Private Peaceful

Private Peaceful has a very interesting premise: Set against the backdrop of World War One, we follow brothers Charlie and Tommo as they grow up and subsequently enlist in Britain's army to fight the Hun. Each chapter begins sometime during a very long night as Tommo remembers all the adventures and trials he and his family endured together. Morpurgo does an excellent job of building suspense as we learn slowly that Tommo is dreading the coming of morning, though the reason is unclear until late in the book. By then, we are so emotionally vested in this story that the realization of what's coming is devastating.

Private Peaceful (Peaceful is the family name) is a short book that packs a wallop of emotion. However, at times Morpurgo doesn't move the story along as quickly as I'd like, though of course war itself is like that. Tommo doesn't waver in his commitments, whether to his brothers, his soldiering, or his love for his brother's wife; it's this love for Molly that I found immature on his part. The brothers are realistic in their devotion to each other, and Morpurgo is skilled in bringing us to the climax that tests those bonds.

Overall I enjoyed this book, though I felt it might have done a little better with Tommo being less focused on his own feelings. The book would make a great addition to a history teacher's repetoire; it illustrates the devastation of trench warfare and the unrealistic notions of young men enlisting to fight an unknown enemy. Ultimately packing a powerful punch, this is indeed a book I find easy to recommend.

Although PRIVATE PEACEFUL is categorized as a novel for young adults (YA), I found it much more than that. Because I'm an Old Adult (OA), and found the story absolutely captivating from start to finish. It brought to mind, of course, Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage (Enriched Classics (Pocket)) and its young hero, Henry Fleming, who, like Morpurgo's Tommo Peaceful, wanted desperately to prove he wasn't a coward. Going to war to prove one's manhood has long been a theme in literature. A more recent novel of the Second World War, Nick Arvin's Articles of War, is even closer in theme to Morpurgo's book. Arvin's novel owes much to William Bradford Huie's non-fiction classic, The Execution of Private Slovik.

Morpurgo was, I suspect, very careful to avoid usage of the kind of casual obscenity that is endemic to the speech of rank and file military men. In so doing he was able to preserve his status as a writer of YA books. His descriptions of young (16) Tommo Peaceful and what he is thinking as he endures military training and then his various baptisms of fire in the horrors of WWI trench warfare are simply dead-on. You ache for this boy, who quickly, out of necessity, becomes a man. And the love felt between the Peaceful brothers - also brothers-in-arms - quickly becomes a unifying element of the story, from their childhood onward.

Simply put, PRIVATE PEACEFUL is just superb story-telling for any audience, YA or OA. Now I have to find a copy of Morpurgo's companion piece, War Horse.

Kind of simple, but some nice motifs. Studied in Mixing Memory and Desire: Why Literature Can't Forget the Great War.

As a Great War buff, this book is possibly one of my favorite WWI books.

i love reading! great book

I'm on a Michael Morpurgo kick, devouring book after book of his, after reading Born to Run. To each of his books reviewed here by me, I gave 5 stars because I loved each one so much. But now, after reading Private Peaceful, I am regretting that decision, only because Private Peaceful is so good, so brilliant, that I have no higher mark left for it. I won't summarize the plot - the book's description can do that - but I will say that it is nothing short of stunning. The book beautifully tells the (albeit short) life-story of an English farmboy, now in a trench in Belgium during WWI. The beauty of the boy's story, as well as the richness of his inner life, attest to the overwhelming value of his life, as well as the lives of so many other young men lost at war. As much as the book is about the beauty and goodness of the world, it is also about its cruelty and injustice, not merely as it exists in the heart of the enemy, but as it exists in the heart of the friend as well. The world is beautiful, the world is horrible. It is a book written for older children and teens, only because the devastating realities it imparts may be hard to swallow for younger children. A fantastic read for adults as well.

I loved the book and initially it was just meant to read for class. Has great its twists and and overall amazing book

This was by far the Cheapest book in a list of college text books I had ordered. If you want a book review I liked it but my class were all opposed to it Michael Morpurgo author of the War Horse made another novel about the First World War this time from the perspective of a growing child. The protagonist who the author penned his name from a gravestone while visiting a cemetery Is named Tommo Peaceful who grows up in the early 1900s. He suffers a great deal of tragedies alongside his family until he ends up a British soldier in The Great War. He serves at literary device to portray the life of the average soldier during the war. He forms relationships and friendships with those he meets and goes about his day. Each chapter is counting down to something however its up to the reader to find out what. Without spoiling the book I can say that the end left me feeling slightly confused. With a critical cliffhanger as we never find out what happens. And though it can be inferenced that since the author found his name of a gravestone the worst happens. However recently my Professor made me question this explaining there never is a first name on the gravestone he say. Leaving me to wonder whos grave he saw. The MLA citation as of 2022 is -Morpurgo, Michael. Private Peaceful. Scholastic,2003.

I had to read this book for school, and quite honestly, I didn’t like it. The plot was slow, repetitive, and just plain boring. It really wasn’t very thought out and I personally disliked it. (Plus some parts of it were a little cringey.) Some parts of the book also had nothing to do with the story, which was frustrating. I also don’t love historical fiction books, but this one really wasn’t great.

Good arived early