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jgraydee's review
4.0
This was a very difficult book to read – the author’s writing is highly fragmented with multiple run-on sentences. I often found myself re-reading a section, only to have to re-read it again and still not be sure of the author’s message?
Very frustrating.
But while one passage confounded me, the next would be written with complete clarity and profoundness. This, as well as the reputation of the book, kept me interested in finishing the story, and it was well worth the effort.
The ending event is written with no confusion.
And it is a startling conclusion.
In retrospect, I wonder if the author’s writing style was intentional. War and violence are not neat and tidy topics; they do not make sense. One event intrudes upon the next, and becomes a jumble of experiences and foggy memories. I think this is the sense the author tried to create with his writing style – to make us aware of the stories of war, but not able to understand the whole. To create a book of jumbled, foggy information that is punctuated by an unforgettable conclusion.
I will be interested in Kevin Power’s next novel. (But I do hope it will be easier to read...)
Very frustrating.
But while one passage confounded me, the next would be written with complete clarity and profoundness. This, as well as the reputation of the book, kept me interested in finishing the story, and it was well worth the effort.
The ending event is written with no confusion.
And it is a startling conclusion.
In retrospect, I wonder if the author’s writing style was intentional. War and violence are not neat and tidy topics; they do not make sense. One event intrudes upon the next, and becomes a jumble of experiences and foggy memories. I think this is the sense the author tried to create with his writing style – to make us aware of the stories of war, but not able to understand the whole. To create a book of jumbled, foggy information that is punctuated by an unforgettable conclusion.
I will be interested in Kevin Power’s next novel. (But I do hope it will be easier to read...)
rsutton06's review
4.0
The lyrical prose in this novel is what I enjoyed the most. It's sure to become a classic.
katykelly's review
4.0
Read this to review for NewBooks.
This is the sort of book you don't really enjoy but can appreciate.
As with books like The God of Small Things, you know from early on something horrific had happened, but the book takes most of its length working up to showing the reader just what had caused such havoc and distress.
This in a war situation was effective, with action split between the soldiers in conflict and the survivors trying to cope with civilian life back at home and trying to live with their actions at the front.
Sparse really, quite short, but well formed.
This is the sort of book you don't really enjoy but can appreciate.
As with books like The God of Small Things, you know from early on something horrific had happened, but the book takes most of its length working up to showing the reader just what had caused such havoc and distress.
This in a war situation was effective, with action split between the soldiers in conflict and the survivors trying to cope with civilian life back at home and trying to live with their actions at the front.
Sparse really, quite short, but well formed.
a_reader_obsessed's review
3.0
3.5 Stars
Admittedly, this is something I would probably never ever read of my own volition. Picked because it was a challenge topic, this hits devastatingly hard.
War can often be idealized, young men joining for various reasons, never imagining the horrors and hardships and seemingly surreal decisions they’ll have to make that can have so very unfortunate consequences.
Absolutely no joy found here, but that’s to be expected.
Admittedly, this is something I would probably never ever read of my own volition. Picked because it was a challenge topic, this hits devastatingly hard.
War can often be idealized, young men joining for various reasons, never imagining the horrors and hardships and seemingly surreal decisions they’ll have to make that can have so very unfortunate consequences.
Absolutely no joy found here, but that’s to be expected.
tarrowood's review
5.0
A compelling, lyrical story about lost innocence during the Iraq War. There’s something about poet-novels that just touch my soul. I thought this was cliche at times, but as I finished I found the moments to be heartening and intentional with accidental cliches
book_concierge's review
4.0
From the book jacket: In Al Tafar, Iraq, 21-year-old Private Bartle and 18-year-old Private Murphy cling to life as their platoon launches a bloody battle for the city. Bound together since basic training when Bartle makes a promise to bring Murphy safely home, the two have been dropped into a war neither is prepared for. In the endless days that follow, the two young soldiers do everything to protect each other from the forces that press in on every side.
My reactions
Powers moves the action back and forth in time from the fall of 2004 in Iraq to Dec 2003 at Fort Dix NJ, then back to Iraq, then forward to March 2005 in Richmond VA, then back to Iraq, etc. The effect is that we are witnessing not merely the events of war, but PVT John Bartle’s memories of those events. As privates, these young men are at the bottom of the chain of command, with little information about the purpose or causes of the actions they are commanded to take. They start out excited by this new adventure for which they’ve signed up, but find the reality of the war very different. They do not know why they are taking this city, but they are ordered to do so and they will do it or die trying. More importantly, they seem totally unprepared for the mental stress that results from being in such a situation.
Because the story is narrated by John the reader has to rely on his recollections and reactions. His internal struggle to come to grips with his actions, his regrets, his losses is what makes this novel so powerful. There were sections of this book that had me completely immersed in the narrative.
But I had a hard time getting into the book. Perhaps that is because my husband, a Vietnam combat veteran, and I have recently befriended a young man who is suffering PTSD from his time in Iraq, so this was an intensely personal read for me. I think that I, like John Bartle, was looking for answers where there are none. As a result, the ending was less than satisfying, though I understand (intellectually) why it is written this way.
There are many author blurbs on this debut novel, including this from Tom Wolfe: The All Quiet on the Western Front of America’s Arab wars.” I’ve never read Remarque’s classic story; I think may have to now.
My reactions
Powers moves the action back and forth in time from the fall of 2004 in Iraq to Dec 2003 at Fort Dix NJ, then back to Iraq, then forward to March 2005 in Richmond VA, then back to Iraq, etc. The effect is that we are witnessing not merely the events of war, but PVT John Bartle’s memories of those events. As privates, these young men are at the bottom of the chain of command, with little information about the purpose or causes of the actions they are commanded to take. They start out excited by this new adventure for which they’ve signed up, but find the reality of the war very different. They do not know why they are taking this city, but they are ordered to do so and they will do it or die trying. More importantly, they seem totally unprepared for the mental stress that results from being in such a situation.
Because the story is narrated by John the reader has to rely on his recollections and reactions. His internal struggle to come to grips with his actions, his regrets, his losses is what makes this novel so powerful. There were sections of this book that had me completely immersed in the narrative.
But I had a hard time getting into the book. Perhaps that is because my husband, a Vietnam combat veteran, and I have recently befriended a young man who is suffering PTSD from his time in Iraq, so this was an intensely personal read for me. I think that I, like John Bartle, was looking for answers where there are none. As a result, the ending was less than satisfying, though I understand (intellectually) why it is written this way.
There are many author blurbs on this debut novel, including this from Tom Wolfe: The All Quiet on the Western Front of America’s Arab wars.” I’ve never read Remarque’s classic story; I think may have to now.
hannahh071's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mutterfly's review
Very focused on war and loss, too realistic for me at this point in my life with my current work with survivors of war and trauma.
Content Warnings
Minor: War
abbeyhar103's review
2.0
Man I really wanted to like this, but I didn't. Maybe it's because I like Tim O'Brien so much and was expecting this to be like that, maybe because I was reading it during a stressful time of year for school, maybe because so much of what being in a war is like now sounds cliched. Who knows. It's like the author and I spoke very different languages, and I found his language to be boring and unrelatable.
dtfa's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
Heart achingly beautiful and raw