Why Stay We
Here?
VI. Recent
Reviews (2004)
The first review is from
"Canadian Military History", Book
Review Supplement (Wilfred Laurier
University), Fall, 2003; the second
is from "The Canadian Historical
Review" (U. of Toronto), March 2004.
I have taken the liberty of printing
in bold print those parts which I
wish to bring to your attention;
they were not in bold in the
original article. (There are approx.
4 pp. of text).
"CANADIAN MILITARY HISTORY"
(Autumn 2003, 300 words)
"It has been seventy-three years
since "Why Stay We Here?" has been
widely available. It was never a
huge seller, so it didn’t go through
the dozens of editions like some of
the better known books of the genre,
like "All Quiet on the Western
Front". It didn’t find its way into
many libraries, and one rarely finds
it in an antiquarian bookshop.
Nevertheless, it is arguably the
finest Canadian novel of the First
World War–more substantial and less
derivative than Charles Yale
Harrison’s "Generals die in Bed",
which usually enjoys that honour.
"Why Stay We Here?" tells the story
of Stephen Craig, a British Columbia
fruit farmer, and his trial by fire
in the trenches of the Western
Front. It has everything one would
expect of a novel written by someone
who was all too familiar with life
at the front (Godwin, a prewar
emigrant to BC from England, served
with the 29th Battalion, Tobin’s
Tigers)–powerful descriptions of
conditions in the trenches and in
battle juxtaposed against the
happier times in the rear areas,
touching stories of friendships
between comrades in arms, and
passages that detail the destruction
of the French landscape. But what
sets the book apart from other
Canadian contributions to the genre
is the reflective element. Through
his characters, Godwin explores
religion, morality, human weakness,
and a range of other themes, and the
impact on them of the most terrible
war the world had ever seen. This
book is certainly visceral but it is
much more than that, in a way that
"Generals die in Bed" is not.
But "Why Stay We Here?" is not
really an antiwar novel. Godwin knew
as well as anyone the horror of war,
but he also knew that there were
certain things worth defending. This
gives the novel a complexity often
lacking in such books. It is worth
noting that when Stephen Craig
returns to British Columbia at the
conclusion, it is not with a feeling
of bitterness or disillusionment,
but of hope." By "CA", in "Canadian
Military History").
THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL
REVIEW (March 2004, 500 words)
 "A
quick survey of the best examples of
Canadian First World War fiction
would invariably include Peregrine
Acland’s "All Else is Folly" (1929),
Charles Harrison’s "Generals die in
Bed" (1930), Philip Child’s "God’s
Sparrows" (1937), and Timothy
Findley’s "The Wars" (1977). Few
would likely add George Godwin’s
autobiographical novel, "Why Stay We
Here?" (first published in 1930) to
this list. If so, why does Godwin’s
little-known work warrant
republication? The answer, according
to Robert Stuart Thomson, the owner
and editor of Godwin Books, lies in
Godwin’s Canadian perspective and
his ‘powerful and original statement
about the war.’
The story is essentially Godwin’s,
as told through the fictional
character of Stephen Craig, a
British Columbia fruit farmer. There
are the usual critiques of château
generals, comments on the
senselessness of the conflict, and
the stereotypical depiction of
Canadians as physically superior to
their British counterparts. At the
same time, Godwin/Craig offers an
unusually perceptive and frank
depiction of the soldier’s world.
Prostitution, venereal disease,
unpalatable food, the importance of
the rum ration, and the economic
exploitation of soldiers by French
and British civilians all receive
thoughtful treatment alongside the
other sights, sounds and smells of
war. The sudden destruction of a
machine gun emplacement by artillery
further illustrates the randomness
of death and the capacity of modern
war to erase man and machine from
the landscape as if neither had ever
existed.
A reluctant soldier, Godwin/Craig
enlists to ward off financial ruin
and discovers that his fellow
officers joined with equally diverse
motives, ranging from adventure to
escapism. One even declares his
enjoyment of the war and his desire
for it to continue. Despite these
views, cynicism and fatalism pervade
the ranks, especially towards
religion, which Godwin/Craig
concludes has no place at the front
or in war. Yet Godwin/Craig also
sheds light on the intense
comradeship of the trenches which
enabled men to continue. The
battalion, he feels, has a soul
‘made immortal by sacrifice and
suffering,’ and its pull is powerful
enough for him to request a transfer
back to his old unit when he is
posted to a training school. The
front may be hell, he reasons, but
‘hell with friends, and so, no hell
after all.’
Although, perhaps, not the equal of
those works first mentioned, "Why
Stay We Here?" is a powerful
commentary, and its republication is
not out of place. This new edition
includes a fine preface by Reginald
H. Roy, and Thomson’s introduction
provides the necessary context and
background for Godwin’s life and
other works. The promised editorial
notes are at times idiosyncratic,
but for the most part offer welcome
explanations for the numerous
military acronyms and slang found
throughout. There is further
interesting information on Godwin,
such as the revelation that his
journal contains a detailed–but
apparently unsuccessful–plan to
murder his elder brother. (...)"
(Wesley C. Gustavson, U. Of W.
Ontario).
Some readers might be interested to
know that Stephen Davies of
Malaspina College in British
Columbia is currently using "Why
Stay We Here?" as a key part of his
course on Canada in World War One.
I asked him recently how his
students were reacting to Godwin’s
book. Here is his reply: "As for my
own students they are really
enjoying the book. Many of them have
said that of all the readings they
have to do, "Why Stay We Here?"
provides the best understanding of
the war experience for the soldier.
"Why Stay We Here?" fits in well
with many of the themes that we have
already discussed or are currently
discussing. Definitely something
that I would use again and would
recommend it highly." (March 09,
2004).
Stephen has created, with colleagues
(e. g. Jonathan Vance, the author of
a superb book, "Death so Proud", on
Canadian propaganda in World War
One) a huge web site of Canadian
documents (letters, diaries, esp.)
from the Boer War to the Korean War.
It's called "The Canadian Letters
and Images Project". You can find it
here:
http://www.mala.bc.ca/history/letters/.
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