Blasting and Bombardiering

Blasting and Bombardiering (1937) British artist and writer Wyndham Lewis recounts his experiences through two defining periods: the avant-garde art movement of pre-war London and his service in World War I. The autobiography presents Lewis's perspective as both a cultural revolutionary and a soldier, documenting his transition between these contrasting worlds. The narrative covers Lewis's role in founding the Vorticist movement and his publication of the radical art magazine BLAST. It then shifts to his military service as an artillery officer and war artist on the Western Front, recording the stark reality of mechanized warfare. The book stands as a key document of early modernism, introducing the concept of the "Men of 1914" - Lewis, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and James Joyce. Through its dual focus on art and war, the text examines how global conflict transformed the cultural landscape of the early 20th century.

Readers describe this autobiography as more confrontational and energetic than traditional war memoirs. The unconventional structure and Lewis's sharp observations of fellow artists and writers stand out in reviews. Readers appreciate: - Raw, first-hand accounts of WWI trench warfare - Portraits of literary figures like Joyce and Eliot - Blend of art criticism and war experiences - Caustic humor and frank opinions Common criticisms: - Disjointed narrative flow - Self-aggrandizing tone - Difficult modernist prose style - Too much focus on literary feuds Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (37 ratings) Amazon: Not enough reviews for rating From reader reviews: "Sharp and clear-eyed about the absurdities of war" - Goodreads "Sometimes brilliant, sometimes insufferable" - Goodreads "The literary gossip makes up for the choppy structure" - LibraryThing Most reviews note that Lewis's aggressive personality comes through strongly, making the book compelling but potentially off-putting.

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🔹 Before becoming a writer and artist, Lewis trained as a gunner in WWI and served as an artillery officer, experiences that directly influenced the war passages in "Blasting and Bombardiering" 🔹 The book's title references both Lewis's wartime artillery role and his involvement with Vorticism, an avant-garde movement he founded that published its manifesto in the journal "BLAST" 🔹 Lewis painted portraits of many literary figures mentioned in the book, including a famous 1938 portrait of T.S. Eliot that now hangs in the Durban Art Gallery 🔹 During the period covered in the memoir, Lewis founded and edited "BLAST" magazine, which only published two issues (1914 and 1915) before World War I forced its closure 🔹 The "Men of 1914" mentioned in the book were dubbed as such by Lewis because he believed that year marked the true beginning of modernist literature in England, coinciding with both WWI and the publication of BLAST