Apostal Bologa has grown up in Hungary although his family is Romanian. When World War I begins, he enlists in the army and after earning several medals for bravery, he is faced with being transferred to the Romanian front where he will have to fight for his country against his brothers. In these circumstances, many other Romanian citizens of Hungary choose to desert the military and escape to Romania. Those who are caught are court martialed, sentenced to death by hanging, and are often strung up in trees and left there to serve as a warning to others, hence the title of the novel. Even before the war, Apostal was facing a kind of existential and spiritual crisis, and the war only intensifies his desire to discover the meaning of life. Alternately, he finds it fleetingly in God, love, the essence of the soul, duty to his country, Romanian patriotism, and intellectualism. At the Romanian front, however, Apostal’s crisis reaches a boiling point and he is forced to decide between his duty to Hungary and his roots in Romania.

It was difficult for me to figure out what I thought of this book. As with any war novel, the subject matter is often hard to take, but that’s to be expected. The bigger struggle for me was that I wanted Apostal to decide which convictions were most important to him and to stick to them. Many of the other characters faced their situations stoically, but since we were inside Apostal’s head, we saw all of his doubts and indecision. I also think the novel could have been written a little better, but that may have just been the translation or the fact that I lack a frame of reference to really understand what it’s like to live in this part of the world. Overall though, this novel gave me a lot to think about, raised a lot of interesting questions, and was well worth reading for those who are interested in seeing the world from a different perspective. ( )

After becoming intrigued by the title, I started a search for Liviu Rebreanu's "The Forest of the Hanged." Two years later, I managed to have a copy shipped over from England, hoping that all the effort (and expense) of finally finding it was worth it. I'm glad to say it was.

The novel tells the story of Apostol Bologa, a Romanian who marches off to fight in World War I with the Austrian-Hungarian Army to impress a girl. Soon, he finds himself on the wrong side of the Romanian front forced to face the prospect of fighting against his own countrymen.

This is probably the least violent book about war I've ever read. It's more about the inner turmoil and slow unraveling of a man. Well paced and interesting, I really enjoyed the story.

Just a note for anyone who gets a copy with the purple noose on the cover: Don't read the book jacket, as it inexplicably gives away the ending. ( )