Review by Suzanne Howard, Book Maven
In the locker room with the boys
WOW. As you can see below, I fully intended to make notes as I went along, but once I got into the book (thanks to Kindle and finally being able to read at night), I couldn’t stop to make notes…just wanted to see what happened next. And, of course, that is the sign of a great book.
Here are a few observations jotted down while reading your book. SPOILER ALERT!
The Kootchie is Undefeated: To me, this episode brilliantly portrayed just how YOUNG these boys were. Our generation knows this, but I think others may read their ages, but not really “get it.” Your description of this obviously very young man really brings it home. This is a kid. This is a goofy teen-ager. This is a kid who should be making out in drive-ins, worrying about if he’s ever going to get laid – NOT being sent to kill or be killed. Even while I was chuckling at your description of the hapless G.O. and his quest for the elusive Proo….it was breaking my heart.
Another thought – I felt at times like I was surreptitiously peeking inside the boy’s locker room (an alien world). As my irrepressible son-in-law was making yet another of his famous “poop” jokes, I realized he is NOT alone in this fascination with bodily functions! So, besides being entertaining, your book is very educational!
Charles does a wonderful job of “showing” not “telling.” One scene that just resonated was G.O.’s first assignment with his crew, where they ended up picking up four KIA body bags. For me, you totally captured the surreal necessity of making jokes about the truly horrible…in order to maintain some kind of distance. Because if you didn’t, how could you get up in the morning knowing you might be doing the same thing yet again. I could visualize the whole thing, including the head rolling. You put me there. But you also put me in the company of young men who should have never dealt with such things…and the mechanics of how they did so. You also laid the groundwork for the relationships which became of primeimportance to G.O.
And your characters were wonderful. By the end of the book, I felt I had met these unique individuals who somehow came together (from completely different backgrounds) and formed a solid team. Once again, you painted a picture I could so clearly see of each of these men. And, I cared for them (at least most of them…save a few self-serving idiots who were never really part of the “team”).
And, you could actually watch G.O. grow…from that feckless boy at the drive-in…into the man he wanted to become. Would that man have emerged without Viet Nam? I suspect so, but maybe not.
I also truly enjoyed your depiction of “the enemy” and how little they differed from our heroes. I mean, come on – lighting farts must truly be a bonding experience in any culture! (And I’m chuckling again…I smiled and laughed…much of the time while I was shedding tears. You story was an emotional roller coaster…and I was hanging on to the safety bar a lot of the time!)
Your book touched me, Charles, and helped me understand things I never really did before. As one of those left behind, but definitely affected by this war, I just had to guess at many things. One reason this book is so important (because I didn’t know many people who would even talk about it at all) is that all of us who lived through it need to understand what it was like. I believe many women I know lost the men they loved, even if they returned home in one piece. I ended up believing the Marine Corp trained young men to believe that loving relationships were somehow a detriment which needed to be downplayed or eradicated if they were to serve their fellow Marines and the Corp.
And now I’m smiling again, thinking what a wonderful mother figure your Gunny was! Not sure if this makes sense to you, but I thank you for the insight into something so many of us can barely comprehend. I loved your young men and my heart went out to them. They made me laugh and they made me cry – but they were always so very, very human -- and in that outlandish way most women haven’t really been privy. Suzanne Howard —Book Maven
