A Testament of Youth
by Vera Brittain
Chris’s choice of book resulted in almost complete agreement about the relative merits and criticisms of the book. A very popular choice, well worth persisting with all 600+ pages.
The book is divided into three parts. Pre-war, the war period and post war.
Her description of her life as a
VAD
and the loss of her fiancé, brother and friends is heart-rending and made more immediate by the use of contemporary, letters, notes from her diary and poems.
All found it interesting that this account recorded the war from the point of view of a VAD and not just the combatants.
It was fascinating to track Vera’s early enthusiasm to her later exhaustion and disillusionment.
It was the two other, perhaps less well known parts of the book, which provoked the most interest.
Vera’s early struggles to be treated like her brother and receive a university education, were remarkable.
It is incredible to think how far we have come, in some societies, in 100 years.
Entry to University, whether male or female, at the beginning of the last century seemed a most convoluted affair involving Latin, Greek and Divinity regardless of your choice of study.
Vera, a most determined, intelligent and courageous woman, succeeds, despite the opposition of her parents, society and the educational obstacles in her way.
Perhaps her lack of empathy, noted by us all, with those who were not her intellectual equals, is understandable.
The third part of the book promoted the most discussion.
The war left Vera determined to find out why humanity had turned upon itself in such a destructive manner and with this knowledge to prevent it happening again.
With this aim, she changed her degree subject to History.
All of us were moved by her tales of isolation and mental distress, not being able to talk about the war and receiving total lack of comprehension from others at Oxford.
This was later mitigated by her growing friendship with Winifred Holtby.
There was a common consensus that the post war period was not one we knew a great deal about.
To have a first-hand account of the devastation in post war Central Europe interested us all.
Vera’s views on sex, love and marriage run through the book from her romantic, idealised love of Roland, to her more practical discussions on an equal partnership with G.
Both of these affairs were largely conducted on paper.
Like most women of her time, Vera’s knowledge of the ‘facts of life’ were very sketchy, until becoming a VAD completed this education.
All of us felt that Vera Brittain was an amazing, courageous, principled and determined woman. Her book, as a work of Social History, is a priceless insight into a most turbulent period of history.
The content of the book is so overwhelmingly important, and it is an autobiography and as such, we were all reluctant to make any negative comments.
However, we did feel that her literary style was at times verbose and ornate. Let us hope that the forthcoming film does not just concentrate on the war period alone.
JC
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