The Good Soldiers

This is one of those books that I am hesitant to attempt to review at all, other than to describe it as heart-rending. Finkel has given a great gift to these service members in bearing witness to what it was like to be in the worst part of Baghdad during a terrible part of a terrible war. Reading this now, against a backdrop of grim ISIS-related headlines, merely underscores the importance of the book, and the importance of not growing numb to the plight of an area of the world still very much war-torn.

This is a tough book to read because of the subject matter, but it should be required reading for all Americans, especially those who thought the Iraq War was a good idea.

Puts the war in Iraq/Afghanistan in a grimmer light and contributes a real-life narrative understanding of the futility of the current war and its strategies. The stories of these 19 & 20 year old soldiers and their families, with their horrible physical and mental wounds, combine to create a almost incomprehensible picture of horror and anger and frustration that makes me question all the opinions I had about this war before reading the book.
I listened to a podcast interview with the author ( http://fora.tv/2010/02/27/David_Finkel_The_Good_Soldiers ) and felt compelled to read the book. The author spent time physically embedded with the Army unit he writes about, and does not editorialize about the facts and experiences. Great journalism at work.

I'd heard such good things about The Good Soldiers and I'd been on the library's waiting list for it for so long that I was probably setting myself up for disappointment. And disappointed I was. The Good Soldiers is a book about an incredibly interesting topic: an Army infantry battalion assigned to Baghdad during the surge. Unfortunately, the book reads too much like a series of AP wire reports than a cohesive work. Maybe I've just been spoiled by all the good literary non-fiction that I get from my subscriptions to McSweeney's and the Believer, but I found The Good Soldier a relentlessly dull read. Which is a shame, considering the events described in the book provide an insight into the lives of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians that most news reports, even long-form stuff, just doesn't manage to equal. If The Good Soliders had been published as a series of articles, it would have been fantastic. When read straight through, however, it leaves a lot to be desired. I'm interested to see how The End of Major Combat Operations (included with McSweeney's 34 compares.

I'd heard such good things about The Good Soldiers and I'd been on the library's waiting list for it for so long that I was probably setting myself up for disappointment. And disappointed I was. The Good Soldiers is a book about an incredibly interesting topic: an Army infantry battalion assigned to Baghdad during the surge. Unfortunately, the book reads too much like a series of AP wire reports than a cohesive work. Maybe I've just been spoiled by all the good literary non-fiction that I get from my subscriptions to McSweeney's and the Believer, but I found The Good Soldier a relentlessly dull read. Which is a shame, considering the events described in the book provide an insight into the lives of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians that most news reports, even long-form stuff, just doesn't manage to equal. If The Good Soliders had been published as a series of articles, it would have been fantastic. When read straight through, however, it leaves a lot to be desired. I'm interested to see how The End of Major Combat Operations (included with McSweeney's 34 compares.