nomadreader

The backstory: Redeployment , the debut short story collection by Phil Klay, has been honored twice by the National Book Award . It's on the 2014 shortlist, and it's also a 5 Under 35 pick. The basics: This thematic collection of short stories focuses on soldiers fighting in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Klay served in the U.S. Marine Corps and in the Iraq War. My thoughts: There's been a surge of fiction about the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars in the past few years. I've read and reviewed several titles here: Eleven Days by Lea Carpenter, Unremarried Widow  by Artis Henderson, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk  by Ben Fountain, The Yellow Birds  by Kevin Powers, and You Know When The Men Are Gone  by Siobhan Fallon. Just as I've come to compare books about World War II to one another, I've also apparently reached the threshhold where stories about the Iraq and Afghanistan cause me to reflect and compare them against one another. In this sense, Phil Klay...

The backstory: Eleven Days , the debut novel by Lea Carpenter, was longlisted for the 2014 Baileys Prize  and shortlisted for the 2013 Flaherty-Dunnan Prize . The basics: Set in May 2011, Sara's son Jason, part of an elite military unit, has been missing for nine days. Jason and his disappearance are national news. Carpenter tells the story in alternating voices of Sara, in 2011, and Jason, from the past. My thoughts: Carpenter immediately drew me into this novel and Sara's narrative. The writing is lush and emotional. When the narration shifts to Jason (and the past), I was intrigued. Soon, however, I found myself longing for more Sara and less Jason, or rather less Jason not seen through Sara's thoughts. Structurally, Jason's narration struck me as a functional and intellectual plot device. It lacked Sara's emotionally authentic, and thus more compelling, voice. Admittedly, this novel is the first one with a strong mother-son connection I've read since...

The backstory: Dirty Wars  is one of the five films nominated for the Best Documentary Academy Award this year. The basics: Jeremy Scahill, a foreign correspondent for The Nation,  investigates the unseen wars the U.S. is fighting. My thoughts: Jeremy Scahill, best known for exposing Blackwater, sets his sights on uncovering the stories behind the NATO reports. He's first drawn to Gardez, Afghanistan, where civilians and an Afghan police chief trained by the U.S. are killed. Throughout the film, Scahill manages to get impressive access to both government officials and locals in the war zones. The film isn't necessarily a marvel of visual filmmaking, but it is a marvel of documentary film as an information resource. The emphasis here isn't style; it's relaying critical information. By taking the viewer along on Scahill's journey, this film watches like an unfolding mystery. Although Scahill didn't know how this story (or stories) was end, I'm thankful...

The basics: After surviving the plane crash that killed her father when she was 5, Artis Henderson recounts losing her husband during a helicopter crash in the Iraq War. My thoughts: I'm a huge fan of The New York Times  Modern Love column. When I heard Artis Henderson, whose Modern Love column I cried throughout, published a memoir expanding on the topic of losing her husband, I knew I wanted to read it, even if war widow memoirs aren't typically a genre at the top of my list. And I'm so glad I did. It's a good thing the reader knows about the joint tragedies in Artis's life from the book's beginnings, becuase Henderson still packs an emotinoal punch. As I read, I was crying hard enough I had to leave my bed, where my husband peacefully slept, to go downstairs where I could read and sob in peace. I'm not necessarily drawn to stories of tragedy, but I immediately connected with Artis as I read. She and I are almost exactly the same age, and I easily ima...

The backstory: Thumbprint  is a graphic novel adaptation of Joe Hill's short story. The basics: Mallory Grennan is back from the Iraq War, where she took part in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison abuse. She's tending bar and trying to forget the past, but signs keep popping up that someone is here and trying to remind her. My thoughts: When I picked up Thumbprint , I didn't know anything about it, and I was immediately pulled into its narrative. Mallory Grennan is a haunting and fascinating character. Admittedly, part of my fascination with her stems from her gender (and Hill's treatment of it.) In the flashbacks to Iraq, it seemed inconsequential, yet when she's home bartending, the one male patron in particular sees her only as a woman, rather than as a person. Her story is grim, and the graphic novel's tone follows suit. In this sense, the graphicness of the illustrations force the reader to see the horrors of war rather than simply imagine them. It's ...

The backstory: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk , Ben Fountain's first novel, was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award . It was also the 2013 runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Set on Thanksgiving Day 2004, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk  takes place at the Dallas Cowboys annual Thanksgiving Day game. Billy Lynn, a nineteen-year-old member of Bravo Company, is our window into the bizarre festivities. Here, the young men of Bravo Company, famous for winning a filmed fight with insurgents, are on a "victory tour" before returning to Iraq. The Cowboys game, where they participate in the halftime festivities with Destiny's Child, is their final stop. My thoughts: The premise of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk  is a fascinating one, and I admit I had rather high expectations going in, but at the end of the novel, I found myself saying, "that's it?" That isn't to say Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk  i...

The backstory: The Yellow Birds , the debut novel from Iraqi War veteran Kevin Powers, is a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award , shortlisted for the 2012 Flaherty-Dunnan Award , and a finalist for the 2013 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Set in Iraq in 2004 and the months after, The Yellow Birds  tells the story of two soldiers, Private Bartle and Private Murphy, who meet at training camp. My thoughts: This novel's opening chapter is a visceral depiction of war. As I read it on the bus, I found myself crying and trying to breathe deeply to calm myself. I was grateful when the time shifted in the next chapter. Powers continues this powerful alternation between the war in Iraq and Bartle's attempts to deal with its aftermath. The reader learns early on that Murphy doesn't survive the war, yet the tension leading up to the how and why of his death is a literary marvel. I was eager to begin a chapter away from the war, but as the novel progressed a...