Mack Green

I first should react to the book that the author actually wrote. This is a superbly crafted account of the effects of war. I'm too far away from having read "The Things They Carried," but "Frank's Bloody Books" is arguably of similar high quality, and deserves equal readership.

That said, I must say this is not the book I was expecting. Given the title and the blurb, I went into it expecting something akin to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance": by reading the books, Jack would come to a greater understanding of his war experiences and of life more generally. That never happens; in fact, he really seems none the better off for a lifetime of questing. Perhaps he needed to read different books.

Certainly the author's tendency to have small town southern folk speak in cadences of philosophical monologues encouraged the expectation that the reader would go on Zen-type journey. I was therefore disappointed that the "bloody books" were not really lingered over or discussed. The last one, in fact, we learn almost nothing about, much less what Jack learned from it. In fact, we could have done without them entirely, as it was Jack's personal relationship with Frank that shaped his direction, rather than the experience of delving into the books. The books served merely as props rather than portals to redefining his life to become more like Frank.

In this sense at least, the book was uneven, as if it wasn't entirely clear what genre it wanted to be. But as I said, it is an excellent book as it is, even if it missed an opportunity to be so much more.… (mais)

This is quite the book - well-crafted characters, endless (and perfectly believable!) plot twists, Set in the Deep South, this book captures the mood of the environment as well as the characters' growth. Green's writing sets the reader up well, too, to anticipate/feel the next major action to come - but you will NOT see the ending! The writing is dense; unusual use of words creates delicious descriptions: "...strode like a living tree stump . . .", "...with a heavier than usual southern silt to her voice.", "...katydids chirruped with escalating madness.", "...distracted by some wandering thoughts that had just arrived."… (mais)

At 228 pages, this short novel depicts a coming-of-age spiritual awakening in a recently returned Vietnam War veteran. It also covers life in economically depressed, rural north Louisiana. I'm quite familiar with that area (visiting often in the 15-35 years following the events of the book), with my father's side of the family living there since the early 1800s. I definitely enjoyed the Louisiana setting, even if I didn't feel a strong sense of the place I knew. The language in this story is interesting and at times poetic, and although the first few sections meander and don't seem to point toward anything in particular, the second half pulls together a more propulsive plot (featuring murder and intrigue) that wraps together in a nice conclusion. I was pleasantly surprised by this book - it definitely exceeded my expectations and was quite enjoyable overall. I received this book as a free advanced reading copy, but this review is my own opinion.… (mais)