. The book, divided into three large parts, is precisely a description of that disenchantment that those thousands of volunteers of the Kitchener battalions felt from 1914 to the end of the war.
"The Amateurs", "The Professionals", "The Grognards" describe exactly that change of perspective that accompanies the growth or loss of innocence of soldiers and officers. The lack of meaning of a war that is now difficult to decipher or valid, the disenchantment of those who had started with Victorian principles and values and now saw the true face of a mechanical, brutal, nihilistic war.
Excerpts from Chapman's book have also been used by other historians for their immediate and faithful value of combatant psychology. One of those passages is the famous tale of the brutality resulting from the action, the dehumanization of even the most sensitive or principled subjects, that is the act, by someone decorated with the Messina Earthquake Medal (in 1908 there was a terrible earthquake in Reggio and Messina, in southern Italy, in which rushed to help the naval forces of many countries including Great Britain) during the first day of the Battle of the Somme, with the cold-blooded killing of German prisoners. The passage is used in the beautiful book by the great John Keegan "The Face of Battle", which describes the combat experience through three great battles in British history, Azincourt, Waterloo and the Somme.
What more can I say? "A Passionate Prodigality" is like one of those great paintings full of characters, like "The Night Watch" by Rembrandt, who deserve more views to fully appreciate their beauty, and with every glance they make you discover new details. The book in the same way deserves more reading to fully appreciate every nuance of what is a rich writing, full of pathos and details. A book that is a classic and that deserves to be in the library of every Great War buff.
November 22, 2024
A powerful book with shocking images and difficult insights. It also has long spells of, what must have been, uncomfortable tedium.
It would benefit from a glossary of social, political and military terms of the time. Google substitutes to some degree.
Two passages made a particular impact:
Page 122 which shows how the higher ranks and society view the soldier.
Page 226 which describes the shocking addiction of war.
It would benefit from a glossary of social, political and military terms of the time. Google substitutes to some degree.
Two passages made a particular impact:
Page 122 which shows how the higher ranks and society view the soldier.
Page 226 which describes the shocking addiction of war.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews