A Stranger to Myself

This book tells the story of the fighting on the eastern front from a very personal angle, going deep into the human pysche of what it is like to leave life's familiar things behind you as you turn into a soldier. The book is very poetic and reveals the passions of a typical (romantic) young man who sees himself as an adventurer; a theme he often returns to in the book. In this, it is very easy to relate to as we have all had such thoughts. I found his descriptions of the landscape and even the trees he clearly enjoyed seeing very moving as he brought the whole horror of the war to life by writing observations anyone would see during a woodland walk on a Sunday afternoon never mind a walk between dugouts. The author slips between highs and lows throughout the book as events impact upon him and the story is all the more poignant as we know Willy Reese died during the devastating Russian summer offensive of 1944. This is not your average war autobiography. Yes, it follows the author through battles and hard times, but more importantly, the book gives the reader a real sense of how war can change you inside. This is not a book for those who like lots of battle action or battle descriptions (though clearly they are often mentioned in the book too), or indeed who like to whizz through a book, nor does it really go into who the friends around him were..most other characters in the book rarely get named..but it will leave a big impression upon you on the futility of war if you give it the time and patience it deserves. Had he lived, I suspect Willy Reese would have become a great poet.

A STRANGER TO MYSELF. (2/3 people found this helpful)

VERY GOOD BOOK.
GOES TO SHOW HOW WAR CAN CHANGE FOREVER SOMEONES OUTLOOK ON LIFE.THIS PERSON LOVED LIFE,POETRY AND ALL THINGS SIMPLE.A VERY TALENTED YOUNG LAD.
WOULD NO DOUBT HAD MADE IT IN LITERATURE HAVE NOT BEEN FOR THE WAR.VERY UP CLOSE LOOK AT AN ORDINARY LADS ACCOUNT OF THE MOST BRUTAL OF ALL FIGHTS FOR SURVIVAL.
WELL WORTH A READ.NOT FULL OF FACTS AND FIGURES.JUST A NORMAL PERSON THREW INTO HELL NEVER TO RETURN.

Read Me (4/5 people found this helpful)

If ever you wanted to understand a little about the eastern front read this book. I could say many things about its content but its a lot easier just to say "read me" .
You could criticise the translation but then you would be missing the point.
A fine epitaph to a young man caught up in a wrong war.

As an aside about the same time he was killed,an older, british army corporal was killed fighting in normandy.

Writer and author (5/5 people found this helpful)

Willy Peter Reese. I had never heard of him before the first part of June 2007. I met Reese, in his memoirs. He bared his soul for me. I sat next to him as he endured the frigid cold of a Russian winter. He told me of his pain when wounded. I watched as he and his fellow soldiers wore lice infested uniforms, suffered from pyoderma and lymph inflammations.
I watched a young man, quiet and reserved, go to war. In degrees I witnessed this young man give up on life and accept the horrors of war.
Reese, through his writing style, has left behind a compelling piece of literature; painting the war on the eastern front in such vivid colors so as to burn a hole to the readers soul.
Please read, A Stranger To Myself. For those who glorify war this may give you a realistic perspective of what can, and usually does, happen when soldiers face each other. As an Army veteran I am not so naive as to think war can be avoided every time, but when one reads what war is really all about then it is worth the time to try diplomacy first.
Read this book. It will take your breath away.

Richard Neal Huffman - author of, Dreams In Blue: The Real Police

Lost in translation. (18/25 people found this helpful)

Wilhelm Reese was an enlisted civilian posted to the Eastern Front. His book describes his experiences, where they happened, and how they changed his state of mind. Ther result is therefore a valuable document and of particular interest to those who know something about the events and about soldiering.
And that is a problem because the translater, Michael Hofmann, does not use English or even American military terms. For examples: Hofmann translates a) 'Trommel-feuer' literally as 'drum fire', when any soldier would say 'stonk', 'barrage' or 'heavy bombardment'; b) 'Our reserves were being bled dry...There was no help to come', when a soldier would complain about lack of 'reinforcement'; c) 'The Russians drove their wedge farther into our hinterland', when a soldier would say 'the enemy infiltrated behind us' with all the angst that accompanies being cut off; d)'Tanks and artillery arrived too late and were shot down', which is a literal translation of 'abgeschossen' but quite wrong in this context in which tanks were 'shot up' while only aircraft were 'shot down'. The last three examples all occur in the last two paragraphs of page 151.
This incompetent translation makes the book difficult and often impossible to read. It does Willy Reese a grave disservice, and it is surprising that the great Max Hastings when agreeing to write the foreword failed to insist on the use of common military terms.

Stefan Schmitz, Max Hastings

Reader Reviews:

A story straight from the soul (2/2 people found this helpful)