amandagstevens's review against another edition
3.0
This work isn't really a novel; rather it's a collection of short stories that span many decades and link the lives of three soldiers: Dax, Armando, and Wintric. Goolsby presents their childhoods, their time serving together in the Army in Afghanistan, and their coming home to marry and start families. The snapshot stories sometimes bridge years and sometimes leave blank spaces. I'm glad I read it, glad I met these men and absorbed this frank, vivid prose. Most interesting was to see what snapshots the author chooses to define his characters and his themes.
I avoid fiction in which the point-of-view characters are serving or have served in our military unless the author has served him/herself. Not that one necessarily has to experience a thing in order to write fiction, but I've encountered too many novels with an agenda that disrespects members of the military. I picked up this book because the author is a U.S. Air Force officer. There's a strong and aching honesty in these characters. So much of the story shows the effects of a single moment or minute or day or year: war itself (specifically a war without clear goals); the decision to kill to survive and the second-guessing after it; the devastation of sexual assault; the expectations that loved ones can place on a person's healing process; the difficulty of communicating anything when so much exists inside one's head that can't be communicated.
As for craft, there's some head-hopping, mostly in the first few stories. The dialogue is realistic, though not really individualized for the characters. The point of view maintains a bit of distance, sometimes casting forward with a paragraph or two of omniscient "someday he will ..." or "he doesn't know now, but ..." This keeps us from existing in the moment with the characters, but it seems intentional and works overall.
I hated some of the events in this book, but clearly Goolsby intended me to. It would have earned four stars anyway, if not for the end. The conclusion of Dax's story is not only disturbing but also confusing, too much left unexplained (something I rarely say about fiction; I don't like explanatory prose). The conclusions for Armando and Wintric are moving and sad. And too hopeless for me. I don't doubt I'm supposed to feel about this book exactly the way I feel about it, and Goolsby is an adept writer who can evoke simultaneous sympathy and frustration. But hope is a thing I look for in fiction--whether hinted at for the future or achieved on the page. The places we leave each story don't seem to look toward hope for these men, which will keep me from reading the book again.
Three stars for an artful collection of stories that will make the reader ponder, that shows experience in minute, gritty detail and doesn't let the reader look away.
I avoid fiction in which the point-of-view characters are serving or have served in our military unless the author has served him/herself. Not that one necessarily has to experience a thing in order to write fiction, but I've encountered too many novels with an agenda that disrespects members of the military. I picked up this book because the author is a U.S. Air Force officer. There's a strong and aching honesty in these characters. So much of the story shows the effects of a single moment or minute or day or year: war itself (specifically a war without clear goals); the decision to kill to survive and the second-guessing after it; the devastation of sexual assault; the expectations that loved ones can place on a person's healing process; the difficulty of communicating anything when so much exists inside one's head that can't be communicated.
As for craft, there's some head-hopping, mostly in the first few stories. The dialogue is realistic, though not really individualized for the characters. The point of view maintains a bit of distance, sometimes casting forward with a paragraph or two of omniscient "someday he will ..." or "he doesn't know now, but ..." This keeps us from existing in the moment with the characters, but it seems intentional and works overall.
I hated some of the events in this book, but clearly Goolsby intended me to. It would have earned four stars anyway, if not for the end. The conclusion of Dax's story is not only disturbing but also confusing, too much left unexplained (something I rarely say about fiction; I don't like explanatory prose). The conclusions for Armando and Wintric are moving and sad. And too hopeless for me. I don't doubt I'm supposed to feel about this book exactly the way I feel about it, and Goolsby is an adept writer who can evoke simultaneous sympathy and frustration. But hope is a thing I look for in fiction--whether hinted at for the future or achieved on the page. The places we leave each story don't seem to look toward hope for these men, which will keep me from reading the book again.
Three stars for an artful collection of stories that will make the reader ponder, that shows experience in minute, gritty detail and doesn't let the reader look away.
mir_cat_lily's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
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