Love, war, post-traumatic syndrome and life as is
937362
It's a good book with an interesting plot with some unexpected twists. The author is somewhat schematic in description of characters and explanation of motives, and the plot also contains a number of deus ex machina events. Anyway, descriptions are vivid, and the book is interesting to read, so Man Booker Prize is quite justified in this case.
4678531
Wow! I have read many books about former soldiers, but none touched on the trials of PTSD quite as keenly as this one. Isa and Grady both actually have things in their pasts that traumatize them emotionally. Grady also has physical reminders. The reality of their situation is that love does not conquer all, but it sure does help them to see the light in the darkness. I love the way the author touched on so many things. Very good book. I couldn't put it down once I started it.

I received an ARC for an honest review.
752573
Well written story,relating the horrors,tensions and emotions of wartime
2983163
So much of the literature of the Great War focuses on the battlefield, therefore Regeneration's depiction of the effects of shell shock is unique and satisfying. Although this is a novel in which not much action happens, but a lot of talking takes place, it is gripping. Barker's sympathetic and often heart-wrenching portrayals of soldiers disabled by war is fascinating. Her depiction of the emerging science of psychotherapy (and the horrors of the alternative) is finely nuanced. We are shown a society that has given so much and is trapped in a seemingly endless impasse. Barker confronts timeless moral questions about war and her social criticism is acute. To see the horrors of war from another perspective re-imagines them anew. This novel is confronting and reminds us of the continuing relevance of the Great War.
4313079
There are times in life when we experience such strong feelings that mere words cannot convey our emotions and reactions to others.  Artis Henderson is a writer who shatters that paradigm and brings the reader into her deeply personal journey as a child who loses her father and, years later, as a wife who loses her husband, both quite unexpectedly.  The editor of the book describes the writing as impeccable prose and it is that and more.

This is not a book with lots of action and suspense.  Readers are informed in the beginning of the deaths, but have no idea of the intense honesty and introspection they soon find.  The book has a few chapters where the time of events are not-chronological, but the story is easy to follow unlike some others where time transitions are used but are not smooth.

The authors feelings, thoughts, worries, even youthful inexperience, is laid bare as she tells her story as the wife of an Army helicopter pilot who dies in a helicopter crash in Iraq.  Her entry to the military culture with its language of acronyms and unique sayings is awkward.  She also finds the militarys expectations of spouses to be unrealistic but brings in other spouses attitudes and opinions to show a wider and more total range of how many military spouses, and widows, feel.

I felt as though I was sharing a heartfelt conversation with a dear friend as I read the book.  We are in the same generation and although I have not personally experienced the losses and events that the author did, I am familiar enough with the military culture to understand her difficulties with the overall culture, language, frequent relocations, and separations from loved ones due to military orders.  The author shows how she found healing as she transitioned from her life as she imagined it while young, to her acceptance of her life as a military spouse, to her category on her newly issued military ID card as an unremarried widow, to where she is now as a successful writer living in New York.  She shared her heartbreaking journey and follow-on healing with honesty and clarity and as a reader, I feel privileged to have journeyed with her.

This is no doubt the best book I have read in quite a long time and I highly recommend it!
3713423
I loved this book! I related to every character and was amazed at the author's ability to convey the complicated emotions and difficult family relationships that are so common yet rarely understood. There's so much grief and regret and sadness in life, but there's also joy and hope and most importantly, love. It overcomes everything. Love causes pain, but also makes it worth suffering and gets us through the worst of it. A beautiful portrayal of the unique and unbreakable bond between sisters, the incomparable love of a mother for her children, and the healing power of truth and forgiveness. I would be remiss not to mention the incredible men who pick up the pieces and enable us to move forward after our hearts have been broken. Oh, and cancer sucks.
4311919
A great book for military families or anybody interested in knowing what life is like during deployments. Home and Away: A Story of Family in a Time of War by David and Nancy French was an enjoyable read.

David, a 37-year-old lawyer, feels the tug that he should join the military after reading a story in the newspaper of a father being wounded in Iraq. He tells his wife and shortly thereafter we find him joining up with the Army Reserves and practically volunteering for a deployment. Nancy is left alone with their two kids facing a new life she never imagined for herself.

The book chronicles the year long absence. It is interesting to see insight on what was really going on "over there" from a JAG Officer point of view; dealing with detainees, losing comrades, information on how the war was being raged, and life at the Forward Operating Base. But you also get the other side with the wife taking on more responsibilities, staying busy, getting help where needed, trying to uplift her children in their times of need, and doing what she can to support her husband. Readers are shown what special things David and Nancy did to maintain their relationship despite the distance. Difficulties were not sugar coated. And regardless of the homecoming dreams, things don't always work out the way you thought they would.

As a military wife myself I could relate to some of what Nancy's story was. For a part of the book I felt like she seemed a bit whiny -- but then I realized that she was completely new to the military, her husband was gone, and she was no where near a military base to get a lot of the support that others of us have. I think she took on the deployment well. David's story kept me riveted. Getting a glimpse into what life is like over there can be intriguing and he shares it plainly. Realizing so much of the cultural differences between our countries, it sort of clears up some of our public views on war. His emotions on the loss of his friends was pointed and I truly felt for him: the sadness, the rage, the need for justice.

Not too long of a read with plenty to think over even after the book is finished. I think many military families will find a lot to relate with and encourage this read for them.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255
898221
A combat medic lives war at its worst, and remembers every terrified scream of it.

There are the memories of those who were treated and made it home; of those whose wounds were beyond treatment despite heroic efforts.

Those memories are as fresh today as the emotions were at the time of treatment; memories of soldiers and civilians gushing blood; memories of soldiers and civilians having body parts torn and cascading into all the wrong places.

For E. Everett McFall, there are the memories of jumbled body parts and attempts to put them together to form the remains of what were once men - individual men with loved ones, hopes,  talents, and dreams that dripped into the red soil or into the floor of the jungle.

There are no fancy words here. His words are direct, his pain drips off the pages and into the heart of the reader.

McFall writes from the heart. He writes from a soul splintered and haunted by 365 days that have been lived over and over and over again for the last 40 years.

We measure war in terms of dollar costs; in counts of the dead; in counts of the wounded.
But we have yet to learn to measure war in terms of lives ruined by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We have yet to learn to measure the losses of those who love those who come home with PTSD.

We have yet to learn the true face of war. E. Ernest McFall provides the reader with a vivid and heart tearing word portrait of the hideous face of war; of the plague of PTSD; of the rending of soul by survivor's guilt and questions of why am I still here when so very many others are not.

Pfc Jay E. Keck contributes his poetry to I Can Still Hear Their Cries. May I ask you to direct your attention to the last lines of his Sand Soldiers and pay heed to his admonition, as there are all kinds, as he points out in another poem, all kinds of Bogeymen contributing to PTSD - even those who should have, and in truth did, know better.

I Can Still Hear Their Cries is a story of the long, long road home. It is a tale that will speak to other Veterans who suffer PTSD. It is a tale needed by those who love those with PTSD to help them understand.

McFall tells you, loud and clear, that drugs and alcohol only bury the pain deeper, rather than excavating it and getting help to go through it to healing.

McFall notes that he is still in the process of finding his way home. It is a long road.

But I Can Still Hear Their Cries may open your eyes to the possibility that there is, in fact, a road home for you too - should you choose to come up from the dark to the Light.

Take the first step - there are many, many around to help you - just reach out - someone is there waiting to walk point for you.
1486223
I've just finished this book and I have to say that I've never read any like it.

Mike Schneider Sr. offers a selection of short stories, about his life, in three parts: Firstly, Mike tells us about his childhood in New York, growing up as a Catholic boy in the 1950s and '60s, getting into untold scrapes, having adventures with his neighbourhood friends. His love of his family, sports and girls shines through, as his character builds, fighting for honour and taking no crap, from anyone.

In the second part of the book, Mike is drafted into the 25th Infantry, as a medic and shipped out to Vietnam. Still just a kid, Mike tells us about his new "adventures", but they aren't any that we'd wish to have. It's apparent that Mike has found it difficult to write about his time in 'Nam, Cambodia and even finishing off his two years in, comparably safe, Germany. Whilst refusing to acknowledge his own bravery, which is apparent to see for those peaking in through this window, Mike doesn't hold back with his emotions, talking about harrowing events that would damage anyone. He admits as much, especially on his return home. It's totally heart rendering and difficult to hold back tears, as the little Mike we've come to love, returns from war, tall, but changed forever.

The third part of the book, which Mike calls his "Adult Life", further emphasising that he was a kid at war, sees Mike finding it hard to adjust to life back home, but he finds his own way. Mike finds love and has a family, that he keeps close and warm, telling us of new tales and adventures, seeing the beauty in nature and experiencing life's simple pleasures. He deserves them. He still refuses to take any nonsense from anyone and calls out those he encounters in his work, who cut corners and place the health and safety of his charges in danger. Mike, little Mike, who fought in the streets, then, teenage Mike, who challenged authority figures in the army, seeing the safety of his comrades as paramount to his own existence, won't stand for any of that.

It seems to me that, despite feeling lost on his return home, manages to find part of his youth in sports and his love of his neighbourhood parks, a sense of community that he holds dear. It is through this that, alongside the love of his wife and family, that Mike does more than survive, he revels in life and has us rooting for him, throughout.

Here's to reading more of Mike's tales, stories of time's gone and adventures yet to happen.
2902060
There are certain times in each person's life when they're so busy with the everyday tasks of living that important world events simply pass them by.  And, although I'm ashamed to admit it, that's what happened to me during the horror of the Vietnam War.  While our brave troops were fighting in the steamy, bug-infested jungles of that foreign country, I was fighting the battle of raising six children.  They were in their formative years and I was so busy with the everyday, mundane chores involved, that I had little time to think of anything else.  I never had time to watch TV and when I did, it was mostly cartoons or The Brady Bunch with the children.

But the devastation of that horrible war hit me when our brave troops came straggling home ... if they came home at all.  My heart cried with them when I later learned the death statistics and saw movies about the atrocities they endured.  And the accounts--of the unnatural things they, themselves, had to do in order to survive--are mind-boggling.

Even with all that, I--like many American citizens--never "understood" what that war was all about.  From my own limited perspective, I could see that even our 'Nam veterans who were not  physically damaged were more "mentally" damaged than from any other war in history.

My God--what went on over there?  What happened to those poor, brave souls--most of them just boys when the war started?  They went to war out of patriotic duty to the United States, desiring only to help another country gain freedom.  What horrors did they see in that strange country so far from home? And what horrible memories still linger in their minds, keeping them from leading productive lives these many years later?

Those questions bothered me--until I found this miraculous little book, War Songs, and read the story of the author, Grady Harp, and his artist friend, Stephen Freedman.  Each of these sensitive, caring men was effected by the war in different ways.  Harp was a surgeon in a strange country, dedicated to caring for the wounded, while several of Freedman's best friends died over there.

Following the war, fate brought them together in an artistic collaboration for this book, with Grady sharing the "poetry of his soul" that he wrote at nights in Vietnam, after caring for his bloody, wounded comrades. His poetry was his only release from the heart-break of the war.  He and Freedman, working side by side, poured the poetry, along with their fractured feelings and souls, into the clay sculptures.

The miracle of this powerful little book is that both men were healed through the process of creating the book and the sculptures!  And the book has gone on to help thousands of others come to terms with their memories ... terror ... horror ... guilt.

For helping other veterans and their loved ones heal their minds and souls, I think War Songs should have won a Nobel Peace Prize.  After reading it, I was so impressed by its miraculous power, I contacted the author to thank him.  He tells me he's planning a second book, containing more of the poems he wrote in his efforts to maintain a semblance of sanity in that churning chaos so far away from home.

Perhaps the Nobel committee will look at it this time around.  The world has not forgotten the noble sacrifices our veterans made to world peace.

Belated congratulations to Grady Harp and Stephen Freedman for creating the most beautiful book I have ever read.  It's a miracle of compassion and healing.  My one regret is that I didn't discover War Songs sooner.
1038915
Through thunder and light by Daniel Maldonada. This is a collection of short stories and poems. He writes about the experiences from a rather depressed and vulnerable male perspective. The authors words are powerful and filled with deep vivid imagery. The topics covered range from loss, love, fear and all the other strong emotions we feel when we fall in love. On the negative side though, some sentences where long and needed rescuing by the odd period here and there. It is however, a very good read aAn nd I particularly liked the stories 'Fifteen' and 'The meaning of Life'
647031
I was very interested in this book and the truth behind the ugliness of war. My father served in WWII and was severely injured in Anzio,  Italy. He had a severe head injury and though I never heard the term PTSD and all the physiological effects war can cause, but I know my father had to have suffered from this difficult condition. He became epileptic and had a fast temper. We kids and my mom were the objects of his direct hits of anger. This story embraces the need for understanding for our service people who  continue to come home altered and changed from who they were to a different more mature, seasoned individual. I really enjoyed this authors keen insight into the effects of  war and great stress it places on them and those they love. I loved the love stories of the three main characters, Lucy, Skarlet and Ellie.
595925
4.5 stars

Judith Barrow wrote this book to bring attention to the trauma sufferered by the victims of the drug Diethylstilboestrol (DES), given to women between the years 1949 and 1971.  It was prescribed to prevent miscarriage, but had a devastating effect on the daughters - and possibly the granddaughters - of the women who took it, meaning that they had miscarriages, too, cancers of the reproductive organs usually associated with older women, and other problems to do with that part of the body.  Unlike with Thalidomide there has been very little publicity about it, and the women who campaigned for what they had been through and why to be recognised, faced many brick walls.

I think writing a novel about it is such a good way of letting people know about the ongoing tragedy; I would not read an article about it, but I read this.  Silent Trauma follows the lives of four women affected by the drug, and the friendship that forms between them: Meg, whose daughter Lisa took her own life; Rachel, whose husband left her because of the change in their marriage due to her depression caused by several miscarriages; Avril, a recluse whose life was shattered by cancer in her teens; and Jackie, caught in a difficult and violent relationship with a woman, herself a product of a difficult upbringing.

Aside from the main purpose of the book, I enjoyed reading about the four women very much; it's a well written, well planned story.  The characterisation is terrific, and the situations so real.  I've read Judith Barrow's nostalgia orientated, warts and all family sagas set in the north of England during the 40s, 50s and 60s, but actually liked this more.  I read it in one sitting.  Speaking as one who has never had the urge to have children I cannot imagine how it must feel to want them so badly that you feel like less than a woman if you can't reproduce, but all the emotions were painted so vividly that I felt everything the characters went through, and the situations were met with great understanding and sensitivity.

Jolly well done :)
4079877
Life As We Knew It is a post-apocalypse story, told from the viewpoint of a teenage girl named Miranda. The story begins with everyone in Miranda's small Northeastern Pennsylvania town fascinated by an imminent galactic event. An asteroid is slated to strike the moon. There are block parties, as people gather outside to watch. However, the asteroid is heavier than anticipated, and jolts the moon right out of its orbit. This leads to a host of environmental problems, beginning with huge tsunamis that strike both coasts of the US. Things get gradually worse from there, as society deteriorates, and resources become scarcer and scarcer.

The book chronicles, via Miranda's journal entries, the struggle of her family, and her town, to survive. Despite being a relatively sweeping topic (the devastation of the world), the canvas for the story is actually quite small. Most of the action takes place within the family's home. While the larger aspects of the story (What climactic event will happen next? How will the town deal with looters?) are fascinating and disturbing, what really makes the book compelling is the intimate portrayal of Miranda's internal growth.

Miranda starts out a typical teenager, railing against her mother's unfairness over not being able to take skating lessons. When privations start, she complains about her mother's more generous treatment of her younger brother, and fantasizes about going to stay with her father, in a happier and more abundant environment. She is initially sheltered from the worst news by her mother and older brother, and goes through a realistic (though not whiny) "what about me" phase. But as circumstances worsen, Miranda gradually and believably rises to the challenges expected of her.

This book is quite bleak. People all over the world are dying. People in Miranda's life are leaving. First modern conveniences, and then basis essentials, are stripped away. But there are moments of brightness, to contrast with the bleakness. The family learns to appreciate small things, and to rely on one another. Their joy, at times, over things that would have once seemed trivial, brought tears to my eyes. The end does include a hint of hope, which is something to hold onto as you read.

Life As We Knew It is a book that will make you appreciate what you have, without ever feeling like the idea has been forced upon you. I was literally rendered hungry just from listening, at times. I found myself looking at the blue sky, and the green trees, and my glass of red wine, with a new appreciation. This is also a book that will make you think, pondering those what-if sorts of questions. What would I be willing to do to survive? Who would I give up my own life for? How would you keep basic social rules from crumbling in circumstances like this? Ultimately, it's a book that will make you care about Miranda and her family, and empathize with their struggles.

I highly, highly recommend this book to fans of science fiction, and especially the to fans of the dystopian/post-apocalypse genre. Life As We Knew It is a well-written and gripping addition to the cannon of such titles. I also think that any thinking person could benefit from reading it, for the perspective that it sheds on our dependence on the environment, and on what we would be willing to do to survive. I can't wait for the promised companion title, still being worked on by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on April 2, 2007.
1363716
Missing is a story of three wars and two families that were affected by the wars.  This story tells the tales of the Sanders and Davis families during the Civil, WW2 and Viet Nam.

It starts out with heartache just after the Viet Nam war.  Adele goes to the City to hear a solider speak on the War and meets Stephen there.  Through finding love, salvation and the truth of her husband, Adele heals from the War.  We, the reader, are reminded of Psalm 23, about goodness and mercy.

The reader is then sent back to the 1800's and to the Civil War to meet Old Man, Hungry, Elizabeth and a few more characters.  We are shown examples of misery that wars bring, and how family loves each other regardless.  Continuing on the Psalm 31 theme, this storyline shares the woes and troubles of walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

Our novel ends with the WW2 and the story of Molly, Red, and Doug.  These three characters get caught up on in a long distance love triangle as Doug is in France, working as a paratrooper- while Molly and Red are back home.  We are shown forgiveness, the true meaning of love and unfailing acceptance.

A theme that runs through all three stories in this book is prayer, and it's healing powers.  In the Viet Nam story, we learn that prayer helps heal broken hearts and helps us find our way.  In the Civil War, prayer helps hold a family together.  In the WW2 story, prayer cleans the soul and strengthens relationships.  It is not the act of prayer that accomplishes this, it is God that hears and acts on the prayers, as he seems fit.

I enjoyed this book- it felt like three mini books in one.  The characters are ones that the reader can relate to and can see their struggles.  My favorite story was the love story in the Viet Nam War storyline.  I was able to connect with Adele on a personal level and was pulling for her throughout her story.

This is a good read.  It would be a perfect book for someone that doesn't have the time or attention span to sit and read a full book all at once, due to the three stories in one volume.  A reader can read a story, set down the book and pick it up to start the next story without missing a beat!  If the reader enjoys authors such as Janette Oake, you will enjoy this book by Suzanne Williams.
725945
Flashes of War, by Katey Schultz, is this generation's updated version of The Things They Carried. It offers incredibly touching insights into the modern war experience, not only for American soldiers, but also for their families, fighters of the opposition, local families caught in the middle, and for almost any point of view you can think of. Her stories feel real, and bear some weight despite their often concise nature, some of which are barely more than a page. These raw snapshots into the lives of warriors of all types, be they soldiers or families or loved ones or even just children on the street, feel incredibly substantial. That said, there were some tales that seemed just a bit tall (Ghost of Sanchez springs to mind). In a few of these stories, she seems to be trying too hard to delve into the mind of veterans. The beauty of many of her stories is that they are very to the point, their poignancy and believability  comes from their simplicity. They are a good reminder that this book was written by someone who has never seen combat, nor has immediate family with experience in these wars. This book was written (quite well to my way of seeing things) by a total civilian seeking to understand what the effects of the war have been. I think that this adds extra to the value to the book, since most of us can not actually relate directly to any of the experiences. She did a lot of research (according to herself anyway), and whether the reader is a civilian who has always wondered, or a veteran who has lived it, this book inevitably offers some view that the reader has not thought of before. This book starts the discussions about the war that everyone should have. I could see myself recommending this book to friends who just like short stories, to war buffs, to veterans just to hear their thoughts, or to anyone who just loves to read.
3898297
This book touched a chord with me. Although it takes place in World War I, I felt memories return to me at the same age as Alfie; mine from World War II. Alfie is an only child and has just had his fifth birthday as the story begins. This is his story, but also the story of all London where suddenly all the Dads are off to war, Mothers off to work and/or taking in work and children left alone. Alfie's best friend Kalena Janacek and her father have been sent away to the Isle of Wight to an internment camp, his Dad Georgie is at war and his Dad's best friend Joe as a conscientious objector, a conchie as they call him, is dragged off to jail and badly beaten. All life as he knew it is changed.

Alfie decides he should do his part, too, so he takes Mr. Janacek's shoeshine kit and starts working at the train station, skipping school three days a week. This is a tale of survival, constant fear and worry, death, innovation and love of family. When letters no longer come from Georgie, Alfie's father, he believes the worst. His mother tries to ease his fears by telling him he can't write because he is on a secret mission but Alfie doesn't believe her.

Chance is a strange thing. While Alfie, now nine, is shining the shoes of a well-dressed man at the station, a wind happens to gust through the station and catch all the papers the man is holding. Alfie rushes to collect them all and chances to see his father listed as a patient at a hospital in England. From this point on the story veers as Alfie plots to see his father. This story is very well-written, compelling and compassionate, as much as a coming of age story. Alfie's complicated plans are admirable if ill-conceived. In a four year period, many things can change, and especially with children, who always seem to grow up too soon, but during war often became grown up through necessity as Alfie did. With love, though, anything is possible. This book is suggested for the 9 to 12 year range, but I believe it would be interesting to a wider range.