Sometimes email delivers happy surprises.
At 3.58 a.m. (my time) Anna and Serena, hosts of the War Through the Generations blog, notified me that I won the GRAND PRIZE in the Overachievers Giveaway!! Seven new books! One signed by the author, one an out-of-print book.
I need to catch a gulp of air!
And now I am contemplating joining Anna and Serena’s Vietnam War Challenge. I need to work my way through the recommended reading list.
Any suggestions on *good* books on Vietnam?
A Living Pencil 
I liked Lizzie’s War a lot. It is about a military wife, not so much anti-war protest, but it is fiction. You can always read MASH when you do Korea…Did you make it to Once Upon a Town on your way through WWII? I am on page 72 of John Adams. Two times as many pages as my last attempt. Don’t spoil it for me, but it looks like the colonies plan to start a war with England soon.
Congratulations! I look forward to hearing your reviews of the books you won (but maybe they’ll only be read after your present reading challenge?)
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien – it’s not an easy read because of the subject matter, but one that I read for the first time in high school in an effort to understand that part of my dad’s history – he did two tours.Carrie
I was wondering whether to recommend The Things They Carried. I picked it up in a high school lit class when I was subbing one day and almost read through it. It was, as Carrie said, not an easy read. Part of it struck me as very unrealistic (sensationalized in an “Apocalypse Now” kind of way). But much of it seemed very real and it was very well-written. I got a copy on PBS and am going to read it more thoroughly before deciding whether to buy a copy for Terry’s brother who served in Vietnam. The author, Tim O’Brien, wrote a memoir of his war experiences in the mid to late 1970s and then wrote this fictionalized account in the 1990s. One part of the book haunted me, and it was the part where the main character was contemplating going to Vietnam, before he even left the U.S.Sandy
I actually read The Things They Carried in college 2 years ago, and found it quite good. Very realistic in the images presented, giving you a good idea of what it was like. He also wrote several other short stories that you might want to look up, as well. He is respected as one of the best writers re: the Vietnam War.p.s. But the most important question: Did Curt roll his eyes when you told him you won seven more books? Tee! Hee!
Congratulations, Carol! After Libby Cone donated a box of War Through the Margins books, she was picked up by a U.K. publisher. So you’re one of the few with a copy of the self-published edition. :)I do hope you’ll join us for the Vietnam challenge. I highly recommend Tim O’Brien, and Larry Heinemann’s Paco’s Story (which will be our group read mid-year) is great, though graphic and raw.
Slightly off topic, but I’m guessing you’re the only Carol Bakker in the world that would ask Maeve the difference between Motherland and Fatherland. Well done.(BTW, this is Kelly, the BadgerMum — Xanga has locked me out of my site so I made this one until I can figure out the old one.)
Does your Vietnam book have to be fiction, or can it be non-fiction? Years ago I read and enjoyed We Were Soldiers Once… and Young by Harold G. Moore. It was later made into a movie. Good book.
I have no recommendations but, seven books! How wonderful for you.
@MerrilySpinning – Yep, that’s me! The question came up at the dinner table and it seemed the kind of thing Maeve would know. As soon as I emailed her, I was a bit embarrassed that I didn’t puzzle it out myself first. I still need to email my beloved Latin teacher and ask his opinion.
@LauraLLD – I’m very interested in non-fiction. I wish that David McCullough wrote something. I’ve seen the movie (which I bought solely to listen to the music at the end that was played at Ronald Reagan’s funeral) but I haven’t read the book. Thanks for your recommendation.
Two books I enjoyed in recent years are Kien Nguyen’s memoirs, The Unwanted (about growing up in Vietnam the son of a Vietnamese mother and American soldier father), and Andrea Warren’s book, Escape from Saigon. Both are autobiographical and very interesting.
Filtered by Time: A True Story of Success in Vietnam written by Robert Faulkender.
@D2saint – Thanks!
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