Book Review: Green on Blue (Afghanistan civil war)

 Green on Blue, by Elliot Ackerman (Simon and Schuster, 243pp PB, $18, 2015)

Ah, Afghanistan - but from the viewpoint of a 'sort of' conscripted Afghan boy-soldier with an American, Mr. Jack, in the far background (blue refers to the US military while green refers to the 'other' side).

A Couple of Short Stories

Much of Green on Blue gives us the daily life of a soldier in the Afghan 'civil war' around a couple of critical incidents that might easily be missed. We start out meeting two brothers growing up alone in a village whose market is bombed by the Taliban: Aziz and his older brother Ali learn to  live on the street as beggars. Ali loses a leg but medical care is rationed, generally for the wealthy. Therefore, in exchange for Aziz joining a militant* group, his salary goes to care for his brother.

Pashtunwali

Author Elliot Ackerman gets the Afghan Code of Ethics down pat: nang** is honor, badal is justice, revenge or retribution, and the book is a demonstration of Pashtunwali all the way through, the unwritten rules that the country lives by. 

Coming of Age

Besides the theme of honor, Green on Blue takes us through winter, the season for military training, followed by the spring offensives, using roadblocks as a common method of gaining funds for supplies. Aziz somehow quickly ascends in rank and is requested by name to accompany some of his higher commanders.

The climax is very much food for thought in that some readers just won't 'get it' while others will thank the publisher for the book club guide and for Phil Klay's (Redeployment) interview of Ackerman in the back.

And yes, there is a dog in this novel and a pet dog at that (an animal not usually considered a pet in this country).

Writing Style

Ackerman, who spent a couple of tours in-country, knows the Afghan military. Still, I wonder at Aziz and his cohorts having IBAs (individual body armor) which would protect them but also slow them down. I also wonder about Mr. Jack, the American traveling alone to coordinate some of the Afghan troops. 

The author also has a unique writing style consisting mainly of many short choppy sentences interspersed with longer ones. The reader does become accustomed to this though.

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*Afghanistan is composed of many tribes, the largest of which is the Pashtun (the two main languages are Pashtu and Dari [similar to Persian Farsi]) tribe who usually rules even though they are located primarily in the south, in Kandahar, rather than around the capital Kabul. During the conflict of the Taliban around 2000, Afghans either took the side of the Americans or of the Taliban.

**Ackerman's book is missing a glossary that would make the reading so much easier:

shalwar kameez (like the Vietnamese woman's ao dai, wide pants with a long tunic)

shura, jurga, loya jurga (council)

zakat (tithe)

Book Review: The Fault in our Stars (OT)(teen love story, cancer)

 The Fault in our Stars, by John Green (Penguin Books, 318pp, $12.99, 2012, a number one book on many lists and now a movie) 

A true, made-up love story but also a life lesson in growing up. . . . another book that is probably on your list of books to read, that keeps getting longer and longer. My advice to you: get it and read it. Then watch the movie. Or, watch the movie and then get the book.

Love the Names!

Our teens are Hazel Grace and Augustus "Gus" Waters - the perfect pair - of names, that is. As far as being a couple, they are so much older than their years: they sprout poetry (with a surprise poet at the end).

Hazel has been stable for three years but homeschooled for that time. Her lungs are weak from thyroid cancer so she must use oxygen. Gus, on the other hand, seems quite healthy, in remission since his leg (and the cancer) was removed. He latches on to Hazel when they meet in a teen cancer survivor therapy group in the basement of a church. Eventually they become close and live through the demise of some of their friends.

Perhaps you have heard of the last wish? Hazel used hers for Disneyworld a couple of years ago but Gus has saved his so far. 

Poetry

The teens speak in poetry more and more as the pages fly by and Hazed and Gus end up in Amsterdam to see their favorite author - a trip full of memories, both good and frustrating. Fortunately, Hazel's mom is wonderful (and her dad is the sensitive one).

After Amsterdam, they hold a pre-funeral that is meaningful and . . . but I won't tell you how the book ends. Suffice it to say that this is a book you will hold in your heart for a long time.

Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing (OT)(North Carolina swamps, girl)

Where the Crawdads* Sing, by Delia Owens (Random  House, Reese's Book Club, $18, 2021, 400pp PB, New York Times Bestselling Author)

Where the Crawdads Sing has probably been on your list to read for a long time: my advice is to read it. Now. Especially if you love, and who doesn't - To Kill a Mockingbird.

This reviewer read the large print version so she could read it better in bed at night, in low light. It was still a long book but a short read in that this book simply grasps you and doesn't let go yet, at the same time, it is smooth.

Kya, the March Girl, is left to fend for herself in the swamps at a young age and manages somehow to not only survive but, though terribly shy, to thrive. Author Delia Owens must have either grown up near the North Carolina swamps or perhaps she is an environmentalist, for she gets things right: the bird feathers, the grasses, navigating the coastline and interconnected islands, the shells. How she manages to also make Kya's story so captivating that we want to meet her shows her true skill as a first-time novelist.

The Plot

Kya raises herself, teaches herself to cook (mostly grits), which birds to befriend, which mushrooms to eat, as she spends her days collecting shells and oftentimes, before dawn, gathering mussels to sell to the black man in town. People know about Kya - the kids her age who taunt her for not knowing how to read, and a few adults who take her under their wing, and a couple of boys. One teaches her how to read and shares nature while the other merely takes. And then Kya is recognized for being a naturalist but one of 'her' boys is found dead and so, a trial ensues. 

The Magic of the Writing Style

Owens manages to modify the conversations according to who is speaking and, for Kya, her grasp of English grammar is mirrored as she reads biology textbooks for the more she educates herself, the better her speech becomes. 

*crawfish, crayfish, freshwater crustaceans

And one of the biology books she mentions was written by a professor where I did my undergraduate work!

Book Review: How Books Can Save Democracy (OT) (a little book with big ideas)

 How Books Can Save Democracy, by Michael Fischer (Trinity University Press, 12.95$, 2025, 84pp)

A Little Book That Packs a Big Wallop!

A book so small you can fit it easily in a pocket - new meaning for pocketbook! 

All I can say is, "Wow!" This is the book that can save democracy. It is best for a conversation-starter like in a book club or an upperclass college seminar (where the students have lived a bit and experienced different situations and, perhaps, different cultures, or at least have known different generations and SESs (socio-economic status').

When I found myself highlighting nearly every page in this little book, I knew I had to stop, and start to sing its praises.

How Books Can Save Democracy should be required reading for boards of directors and elected leaders, or anyone encountering varying opinions, power and responsibility for others.   

In a nutshell, literature and resulting discussions are safe places to practice disagreement and compromise, and that can be a good lesson for plain old families like those whose members disagree about politics over Thanksgiving dinner, especially if alcohol is served. People can agree to disagree which is more than simply avoiding a certain subject: it means a give-and-take in the conversation, finding some points to agree on and others not to.

Using titles and quotes from well-known books and authors, from Desmond Tutu to Dickens, author Michael Fischer, an English professor, opens the book with a multi-page synopsis from a case in point: in the park one day, three women friends find they disagree and argue when along comes a man who listens in and sparks them to stop, look and listen to each other. They eventually do.

Suggestion

I would make the opening literary synopsis shorter and from a book most people are familiar with as I would for most of the examples - being a STEM person I am not familiar with much of English literature so perhaps examples from children's books might be more meaningful. I would get more out of examples from To Kill a Mockingbird

or Tom Sawyer,

for example.

However

On the whole, this is an excellent little book to take along with you and read slowly over and over again.

Book Review: Still Alice (OT)(early onset Alzheimer's, also a movie)

 Still Alice, by Lisa Genova (Simon and Schuster, 2009, $16, 293 pp PB)

The Plot

An enthralling movie (2014) made me pick up the book* when I saw it and not want to put it down. For some reason, I identified with Alice even though I am not a Psychology professor at a prestigious college that I and my science professor husband can walk to, don't live in New England, don't have a house on the beach or three adult children with one grand on the way, am not a runner - so I don't know why I liked this book (and movie) so much. Perhaps it is because Julianne Moore won an Academy Award for portraying Alice.

I believe that if you read a book and see the movie, or see a movie and then read the book, that your favorite is the one you read/watch first. In rare circumstances you like both equally: To Kill a Mockingbird,

The Help,

and now, Still Alice. 

The astute inhabitant of today's world will know how the book ends but will keep reading it to hope against hope and to experience what gradual loss of memory feels like from the patient's point of view and because all the characters are likable. We want to shake Alice's husband, however, but love the estranged daughter for handling Alice so naturally - real, with all the bumps experienced in life. 

Written by a neurocientist, you will wonder just how much is true in this work of fiction. Most likely, the science and medicine are true, as well as the characters' feelings, emotions and reactions. And you will find the book and movie to be wonderfully on track** with each other. Remember that Alice has early-onset Alzheimer's which seemed to progress fairly rapidly. And keep it on your bookshelf to read again next year, after watching the movie again.

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* and yes, butterflies are significant

** This reviewer found a couple of scenes in the book that are not in the movie and vice versa but perhaps the bookmark fell out and was replaced in the wrong chapter. . . . 

Book Review: Dog Tags, Strays (Vietnam, Military Working Dog, YA novel)

Dog Tags: Strays, by C. Alexander London (Scholastic, 2012, 210 pp, $5.99, ages 10-14, book 2 in a 4-book series*) Review by Skye Anderson

How Far Would You Go To Save a Life?

We meet Chuck and Ajax, his German Shepherd military working dog (MWD), a scout dog, in Vietnam. Teams like Chuck and Ajax rotate from unit to unit and generally work as point, leading a patrol and acting as an early warning, thus saving lives. Chuck is at the end of his fourth tour, having re-upped because he feels his work in important, but suddenly he receives orders to return to the States near the end of the Vietnam Conflict. 

But what about Ajax? Chuck has been put in for a Bronze Star* but MWDs do not return home. Some have contracted a 'jungle disease' but most are classified as surplus military equipment and are euthanized not released while a war is going on and due to the expense of sending dogs back. A few are turned over to friendly forces, the ARVN.

A Hard Book to Read

About halfway through arises the realization that not all dogs make it back to the States after a conflict: they are euthanized (or were, in previous conflicts) at a rather young age. This can be very difficult for youngsters to learn about, particularly if they have a pet dog. For this reason, it might be a good idea for a parent to read this book first and then decide if the child is ready for it. And, of course, the parent should be ready for a discussion about this (and about other topics such as AWOL).

What The Reader Will Learn**

Young readers will learn a little about being a soldier during wartime in the Vietnam Conflict, as author Alexander London manages to seamlessly sneak in a history lesson or two. The reader will learn a lot about foxholes as all soldiers are experienced in digging and sleeping in.

The Plot

Strays is a thrill a minute (after about halfway) and the soldiers are very lucky as they flit from one situation to another. This reviewer tried to guess what would happen and was usually incorrect. Hopefully the young reader will be able to tell the characters apart (there are several of them) and the epilogue was probably written more for the adult reader, even causing some tears to flow.

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* but after 2 years, 1 month and 19 days, ". . . if anyone deserved the Bronze Star,  it was Ajax. Chuck was just the guy at the other end of the leash." (p. 72)"

** just a couple of things that illustrate poetic license perhaps: in the book, the command to stop firing was "Hold your fire!" but in my Army (1983 and beyond) the command was "Cease fire!" And MWDs nowadays are nearly pets when off-duty and dearly beloved by soldiers in the unit - petted and played with. Author London portrays Ajax as being rather barky and not terribly friendly towards other soldiers in the unit to the point that some fear him. And a dog's thoughts off-duty tend to be "Am I full and am I safe? Is it time to play?"

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Book 1: Semper Fido (Afghanistan, Black Lab)

Book 2: Strays

Book 3: Prisoners of War (WW2, Doberman)

Book 4: Divided We Fall (Civil War, hound)

Book Review: No Ordinary Dog (My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid)

No Ordinary Dog (My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid), by Will Chesney (St. Martin's, 2021, $21, 336pp) Review by Skye Anderson

No wonder No Ordinary Dog is a bestseller! Nevertheless, this reviewer gives you permission to skip chapters 3 and 4: they are simply an extension of the first two chapters about SEAL* training. Additionally, you may skim the last pages also because too much detail is presented, over and over again. 

Author Will Chesney begins the book with his rather elongated (laborious?) story of joining the Navy and the rigors of SEAL training: the details may bog you down plus it is hard to believe he remembered those months in such detail. 

The Dog

Cairo is the Belgian Malinois MWD** (military working dog) who played a part, albeit small, in Operation Neptune Spear but do you know exactly what he did? 

We remember the pictures of him wearing goggles and body armour but did you know he was born in Europe and cost the US Navy 10,000$ as a youngster, before his Navy SEAL training?

The author remarks often on the bond between him and the dog but we don't experience this first-hand, perhaps because the author mentions it so often rather than showing us, instead.

UBL

Osama bin Laden was killed by US SEALs in 2011 in Abbotabad, Pakistan, during a surprise night raid of his residential compound (and surprising to me was the success of the raid). He had been the leader of al Qaeda and came to light after 911.

The Book Club

This reviewer is a member of a veterans' book club that has been meeting for seven  years. She generally reviews our monthly selections, sometimes before we meet and sometimes after our discussions (so she can incorporate some member comments). The group selected this book on her recommendation (she is also a dog trainer) and found out that some book club members had peripherally worked with MWDs but were not "dog-people" while others were dog-people.

We had varied views after reading No Ordinary Dog - from considering it to be poorly written to highly recommended. Some were disappointed in not meeting Cairo for so many pages. The reviewer was particularly disappointed in the use (albeit rarely) of an e-collar (electric - not positive reinforcement)

Every veteran will learn a lot from author Will Chesney, whether it be the continuous training rigors of the Navy's special operations forces (SOF) or the closeness of the SEAL teams or even just the details of the UBL raid and Cairo's part in it.

*SEAL - Sea, Air, and Land

**On page 140, the author seems to mention the story of another MWD in OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom), "Max, Best Friend, Hero, Marine," about a service member who is killed in action and his MWD is given to his family but has trouble readjusting to life back in the States. Watch the trailer here.