Reviews

The Broken Country: On Trauma, a Crime, and the Continuing Legacy of Vietnam by Paisley Rekdal

jenna_serv's review

2.0

I read this book for school. It was really interesting and taught me a lot about the legacy of war and generational trauma. I also liked that it connected large themes to individual people that might be seen as insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I probably would have liked it more if I didn't read it for school but sometimes reading things for credit makes them harder to enjoy them (but easier to analyze and understand).

steph_ine's review

4.0

A well researched, thoughtful, and beautiful telling and examination of the long-term cultural effects of the Vietnam War. Rekdal skillfully weaves the stories and studies she has read and interviewed for, as well as her own experiences and thoughts, in a way that ponders the traumatic effects of war on all the bodies who knew it through experience, or conversation, or relation to those who experienced it. These bodies go beyond the veterans and refugees who directly experienced the war and expand to include all of America and all of Vietnam.