Contemporary War Novels: A Reading List
With just over a year having passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the decades-long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq having recently come to an end, and the seemingly permanent looming threat of future conflict a part of everyday life in various places around the globe, war is, unfortunately, a theme that comes up far too frequently in literature.
There are several classics and historical texts that have defined the genre, from War and Peace to Catch 22 to the writings of Hemingway, Graham Greene and Primo Levi, amongst others. But we decided to craft a more modern list of books about war that might offer new ways of processing this defining and traumatic phenomenon.
The Unwomanly Face of War - Svetlana Alexievich (1988)
It may seem ironic that our first pick in a collection of novel recommendations is a nonfiction account of the feminine side of war, by the inimitable Svetlana Alexievich. Over the course of twenty six grueling years, Alexievich interviewed female veterans of World War II, who enlisted to fight on the front lines. These women were frequently denounced as unladylike and not marriageable, and this book is a culmination of many years of interviews through which we see a new perspective on the war. Not only did this book turn them into ‘war heroes’, it also raises interesting questions about gender, violence and nationhood, and is often more surprising than the finest fiction.
Half of A Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006)
Perhaps the defining account of the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s and the book that launched Adichie to literary stardom, this is a long, complex novel that tracks the fate of five people before and during the Biafran war, moving propulsively between different segments in Nigerian society. Apart from exploring war, it also meditates on post-colonial identity, western journalism, academia and various other aspects of African politics and development in a manner that rarely seems didactic.
De Niro’s Game - Rawi Hage (2006)
A beautiful and powerful portrait of a friendship during the war in Lebanon, Rawi Hage’s debut novel won many awards for its raw look at the ways in which the political affects the personal. The Lebanese-Canadian writer draws upon the breakdown of the country to craft a chaotic, cinematic and affecting story that deserves all the acclaim.
Visitation - Jenny Erpenbeck (2008)
A slim, powerful work that explores, among other things, the aftermath of war through the history of a single house just outside Berlin. Visitation is written with precision and power, peeling back layers of history and trauma through the inhabitants of this house over the years, and providing a poetic look at a whole range of events that have shaped modern Germany.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk - Ben Fountain (2012)
Written as if in one long, powerful dreamlike sequence, this book chronicles the story of the ‘victory tour’ of one battalion of Iraq War veterans, and through this conceit it is a powerful critique of the American war machine, of PTSD and of the disconnect between the realities of war and the experiences of its main characters.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flanagan (2014)
Like many on this list, Flanagan’s novel is an exploration of the aftermath of war and of the main character’s experiences as a prisoner of war who worked on the construction of the notorious ‘Burma death railway’. It’s a rare juxtaposition of a remarkable love story and a look back at a war veteran’s life that earned Flanagan the Booker Prize in 2014.
All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr (2014)
This powerful piece of historical war fiction focuses on the period of the second World War. Doerr expertly interlinks two parallel lives - of a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy - following their journeys over the course of the war with stunning precision, to paint a picture of devastation and humanity. It’s a remarkable achievement, and it’s no surprise this book won the Pulitzer and several other awards.
At Night All Blood is Black - David Diop (2020)
Scathing, direct and undeniably powerful, Diop’s novel won the Prix Goncourt in France and the International Man Booker Prize in 2021 for the translation. It’s an account of one Senegalese soldier’s experience in World War I, fighting on behalf of the French, and shows his transformation from friend to monster as the war progresses. It is deeply affecting and at once commemorates and questions the role of African soldiers fighting for the French army, while showing in the most brutal manner the traumatic effects of war on one soldier.