David Jones’ ‘In Parenthesis’ is a wild modernist work of prose-poetry (it claiming itself to be this way but primarily made up of lyrical prose) that was praised by T.S. Eliot. It is the tale of John Ball (aptly named after the priest that led the Peasant’ Revolt) and his journey across the English Channel to the fields of the Somme, where he fights in the battle of Mametz Wood. 

‘In Parenthesis’ is a sprawling work packed with allusions of medievalism, Welsh mythology, Shakespeare’s histories and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ encapsulating a mix between the staleness and the chaos of trench warfare. It is honestly very hard to keep track of the events of the narrative due to Jones’ confused and fractured prose, but in terms of an experimental piece of literature it is fascinatingly clever if not a little batshit.