When a friend of mine, armed with the knowledge of my interest in all things connected to WWI, recommended a book for me to read, gushing that I'd enjoy it ever-so, my interest was piqued. When she then elaborated and told me it was a children's book, I thought, hmm.... maybe just this once, ... Read review
Advantages: Gives a powerful message to young, and old, readers Disadvantages: I didn't write it
...on.
PRIVATE PEACEFUL by MICHAEL MORPURGO
Michael Morpurgo wrote this novel after talking to three old farm-workers while researching another book altogether. They had described some of their thoughts about their experiences in WWI in such a way, that he was motivated to write this book.
Although it's entirely fictional, the title was inspired by a gravestone he encountered in Ypres, the scene of much of the ... .../>
The structure of the book is interesting.
The story begins with the central character (Tommo Peaceful) spending a long, lonely night looking back over his life. He doesn't want to sleep for some reason. He mustn't sleep, he can't sleep. He doesn't want to look forward, only back. Back over his life from his earliest memories.
Each chapter consists of a short passage where he describes what's happening throughout ... more
When a friend of mine, armed with the knowledge of my interest in all things connected to WWI, recommended a book for me to read, gushing that I'd enjoy it ever-so, my interest was piqued. When she then elaborated and told me it was a children's book, I thought, hmm.... maybe just this once, she's got it horribly wrong. Did she get it wrong? -- Read on.
PRIVATE PEACEFUL by MICHAEL MORPURGO
Michael Morpurgo wrote this novel after talking to three old farm-workers while researching another book altogether. They had described some of their thoughts about their experiences in WWI in such a way, that he was motivated to write this book. Although it's entirely fictional, the title was inspired by a gravestone he encountered in Ypres, the scene of much of the British tragedy of that war.
The structure of the book is interesting.
The story begins with the central character (Tommo Peaceful) spending a long, lonely night looking back over his life. He doesn't want to sleep for some reason. He mustn't sleep, he can't sleep. He doesn't want to look forward, only back. Back over his life from his earliest memories.
Each chapter consists of a short passage where he describes what's happening throughout this night - what he's feeling and thinking, followed by the remainder of the chapter as a reminisce. Each chapter progresses to the point where they coincide with the opening passages.
A watch (with its own special significance) marks the passing of time throughout this night. Each chapter recounts its relentless journey - 11.10, 02.45, 04.15 etc. - toward the finality of dawn.
Immediately, the reader is drawn into speculation. Why is he looking back over his life in this way? Is he sitting in a trench, awaiting the fateful order to 'go over the top'? Or, is he lying wounded, in 'no-man's-land' (or as Tommo so succinctly calls it later - 'dead-man's-land')? Perhaps he's trapped underground, buried alive by an explosion?
The reason isn't clear at first, we must draw our own conclusions.
It all begins when Tommo starts his first day at school, protected by Charlie, his big brother. Tommo lives with his Charlie, his mother, and their older brother, Big Joe. Big Joe suffered meningitis in childhood and as a result, was brain-damaged. The plight of Big Joe, a lovable, but simple soul, draws the family into a very tight-knit unit.
There are various ups-n-downs, highs-n-lows and spills-n-thrills. Many adventures and much sadness. For the most part, this book is about a young boy growing up on an estate in Devon in the early part of the 20th century. Apart from the opening passage in each chapter, the horror and slaughter of the trenches couldn't be further removed from this country idyll.
Expecting a war story, you could be forgiven for thinking that the reader might be disappointed with this book. Far from it. The style of writing is such that you're irresistibly drawn into Tommo's life. The descriptions of country-life in those innocent days of the Edwardian period are captivating in the little details. Tommo remembers how he and his brothers, and their closest friend, Molly, would go swimming in fine weather, catch trout in the brook, and share in everything. How when times were hard, they'd poach some rabbits or a salmon from the Colonel. Apart from a few hiccups here and there, it's generally a happy life.
But, as time goes on, the clouds of war roll across the horizon.
Tommo, partly because he's goaded by stupid old ladies taunting, 'y'aint be a coward, are ye?', and also due, to some extent, by the jingoistic expectations of The Colonel (landlord of the estate and a nasty piece of work), enlists with Charlie. Tommo, like a huge number of 'men' who fought and died, is underage at only 16, but he and Charlie claim to be twins and so are able to stick together.
From this point on, the memories are of the training and the drilling, the comradeship and the fighting. The bravery.....the cowardice. The trips to the estaminet (a small cafe) behind the lines in 'Pop' (Poperinghe) for the most marvelous egg-n-chips and beer - and a smile from the pretty waitress. The wondrous flashing and thunderous booming of the continuous barrage that devastates the rubble of Ypres just a short distance away. The disarray - the shambles. The severely injured and the dying being carried away, outnumbered only by the endless lines of walking wounded trudging wearily back from the front. The putrid reek of dismembered horses....and more, lying by the roadside. The rats, the lice, the long-dead hanging on the wire. The mud...the endless, soul-sapping, sticky glue-like mud - a viscous sea of grey...here and there speckled red. The shellfire. The ground-shattering, deafening roar of death. The fear turning to sheer, bowel-loosening terror - trying to claw yourself deep into Mother Earth to escape - praying to a God you now know doesn't...can't, exist. But you pray anyway. The gas. Creeping tendril-like, sinking into every hollow, every nook and cranny. Its yellowish-green fingers seeking out young throats as if to squeeze the very life from them in an agonizing, burning hell of drowning. The horror. The indescribable, unimaginable, incomprehensible, unspeakable bestial depths of human capability. The sorrow. The lifeless eyes of one of your pals, shot through the heart (at least it was quick). Or another pal, splinters gathered together and bundled in a small sack. Or yet another .....vanished, vapourized, ceasing to exist. And the pointless, stupid, wasteful sacrifice.
Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.
Not.
The climax of the story would bring a tear to a glass eye. I thought I had worked out the ending fairly early in the book, I was wrong. There's a twist that makes it even more poignant than I suspected.
If you were expecting a children's book about cute baby pigs or puppy dogs - interfering brats catching master criminals or a speccy little twerp with magical powers, then you won't find it here.
This is a book that lulls you into a false sense of security, in that it seems such an unremarkable story, before smacking you square across the jaw with the reality of a futile war. And it does it exquisitely. The chapters depicting the war are cleverly done. I think he manages to convey a sense of the unutterable horror without resorting to language that may disturb an impressionable mind, but still not losing the shock-value and the emotional power.
Michael Morpurgo deserves nothing but the highest praise for this book. Almost a century after the event, he has managed to capture the tragedy of that lost generation when millions of men....and boys, were ritually sacrificed in the name of imperialism and blind, stubborn stupidity. If it helps young minds understand even a tiny fraction of the dangers of rushing headlong into armed confrontation, then it can't be bad.
The book is recommended for 10 and over, but I think only the most pretentious of adults would find the prose beneath them. It's a book that, once started, can't be put down until the gut-wrenching, bitter finale.
Buy it. Beg steal* or borrow it. But whatever you do, read it.
* The author does not condone, or promote, any illegal activity - it was a figure of speech.Published by Harper Collins ISBN: 0007150067
Advantages: A wonderful, wonderful book Disadvantages: Not to be read in public due to the inevitable tears.
== PRIVATE PEACEFUL ==
by
=== MICHAEL MORPURGO ===
=== INTRODUCTION ===
My review starts with the first foreign holiday that I took my three eldest children on almost 30 years ago. That holiday was to Ostend, and one of the trips we went on was to Ypres and the World War l trenches and grave yards; I remember before the trip thinking 'Why on earth are we going on this trip?', but I am so glad we did it left so many lasting memories for me and ... ...may ask? Well, Private Peaceful is a novel written in 2003 by Michael Morpurgo, about a soldier called Thomas, or Tommo, Peaceful, who is looking back on his life from the trenches of World War I. The book is fictional but Morpurgo got the inspiration for the book from a gravestone that he encountered in Ypres, possibly one of the very ones that I was looking at thirty year ago, in fact I think I know the very one. Michael Morpurgo is an author best ...
oldchem 17.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo
Advantages: A moving and skillfully written story of the horrors of WW1. Disadvantages: Shocking ending!
...copy of Michael Morpurgo’s book Private Peaceful. It seems like ages since Jill Murphy recommended it to me (well, actually it IS ages), but at last I had the chance to read it. Was it worth the wait? Read on…
~~~THE AUTHOR.
Michael Morpurgo was born in St Albans in 1943 and gained his education at Kings Canterbury, Sandhurst and Kings College in London. He has been a teacher and his books have been published since 1975. He is married and has three ... ...literature.
~~~THE PLOT.
Private Peaceful is a book about the awful realities of World War One. It centres around the character of Tommo Peaceful ~ a Private in the trenches of WW1. The story follows a night in his life and sees him reliving his life as he waits for morning. As the night passes Tommo tells his story as he sits in a silent vigil ~ his childhood, his family, his loves and the horror of life under fire, are all part of the young Private’s ...
tange 06.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo
Advantages: Lovely writing, honest opinions. Disadvantages: War's not glorious.
...So I came to write Private Peaceful."
It is always good to know the motivation for the writing of a book, don't you think? Are there ever events or stories told by others which touch you so deeply that you think you'd like to explore them further, in your own mind, in your own words? Perhaps then, you would be able to understand them better. Perhaps then, you would be able to think through how you feel about them. In Private Peaceful, Michael Morpugo ... ...explain them to us.
Private Thomas Peaceful - Tommo - joined up for the war while still underage. He left his quiet, rural English village to follow his brother Charlie into soldiering. Charlie had been forced to enlist by the jingoistic squire, a weak but spiteful, petty man. Tommo - ridden with jealousy since Charlie has married his childhood sweetheart, Molly - forgets past bitterness and refuses to allow his brother to go to France alone. The ...
jillmurphy 26.11.2003 (02.12.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo
Advantages: An amazing, profoundly written book that you can't stop reading Disadvantages: Knocks you for seven on occasions
...tangent. Details
Title: Private Peaceful
Author: Michael Morpurgo
Publisher: Collins
Price: Hardback £10.99
ISBN: Hardback 0 00 715006 7
The plot
Main Characters
Mother Peaceful: A poor but proud woman who cares emmensely about her three boys...a lady who has had many hardships but delt with it all in her own uniuque way.
Tommo Peaceful: The main character, and the youngest of the three brothers. The whole book is written from his memories ... ...the whole book, watching him grow, love and suffer.
Big Joe Peaceful: One of Tommo’s brothers, he is mentally damaged after having caught meningitis a few days after he was born. You see him as a loveable child even though he is the eldest; Tommo’s life revolves around him at home as what him and Charlie thought of people depended on how they treated their brother. His habit of singing oranges and lemons at the top of his voice would make the most ...
Secre 27.01.2005 (29.01.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo
Advantages: Beautifully written, fantastic story, a very powerful ending Disadvantages: A shocking ending
...in it for me."
Private Peaceful is a novel about World War 1. I am quite interested in WW1 and 2 so when I see a novel set in one of these time periods I often take a closer look… Private Thomas ("Tommo") Peaceful is recalling his childhood from those terrible battlefields. He remembers his big brother Charlie taking him to his first day of school, the death of his father when he was just a young child, his mum working hard to keep a roof over their ... ...which was given to the private by an injured captain, marks the passing of the minutes and hours through one night. The beginning paragraph of each chapter starts in the present time, it is how he is feeling at that point and the rest of the chapter is memories from his childhood and time spent with his family. The book works it's way through the past until the past meets the present. Each chapter is a time in the night counting towards six the following ...
bluejules 11.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo
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Advantages: Outstanding illustrations and excellent story. Disadvantages: Reminds us of the horror of war.
the subject home to you!
I?m not ashamed to say that the book did upset me a little and unsettled me a lot! I got really involved with the characters, so it?s not surprising that I was upset at what they had to contend with ~ I defy you not to fill up at the end when Will imagines he is going to play in a great football game in the sky!
~~~PRODUCT DETAILS:
Product Details:
? Paperback 80 pages (5 October, 1995)
? Publisher: Chrysalis Children's Books; ISBN: 1857937139
Currently listed on Amazon at £7.99 or it can be bought with PrivatePeaceful (by MichaelMorpurgo) for £16.78.
There is also a non-fiction book that can be used in conjuction with the picture book, an animated film and a Read and Respond book with activity sheets to use as an educational resource ~ if you want any info on these please leave me a message. ...
Advantages: Remarkable story! So descriptive an well written. Disadvantages: Martin Booth will never write another story!
While STILL waiting to reach the top of the waiting list for MichaelMorpurgo?sPrivatePeaceful I thought I?d try to find something similar to keep my interest and while away the hours. I looked along the shelves in the Older Fiction section in the Children?s library ~ I got as far as ?B? before a copy of Martin Booth?s PoW (Prisoner of War) caught my eye. Further inspection (I read the ?blurb? on the back) got my curiosity further and I decided THIS was the book I should read next.
~~~THE AUTHOR.
Martin Booth was born in 1944 (on September 7th) and unfortunately died on the 12th February this year (2004). He had been ill for around eighteen months and finally lost his brave battle against cancer. Martin Booth had been a writer for many years and produced lots of different styles of work ~ he has written poetry, novels ...
