From the front lines of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, a searing, unforgettable book that captures the human essence of the greatest conflict of our time.
Through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, the prizewinning New York Times correspondent whose work was hailed by David Halberstam as “reporting of the highest quality imaginable,” we witness the remarkable chain of events that began with the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, continued with the attacks of 9/11, and moved on to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Filkins’s narrative moves across a vast and various landscape of amazing characters and astonishing scenes: deserts, mountains, and streets of carnage; a public amputation performed by Taliban; infantren frolicking in minefields; skies streaked white by the contrails of B-52s; a night’s sleep in the rubble of Ground Zero.
We embark on a foot patrol through the shadowy streets of Ramadi, venture into a torture chamber run by Saddam Hussein. We go into the homes of suicide bombers and into street-to-street fighting with a battalion of marines. We meet Iraqi insurgents, an American captain who loses a quarter of his men in eight days, and a young soldier from Georgia on a rooftop at midnight reminiscing about his girlfriend back home. A car bomb explodes, bullets fly, and a mother cradles her blinded son.
Like no other book, The Forever War allows us a visceral understanding of today’s battlefields and of the experiences of the people on the ground, warriors and innocents alike. It is a brilliant, fearless work, not just about America’s wars after 9/11, but ultimately about the nature of war itself.
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A War Story Not Strictly About War
Dexter Filkin's book the Forever War is a collection of short first-person war stories about his experiences as a NY Times correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan. The short pieces are informative and lucid descriptions of what he saw and how he felt about it at the time. FW reminds me of a book of short takes Ernest Hemingway wrote about the Spanish Civil War; short, insightful and clear-minded all written in a minimalist form. The stories make good points while at no time being political, partisan, or propaganda for any side. Filkins has unique point of view, but it isn't a political one. He writes as a human observer of other humans who do good, bad, evil, stupid, smart, heroic and noble things for and to each other. Often the same people, too, just on different days.
Don't read FW if you are looking for a comprehensive view of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars though. FW isn't that kind of book. If you want a narrative of military and political operations in Iraq and Afghanistan read Thomas Ricks' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq or Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.
I recommend this book but only with the warning that a typical war narrative as we've come to understand the genre isn't what you're going to get here. I still think it's worth the read though.
[Sunday, November 09, 2008]
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From the gut
I don't read a lot so I found the style of this book a bit disconcerting. It wanders continiously in place and time. Nonetheless, I couldn't put it down and finished in two days. The author gives us a sweeping view of Iraq and Afganistan. Often visceral, frequently nalytical, always compelling. It resonates with authenticity. This opinion from one who has served in a Muslim country.
[Thursday, November 06, 2008]
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"A Must Read'
Purchased book for my wife. She says it is excellent, not an easy read due to content but most informative. She highly recommends it.
[Monday, November 03, 2008]
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