Sven Hassel and other WW2 fiction

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

So recently a friend of mine was raving about this danish author named Sven Hassel. Apparently this guy wrote some of the most brutal WW2 novels to have ever been published. Apparently he was a part of a penal unit in the Wehrmacht and saw some of the harshest battles in the war (including the invasion of Russia). After the war, and after some time in various POW camps, he wrote a series of fourteen novels inspired by his war time experiences.

I've heard people describe his first novel, Legion of the Damned, as even more brutal than All Quiet on the Western Front. That got me interested. I eat up this type of gritty, grunt's eye view war fiction up like dinner.

I've also had one guy suggest to me Leo Kessler....but from what I've heard Kessler's books are pure pulp (for better or worse), so I'm a little less inclined to read him.

Any suggestions for other great WW2 novels?

[Durruti's friend]

So recently a friend of mine was raving about this danish author named Sven Hassel. Apparently this guy wrote some of the most brutal WW2 novels to have ever been published. Apparently he was a part of a penal unit in the Wehrmacht and saw some of the harshest battles in the war (including the invasion of Russia). After the war, and after some time in various POW camps, he wrote a series of fourteen novels inspired by his war time experiences.

I've heard people describe his first novel, Legion of the Damned, as even more brutal than All Quiet on the Western Front. That got me interested. I eat up this type of gritty, grunt's eye view war fiction up like dinner.

I've also had one guy suggest to me Leo Kessler....but from what I've heard Kessler's books are pure pulp (for better or worse), so I'm a little less inclined to read him.

Hassel's novels are pretty good imo, but they become repetitive and less realistic with every new one published. It seems that only his first novel, Legion of the Damned, had some autobiographical elements and it's considered his best book. Later on, he kept most of the characters from the original novel in the sequels but put them in surreal situations, and sometimes simultaneously in different places. Nonetheless, some of his 14 novels are quite good. Monte Cassino, Liquidate Paris and Reign of Terror are ok.

I've only read one Kessler's book and it was meh.

Both are nowhere near Remarque, though.