One of the major things I noticed while reading Testament of Youth was the blunt and honest style of the narrative. When Vera Brittain states "how fortunate we were who still had hope I did not then realize; I would not know how soon the time would come when we should have no more hope and yet be unable to die", I was a shocked by her assertion that they were "unable" to die. Being without hope is one thing, but for a world to have fallen apart so much that one wishes to die but is unable was fairly upsetting. However it was that idea that really helped emphasize to me how the generation who survived the war must have felt. Although the term 'Lost Generation' generally refers to the men who died in WWI and were thusly "lost", in the context of Vera Brittain's narrative, I began to feel as though the 'Lost Generation' referred more to those who were left behind. Those who were left behind had lost many friends and many family members, they were left in a shattered world, feeling lost and afloat in the aftermath and did not know where to begin the reconstruction of their past lives. Perhaps it is only because Vera Brittain's story is so gut-wrenching, but I can honestly say that reading this book has forced me to truly experience the horror and devastation of WWI for the first time and the honesty of the narrative is a large component of that.