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ljjohnson8's review against another edition
3.0
Excellently written, intense, and powerful book of short stories about veterans of and soldiers during the Iraqi war. Each story is told in first person POV of a combatant, giving each story a different voice and giving the reader a broader scope, and variety of situations and individuals than a novel likely would. A difficult reading experience; heartbreaking and hopeless. A lower rating simply because I will never be a great lover of the short story.
dkrane's review against another edition
4.0
Phil Klay knows the power of a punchy sentence: starting with his opening sentence, “We shot dogs,” he stress his stories with bold, unvarnished writing. A lot of this does wonders for bringing the action and viscera of Iraq to life—a lot of the book is harrowing stuff, and definitely leaves you with a much better portrait of the boredom, the guilt, the pain, the moral quandaries and humor, the masculinity and uncertainty, that seems to comprise a lot of soldiers’ experiences.
So why not a 5? Probably for the same reason pointed out by Roxane Gay in her review—a little too much blending together of protagonists and stories. That said, collection highlights include “Bodies” story of a high school relationship crumbling with a soldier’s enlistment; “Money as a Weapons System” and its ridiculous portrait of bureaucracy and foreign service as a man tries to do good while being forced to teach Iraqis baseball; “Prayer in the Furnace” and its picture of a chaplain whose faith is challenged by the brutality of war; “Psychological Operations” tale of an Egyptian Coptic trying to unburden himself to a fellow college student after his tour of duty; and “Unless it’s a Sucking Chest Wound” and its protagonist, a law student who saw little action himself but consigned a reenlisting man to die and can’t help latching onto the war, parasitically, back home.
So why not a 5? Probably for the same reason pointed out by Roxane Gay in her review—a little too much blending together of protagonists and stories. That said, collection highlights include “Bodies” story of a high school relationship crumbling with a soldier’s enlistment; “Money as a Weapons System” and its ridiculous portrait of bureaucracy and foreign service as a man tries to do good while being forced to teach Iraqis baseball; “Prayer in the Furnace” and its picture of a chaplain whose faith is challenged by the brutality of war; “Psychological Operations” tale of an Egyptian Coptic trying to unburden himself to a fellow college student after his tour of duty; and “Unless it’s a Sucking Chest Wound” and its protagonist, a law student who saw little action himself but consigned a reenlisting man to die and can’t help latching onto the war, parasitically, back home.
mostrengo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
rjvrtiska's review against another edition
5.0
Review from a pacifist: This was out of my comfort zone, on purpose. I was in good company, since Klay’s characters largely deal with the effects of being out of their comfort zones, whether that’s in a war zone, or back home. The comfortable ones are dangerous.
dorhastings's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to an NPR program with this author (and probably some television interview) and found the concept very interesting. Overall I really don't have a lot to say about this book. Part of me thinks that this book is for people who have served, because the style and vocabulary is such that it is clearly not meant for civilians. And I think it's best suited for that audience, but those aren't the only people who should read it. The issues in this book are heartbreaking in their subtlety and blatantness. I don't think this book is meant to be heartbreaking, though. I think its goal is to give a truthful account of what men and women (primarily men) go through in the armed forces, and in some cases the stories are almost bland in their everydayness.
timhoiland's review against another edition
4.0
War is profane. That's how I'd summarize this story collection by an Iraq veteran with an MFA and a knack for finding the human heart of hellish experiences. It's true, there's no shortage of four-letter words in these pages. But to get hung up there is to miss the point. Pretty quickly, you come to trust that Klay is telling us the truth – not just about crude Marines or diabolical jihadists, but about ourselves. It's an unsettling collection. These characters will burrow into you. I remain haunted by “Prayer in the Furnace,” told from the perspective of a military chaplain. At one point he says, “Geared up, Marines are terrifying warriors. In grief, they look like children.” And this, as that chaplain – a celibate Catholic priest – observes a reunion back on U.S. soil: “I watched the Marines hug their parents, kiss their wives or girlfriends, and hold their children. I wondered what they would tell them. How much would be told and how much would never be told.”
ntgaston's review against another edition
5.0
If Redeployment has been on your radar, but you haven't picked it up yet, seriously read it next. It absolutely lived up to the hype.
kjboldon's review against another edition
3.0
Initially I was mesmerized and immediately taken in by the strength and urgency of the voice and stories. But about 2/3 of this book was enough. By the end I felt exhausted and disengaged, and unsure whether the last four stories were too much, or just too much for me.