Tulip Frenzy

In a powerful essay on why World War One lingers in the imagination, British novelist William Boyd (A Good Man In Africa, An Ice Cream War, Stars and Bars, The New Confessions) addresses the hold the War To End All Wars still has on our culture, referencing PBS’ Downton Abbey, Spielberg’s War Horse, and even the — unknown to us — pending Tom Stoppard adaptation of Ford Maddox Ford’s Parade’s End.  The question Tulip Frenzy wants answered is: how is it possible that a British novelist could have written such an essay without a reference to the 2011 Album of The Year (so sayeth Uncut, Melody Maker, and everyone in Albion save for, um, Prince Charles) that was PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake.  Hard for us to believe a more powerful depiction of WWI will come along anytime soon, in any medium…

Mr. Boyd — loved those early novels (and have a soft spot in our heart for the Daniel Day Lewis performance in the movie version of Stars and Bars), but it’s time to open your ears!

This entry was posted on January 22, 2012 at 7:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized with tags "Why World War I Resonates", Let England Shake, PJ Harvey, Stars and Bars, William Boyd. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.