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Book Review By Jack Goodstein
Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw

Raina Petkoff is a romantic young girl who has an overly idealistic view of war. She is engaged to Sergius, a handsome ineffectual young officer with an equally romantic attitude towards war. In the first act an escaping enemy soldier, Bluntschli, breaks into Raina's bedroom. He is a practical sort and tries to convince her of the realities of war. It makes more sense to carry choclates than ammunition he tells her. She lets him escape; clearly she has become attracted to him. In the second act the soldiers return and bring with them Bluntschli who has helped them in moving their armies, since as a pragmatist, he is willing to fight for whichever side pays. Now he has to deal with the romantic Sergius for the love of Raina.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - humorous
Time/era of story - 1600-1899
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Kind of romance:
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
War/Revolt/Disaster on civilians Yes
Conflict:
Lover is
Unmarried Love Triangle? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status:
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb: Yes
Eccentric:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - below average

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 ()
Europe Yes
European country: - Baltic States
Misc setting

Writing Style
Amount of dialog - mostly dialog
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