Over the Top

Arthur Guy Empey was an American who traveled to England and enlisted with the British armed services well before the United States joined World War I in 1917. Over the Top is Empey's memoir of his time "somewhere in France," but written as it was in 1917, it is also a manual of sorts for prospective U.S. soldiers and their families.

I discovered that this book existed in reading The Last of the Doughboys earlier this year. Richard Rubin excerpted from it liberally and I wanted to read it in full. Thanks to the Internet Archives, I was able to do so, and on my Nook, and entirely for free.

In a conversational and self-deprecating style, Empey tells the reader all that he experienced. (They style, I should add is highly reminiscent of Edmund Love, for whom I've previously stated by admiration. I have no doubt this is one of the reasons I liked this book so much. But I digress.)

Empey captures the language and atmosphere in the trenches beautifully, and he recalls his exploits with a heavy dose of humor, noting for example, that upon uncovering a decomposing corpse, one of the men fainted. I was that one, Empey writes in the next sentence. The humor carries into the last section of the book, "Tommies Dictionary of the Trenches." For example, Supper: Tommy's fourth meal, generally eaten just before "lights out." It is composed of the remains of the day's rations. There are a lot of Tommies who never eat supper. There is a a reason.

I think part of what I appreciated so much about Over the Top is that it is written in the midst of World War I. Empey hasn't had time to reflect, either on the causes of the war, or on the ways it will change him. It is written in the moment, when all Tommy wants to do is survive - and maybe have a little fun along the way.

Five stars.