Matterhorn reminds me a little of The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead in I had to look up to see if the books were fiction or non-fiction. I found Marlantes’ depiction of war that believable and visceral. While not an expert in any way, I have deployed twice so I understand some of what that means. Unlike the characters from Bravo Company in this novel, I never spent time “in the bush” and if I am being completely honest, they would look down on me […]
Both Sides Now
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Sympathizer is a confession written by a nameless narrator to a nameless commandant. The narrator suffers from the ability to see both sides of events and of people. Through his confession, he reveals his life story, which is tied up with the history of his country, Vietnam, and foreign intervention there. Given his sympathetic nature, the narrator is able to see at times the good intentions but especially the bad of all those involved in his life […]
The Damage We’ve Done, and the Worse Things that We’ll Do
I’ve been on a streak lately of reading a lot of books that I really don’t have strong feelings about. They’re not unenjoyable, but they’re not super great, either. O is for Outlaw fits right in. I enjoyed reading it, but I didn’t tear through it and I wasn’t sorry it was over. It’s another in the Alphabet Mysteries series, revolving around private detective Kinsey Millhone. This one is slightly different from the others, in that she’s not investigating a case for work but a mystery in […]
Stories Can Save Us
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a collection of short stories that revolve about a group of soldiers in the Vietnam War. The most interesting thing about the book to me is that Tim O’Brien is a Vietnam War veteran and he puts himself into the book as a character. He needs to tell his story, he needs to release the memories and yet, he doesn’t quite want to give a factual account of what happened to him and his friends there. So […]
Jack Reacher finds his lady love
An old Jack Reacher novel from 1999 that I somehow missed during my Reacher marathon years, this one reminded me of how much fun Child’s plots could be. And how the stress of having to churn out Reacher novels that can appeal to the likes of Tom Cruise are clearly threatening to ruin this delightful adventure franchise. Retired military MP Jack Reacher is hand-digging swimming pools by day in Key West, and working as a bouncer in a nudie club at night, and reveling in […]