The Faber Book of Reportage

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Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth A piece from Robert Graves, from 1915, described the incredible courage of a “tender-hearted lance-corporal named Baxter”, who walked out on his own into No-Man’s Land on the Western Front, waving a handkerchief, to go to a wounded soldier trapped close to the German lines. Initially the Germans fired at him but eventually they let him come on. Graves recommended Baxter for the Victoria Cross, but “the authorities thought it worth no more than a Distinguished Conduct Medal.” Here is one for the way people deal with too much death. The way they just become desensitized to the horror and get on with living. Excellent book to dip in and out (although i read it through) and get a feel for witness accounts of fascinating events throughout recorded history. I had been about ten days at the front when it happened. The whole experience of being hit by a bullet is very interesting and I think it is worth describing in detail.

The Faber Book of Reportage by Professor John Carey - Waterstones The Faber Book of Reportage by Professor John Carey - Waterstones

Often we just get the victor's account of an event in our history books, so it was so refreshing to be able to read an everyday person's instead. Tsar Nicholas II and the Russian Imperial family shot 1918 - not sure why they had to shoot the doctor, the maid and 2 waiters also? There's a harrowing first-person account of a mastectomy performed without anesthetic, written by Fanny Burney in 1811: “When the dreadful steel was plunged into the breast – cutting through veins – arteries – flesh – nerves – I needed no injunctions not to restrain my cries. I began a scream that lasted unintermittently during the whole time of the incision – & I almost marvel that it rings not in my Ears still!” There is a description of the various regional methods that Hindu women employed for suttee, written in 1650 by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier: “This miserable condition causes her to detest life, and prefer to ascend a funeral pile to be consumed with her deceased husband, rather than be regarded by all the world for the remainder of her days with opprobrium and infamy.” What is it with the British and some of their euphemisms for being dead? Anyone for "'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!” And here’s one from the book.

Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand, 1791, on fleeing the French Revolution and coming to the United States. In the introduction, Professor Carey informs us that the book is one of reportage, of written accounts by eyewitnesses. According to him this makes for authenticity by relying on information from people who can say, “I was there,” such as the bystanders, travellers, warriors, murderers, victims, and professional reporters he has included in his collection. George Bernard Shaw, writing about his mother's funeral in 1914, begins with, “Why does a funeral always sharpen one's sense of humour and rouse one's spirits?” And after humourously describing his mother's cremation – making plain that she would have joined in on the laughter – GBS concludes with, “O grave, where is thy victory?” John Carey is a British literary critic and retired emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. He has twice chaired the Man Booker Prize judging panel and is chief book reviewer for the London Sunday Times and appears in radio and TV programs such as Saturday Review and Newsnight Review. FEATURED ON BBC 2's BETWEEN THE COVERS WITH SARA COX***The Faber Book of Reportage is John Carey's remarkable collection of eyewitness accounts that draws on the voices and emotions of the people who experienced some of history's most memorable events.'Stunning . . . There are descriptions in this book so fresh that they sear themselves into the imagination.'JEREMY PAXMAN'Fascinating - there's funny stuff, interesting stuff, loads of brilliant stuff really.'JO BRAND (on BBC 2's Between the Covers)What was it like to be caught in the firestorm that destroyed Pompeii? To have dinner with Attila the Hun? To watch the charge of the Light Brigade? To see the Titanic slide beneath the waves? John Carey's best-selling Faber Book of Reportage draws its eyewitness account from memoirs, travel books and newspapers. This is history with the varnish removed.

The Faber Book of Reportage - John Carey - Google Books

Stunning . . . There are descriptions in this book so fresh that they sear themselves into the imagination.' I absolutely loved this book. The variety of events covered in these accounts, and the "real" feeling that they had to them kept me engaged throughout the entire book. The majority of events did cover major battles, military engagements, and lives of soldiers, but even among those, the vast differences in wars across generations and countries was fascinating to read. I love the irony of Chateaubriand's observation here. The United States would live with this contradiction for 73 more years. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-01-29 16:16:26 Associated-names Carey, John, 1934- Autocrop_version 0.0.5_books-20210916-0.1 Boxid IA40333316 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier Despite those opening and closing chapters, you can tell that this is a book published in Britain, with a British editor. The reports include a disproportionate number of incidents that either occur in Britain or at least involve British people in other countries. There will always be disagreement over the selection of material for a collection like this, but in my opinion there’s also an over-concentration on descriptions of wartime events. WW2 takes up an enormous section, but many other wars are included as well. Lastly, and possibly as a consequence of the emphasis on WW2, almost half the statements in the book are taken from the 20th century.A true five-star masterpiece that collects hundreds of eyewitness accounts of important historical events from the age of antiquity to the overthrow of Marcos. A perfect book for anyone interested in history and the humanities. Carl Sagan’s quote “Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors” is absolutely true in this case. There really should be many more volumes to this collection. I was surprised how many were by or about subjects of England, but that says something about the prominence of that country in world history. This observation by Amerigo Vespucci is an example. He assumes that war has causes that he is familiar with. The concept that maybe war is an innate part of human essence is alien to him.