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Return of the Brute
A shocking and compelling novel about trench warfare in World War I... The bombing squad of No. 2 Platoon are the dregs of the army, the toughest of the tough. But even they cannot endure forever the nightmare of war. Corporal Williams's authority is being strained past its limits by his men's wretchedness, terror, and exhaustion. Fragile Lamont, too sensitive for the inhumanity of the front, is plotting a way to escape. And the Brute that the war has unleashed is tearing Gunn apart from within... This classic about nine very different men trying to survive exposes the horrors of war and the darkness that lurks within the human spirit.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1929
About the author
Liam O'Flaherty
127 books77 followersPeople know Irish writer Liam O'Flaherty especially for his short stories, collected in
Two Lovely Beasts
(1948) and
The Pedlar's Revenge
(1976).
This significant novelist, a major figure in the literary renaissance, also wrote short stories. Left-wing politics involved him as was his brother Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty (also a writer), and their father, Maidhc Ó Flaithearta, for a time.
This significant novelist, a major figure in the literary renaissance, also wrote short stories. Left-wing politics involved him as was his brother Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty (also a writer), and their father, Maidhc Ó Flaithearta, for a time.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 21, 2026
Add another to the list of well-written anti-war books written by a veteran who experienced it firsthand. Return of the Brute is fairly short with a darkly comic first half and a brutal second half.
The story focuses on a small squad of ragtag soldiers just trying to make it through another day of hell. The first big chunk is similar in ways to the in-war parts of Slaughterhouse-Five: miserable humdrum activities drawn out by general military incompetence punctuated with an ironic humor. On the flip side, the latter section's brutality feels in many ways more contemporary, displaying traumatic stress in a dreamlike (nightmarish) fashion.
Like other Liam O'Flaherty books, there is a great deal of attention paid to small details of action, making many parts more engaging or more brutal. I nearly always enjoy his use of figurative language that never feels overdone unless he's trying to push something to the nth degree, which I appreciate as well.
Honestly, I'm just pretty surprised that nobody threw down or dropped their gun and accidentally shot themselves in the head.
The story focuses on a small squad of ragtag soldiers just trying to make it through another day of hell. The first big chunk is similar in ways to the in-war parts of Slaughterhouse-Five: miserable humdrum activities drawn out by general military incompetence punctuated with an ironic humor. On the flip side, the latter section's brutality feels in many ways more contemporary, displaying traumatic stress in a dreamlike (nightmarish) fashion.
Like other Liam O'Flaherty books, there is a great deal of attention paid to small details of action, making many parts more engaging or more brutal. I nearly always enjoy his use of figurative language that never feels overdone unless he's trying to push something to the nth degree, which I appreciate as well.
Honestly, I'm just pretty surprised that nobody threw down or dropped their gun and accidentally shot themselves in the head.
Displaying 1 of 1 review