Well, I think it was part of a response actually. The Modernists -- the war poets and artists were responding to propaganda and the dark line between what art was representing and what was actually happening. Why adhere to pastoral imagery when the world is bleak and full of death, vulgarity and things not reserved for polite company.
But -- I mean, if you remove the novel from it's space in time and perception, it can't -- and doesn't -- carry the same meaning as it did at the time. Or the same merit.