07 - The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers
WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by the saleslady at Small World Books, in Venice Beach (highly recommend that bookstore!)
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING:Very Good
This is the melancholic tale of two American soldiers in Iraq in 2005. Private Bartle and Private Murphy become friends during basic training and go off to war together. The two friends are initially numbed to the death that they see all around them, and then Murphy decides that compassion and humanity are more important than preserving his mental health. It's not pretty and it doesn't end well; it's war
Powers writes lyrically when describing the environment, and clinically when describing the war. It's a beautiful contrast that draws you in, opens you up, and shows you the pain. Knowing what's coming, fairly early on in the book, doesn't soften the blow when it does finally happen.
I recommend this book. It will take you to an uncomfortable place, and open your eyes to how we compromise their humanity when we send young men and women to war.
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
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