The Things They Cannot Say: Stories Soldiers Won't Tell You About What They've Seen, Done or Failed to Do in War
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Paperback
Helpful Score: 2
I expected to have a lot of trouble getting into this book. That proved to be correct but not for the reason I was anticipating. I thought I would find descriptions of war, potentially graphic scenes of battle, and confessions to acts that conscionable men would never do in civilized society. Instead, the first part of the book was made up of personal soul-searching by the author. The author talked about things that he as a journalist witnessed and perhaps could have directly influenced if he had been of a mind to do so. Not that a little soul-searching is a bad thing just not what I had been led to anticipate.
The author's experiences did help to explain why other soldiers were willing to confide in him, even when said "confidence" was to be shared with the world at large. And the tales told by those soldiers did, in fact, contain some horrible actions, both witnessed and performed, by the soldiers whose tales are told within these pages. I was impressed that the author realized that such tales are not limited to American soldiers, and included some tales of individuals who fought for other countries, as well.
All in all, I finished the book much more impressed than I thought I would after the first 10% or so. However, the feeling that this book breached private thoughts that I shouldn't have ever been exposed to in the hopes that the author could find peace with the choices he made during his own life never escaped me. I hope that his belief that sharing these stories helped the men who offered them up.
RATING: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars for those sites that cannot handle fractions of a star.
DISCLOSURE: I received this book free of charge from the publisher without obligation, although a fair and unbiased review would be appreciated. (I suspect, however, that they wish I hadn't waited 2 years to do it.)
The author's experiences did help to explain why other soldiers were willing to confide in him, even when said "confidence" was to be shared with the world at large. And the tales told by those soldiers did, in fact, contain some horrible actions, both witnessed and performed, by the soldiers whose tales are told within these pages. I was impressed that the author realized that such tales are not limited to American soldiers, and included some tales of individuals who fought for other countries, as well.
All in all, I finished the book much more impressed than I thought I would after the first 10% or so. However, the feeling that this book breached private thoughts that I shouldn't have ever been exposed to in the hopes that the author could find peace with the choices he made during his own life never escaped me. I hope that his belief that sharing these stories helped the men who offered them up.
RATING: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars for those sites that cannot handle fractions of a star.
DISCLOSURE: I received this book free of charge from the publisher without obligation, although a fair and unbiased review would be appreciated. (I suspect, however, that they wish I hadn't waited 2 years to do it.)
