WAR

I decided to read another book but I've been reading this one for over a week now. Funny thing......text size is important the last book i read had double spacing and in comparison this new book is like twice as long and the words are all squished up together. So...even though the story is interesting something as simple as line spacing makes me hesitate to read it!!!!

Anyways, it's called The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami and I'm enjoying reading this book. I might do a separate post about the once ordinary life of Toru Okada that becomes somewhat extraordinary as the story progresses. The book has sparked something inside of me and now I'm left thinking about WAR.

I know here in England people volunteer to fight for their country but in some other countries people aren't allowed to object to military service. This book briefly mentioned war and how Japanese men were expected to fight for their country due to conscription (compulsory military service). This is where my mind kind of drifted in thought and i was wondering how would that feel to suddenly have to KILL for your country. There are some things that I'd never volunteer to do ....joining the military is one of these things as even though it's for your country....you are taking human life. This is something I hope and wish I'll never have to do....so then how must it feel like to be denied this choice.

I was imagining what it would've been like to be doing your normal mundane job, living with your wife and children and then suddenly being told that you must leave that life behind and go to war. A person who was once a candle maker would now be expected to take life and fight on the battlefield and witness horrendous bloodshed. It is no wonder a lot of war veterans experience some sort of psychological trauma. I don't think it's possible for the person you were before you went to war to return. I wonder if the moment you had to leave your family that you kind of become a different person. What would you have to do to prepare yourself for war....is such a thing possible, as you can see it made me wonder about a number of things. But overall I think if you do have the choice why would you choose to join the military. If anyone reads this that has joined the military I would really appreciate it if you could shed some light on why you decided to do so.