Francis A. > Recent Status Updates

Damien Lewis’ writing is bothering me greatly; the facts are interesting, but the writing is neither good nor sticking to the genre the book is meant to be. I truly have nothing else to read for the next 5 hours of train travel, so I will fume and keep reading, especially since I’ve the rest of the trilogy to finish after. 😮‍💨

The quality of writing is quite disappointing given the unique resources Lewis had access to for the project. I truly set myself up to be let down by starting with Macintyre’s writing. The content is interesting but presented in poor form and with grammatical issues that make the sentences very hard to follow. Not one clear timeline and the story jumps back and forth and hinders the ‘plot’. Still reading 🤞

I’m sorry to say I should have begun with the Mayne series by Lewis rather than the account by Macintyre, so as not to set such a high standard at the beginning of my reading on SAS. While the narrative is interesting it’s a format clearly meant to be more drawing to a reader than it is intended to be a factual account, regardless of reliance on Mayne’s relics. Editing could be improved as well, unfortunately.

The language of this book is so far rather clunky and almost dizzying to read; the jumping between perspectives on the battlefield and a broader view both of the war and of individual lives serves not to provide wider context so much as a noticeable attempt at grim foreshadowing and overarching narratives, which doesn’t function terribly well in its organization. Though I am also on the train; my review may change.

So far a very engaging retelling that draws on direct quotes and archive resources to alternate between a broader picture of the events and small, intimate glimpses into the relationships and conversations between members of the unit. Though Macintyre has at times included more speculative detail it is always stated as possibility, rather than fact, leaving open to interpretation what he suggests could have occurred.