[paddw]

> it's still a pretty good description of what regular exposure to shared hardship and danger will do to men grouped together in infantry units.

Forging an "ever purer, ever bolder warriorhood"?

I would have to say I agree with the author on that one, that is blather. WW1 was horrific. Different people, of course, responded to the trauma in different ways, but there was nothing "pure" or "chivalrous" about the militarism fostered during and after the war.

[Amezarak]

I don't disagree, but I think the experience of a man who fought in WWI for four years, was wounded seven times, and saw dozens of his friends die is probably more interesting and insightful on the subject than a New Yorker music critic.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, what you say is certainly true from my perspective, but I also appreciate that I am totally ignorant of what the experience of being in WWI was like, and Junger was not. It's easy to moralize from 2023.

I appreciate that gleaning anything meaningful from secondary sources is difficult at best. I don't think they're valuable for more than piquing interest in something - definitely not for learning about it. I'd recommend just reading the man himself. I particularly enjoyed The Marble Cliffs.