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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Painful. Beautiful. And that confusing and important mix of reality and fiction.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i had to read this for school. it was good but its one of those things you cant really rate. plus i read this around my wisdom teeth operation so that wasnt fun
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5 Stars
This was not just a simple war story, it was a just a small bit of what soldiers experienced in Vietnam, with raw honesty and thoughtful reflection by the author. It brings the reader closer to the emotional core of the men's experiences.
This story was a brutal, funny, candid, sad, and quite profound. It helped me understand just a tad-bit of what my uncle went through. In all of his pictures from that time, he was with his buddies, a cigarette hanging from his lip, a drink in one hand, a Vietnamese woman on his arm, and a smile on his face. When he returned, he was hollow, sad, drunk, quiet and never spoke of it. The government tried to send checks for disability or get him to come in for care and treatment at a VA facility and he refused; drunk or sober. He refused. He denied. He hated them for what they did to his soul, and he died; taking it all with him.
I hope in the end he found some peace.
This was not just a simple war story, it was a just a small bit of what soldiers experienced in Vietnam, with raw honesty and thoughtful reflection by the author. It brings the reader closer to the emotional core of the men's experiences.
This story was a brutal, funny, candid, sad, and quite profound. It helped me understand just a tad-bit of what my uncle went through. In all of his pictures from that time, he was with his buddies, a cigarette hanging from his lip, a drink in one hand, a Vietnamese woman on his arm, and a smile on his face. When he returned, he was hollow, sad, drunk, quiet and never spoke of it. The government tried to send checks for disability or get him to come in for care and treatment at a VA facility and he refused; drunk or sober. He refused. He denied. He hated them for what they did to his soul, and he died; taking it all with him.
I hope in the end he found some peace.
This book was thought-provoking and challenging to read. How would you rate it? I found it dark, heartbreaking, and well-written. It took me a while to read the stories, but fictionalized war stories aren’t meant to be easy on the heart and soul.
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
A bleak first hand account of an American soldiers experience surrounding the Vietnam War. Filled with guilt, shame, death, fear and grief.
What I found most compelling about this book was what it had to say about the power of story - how truth is secondary to emotion, and how something can be true without ever happening. I was originally put off by a fiction book presenting itself as non-fiction, but this was weirdly what made the book so strong. I don't think I've seen an unreliable narrator approached the same way as in this book, and I really liked it.
This book is definitely anti-war, but I wouldn't have minded if it was a little more scathing - it had little to say about war holistically, focusing more on a small company of soldiers.
I read this book travelling down through Vietnam, and wanted to pick up a book about the war. Sitting in a sleeper bus, seeing the sunset over rice paddies and reading this book definitely added to the experience for me.
What I found most compelling about this book was what it had to say about the power of story - how truth is secondary to emotion, and how something can be true without ever happening. I was originally put off by a fiction book presenting itself as non-fiction, but this was weirdly what made the book so strong. I don't think I've seen an unreliable narrator approached the same way as in this book, and I really liked it.
This book is definitely anti-war, but I wouldn't have minded if it was a little more scathing - it had little to say about war holistically, focusing more on a small company of soldiers.
I read this book travelling down through Vietnam, and wanted to pick up a book about the war. Sitting in a sleeper bus, seeing the sunset over rice paddies and reading this book definitely added to the experience for me.