What surprised you about the novel? Did you learn anything new from it?

What surprised you about the novel? Did you learn anything new from it?

Definitely the end of the story! It was a shock. Took me by surprise but I am completely satisfied.
I also learned a lot of this novel. It seems like amputations at that time were completely normal. PTSD was not important and therefore not treated at this period of time. I can't imagine a soldier with this syndrome obliged to fight in the front lines.

Perhaps you need to move military fervor and nationalism to another setting to see just how crazy it seems. I was surprised at the romanticism about military service on the side of Lucius's family. When the father made Lucius put on the winged armor and waxed on about the glory of wearing this armor, it seemed very extreme to me. But as I thought more, I wondered how different it was from our own attitudes about military service.

There was nothing especially surprising to me but it was interesting to see the perspective of “the other side.”

I was not aware of some of the sophisticated medical procedures and medications they used during WWI. I also was surprised about the many different cultures and languages in the regions that were involved in the war. I had never heard of Ruthenians.

Nothing surprised me

The ending was a surprise. I don't want to spoil it, but I expected a different outcome. I was very interested in the medical treatments of the time and that they saved as many as they did. I was also surprised that we never learned more of Magaurite's story. She was always somewhat of a mystery, even to Lucius.

Nothing really. I would say rather than learning anything new, I was reminded of my studies of the world and the divisions of Europe before and during WWI and then, of course, the reallocation of areas after the War

I was surprised a bit by the details of the results of sickness/injury/surgeries/etc. This may be too graphic for some readers.

I wasn’t aware of the draconian methods used by recruiters at military hospitals to force injured soldiers back to the front. I was also unaware of the methods used to prevent the spread of Typhus.

I had never heard of Ruthenians before.

I was totally expecting the traditional ending where he finally finds his love and they start a new life! I was also surprised at how desperately men were needed on the front that they dragged guys with serious PTSD back out.

I suppose the ending surprised me as it did others. Being a romantic I wanted a different ending but it could not have ended any other way to allow for closure. Lucius was driven bordering on obsession with Margarete and Horvath. His search for Margarete over several years. The choices he made to reenlist and get back to the "field". What he endured in his search for Margarete.
The guilt that he felt keeping Horvath ...as Margarete said "You are keeping him for his sake not ours, I hope". Tragic decision as one sees later. The horrors of war and battlefield medicine were underscored in the novel. Not new just underscored.

I think even though barbaric, the medical treatment at that time, saved many life’s. Working with very little information and in a pretty primitive setting, it was pretty amazing

I was not aware of the location in the story as to how it relates to the fighting in WWI. I was surprised by just how primitive and isolated that improvised field hospital was and how little support existed for Lucius and Margarete.

I was surprised that we didn't learn more about Margarete.

I was surprised that certain footstep patterns could be part of a diagnosis for syphilis, and also I thought Margarete was going to turn out to be a spy.

I often do not consider the other side of the story when it comes to WWI. I have read a lot of WWI books but usually they are about characters on the side of the victors. I am pretty well versed in the end of WWI and the Versailles Peace Treaty and how it set up the scenario for WWII and even problems in the Middle East being experienced now. I am going to try to find some non-fiction book which will give me more insight into the history from the side of the losers.

I was surprised by how little I really know of WWI - seen the movies - read some books - but this book pointed up once again how much there is to learn about the wars, countries, people...