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joabroda 's review for:
The Girl in Green
by Derek B. Miller
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5 stars
It is 1991, at Checkpoint Zulu near the Kuwaiti border. Private Arwood Hobbes stands behind a wall of sandbags, guarding nothing and bored out of his mind. Thomas Benton, a war reporter from London, walks toward Hobbes. Arwood decides not to look; he assumes it is someone coming to give him orders. He is bored, but a change can only mean labor.
<i>...he sort of liked not knowing. Maybe it was not a man at all. Maybe it was the Ghost of Christmas Yet to come who was doing his rounds and was there to let Arwood know that - on account of global warming, acid rain, and El Niño, not to mention the global shortage of decent people and the high price of coal - Christmas was going to be cancelled</i>
Thomas Benton moves toward Hobbs with hopes of getting the Private to help him sneak across the line that separates him from a story that could make his career. Thus begins an odd but strong friendship that lasts a lifetime.
I loved Arwood's snarky thinking and remarks. In a book filled with war and sadness, passages like this lightened the mood and made me smile or giggle. All the characters, even the smallest bit part, I loved.
More than a story of war and refugees. Miller has firsthand knowledge of the complexities of the societies and religions in Middle Eastern countries. He emphasizes the West's ignorance in such matters. Fine with me, because it is true.
This book is prize-worthy, in my opinion, and should be more well-known. Highly recommended.
It is 1991, at Checkpoint Zulu near the Kuwaiti border. Private Arwood Hobbes stands behind a wall of sandbags, guarding nothing and bored out of his mind. Thomas Benton, a war reporter from London, walks toward Hobbes. Arwood decides not to look; he assumes it is someone coming to give him orders. He is bored, but a change can only mean labor.
<i>...he sort of liked not knowing. Maybe it was not a man at all. Maybe it was the Ghost of Christmas Yet to come who was doing his rounds and was there to let Arwood know that - on account of global warming, acid rain, and El Niño, not to mention the global shortage of decent people and the high price of coal - Christmas was going to be cancelled</i>
Thomas Benton moves toward Hobbs with hopes of getting the Private to help him sneak across the line that separates him from a story that could make his career. Thus begins an odd but strong friendship that lasts a lifetime.
I loved Arwood's snarky thinking and remarks. In a book filled with war and sadness, passages like this lightened the mood and made me smile or giggle. All the characters, even the smallest bit part, I loved.
More than a story of war and refugees. Miller has firsthand knowledge of the complexities of the societies and religions in Middle Eastern countries. He emphasizes the West's ignorance in such matters. Fine with me, because it is true.
This book is prize-worthy, in my opinion, and should be more well-known. Highly recommended.