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| The Forever War
by Dexter Filkins
Label: Knopf
Sales Rank: 90359
Avg. Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
Publication Date: 2008-09-16
Release Date: 2008-09-16
ISBN: 0307266397
Edition: 1
Features:
Deckle Edge
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| | Editorial Review
From the front lines of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, a searing, unforgettable book that captures the human essence of the greatest conflict of our time.
Through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, the prizewinning New York Times correspondent whose work was hailed by David Halberstam as “reporting of the highest quality imaginable,” we witness the remarkable chain of events that began with the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, continued with the attacks of 9/11, and moved on to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Filkins’s narrative moves across a vast and various landscape of amazing characters and astonishing scenes: deserts, mountains, and streets of carnage; a public amputation performed by Taliban; children frolicking in minefields; skies streaked white by the contrails of B-52s; a night’s sleep in the rubble of Ground Zero.
We embark on a foot patrol through the shadowy streets of Ramadi, venture into a torture chamber run by Saddam Hussein. We go into the homes of suicide bombers and into street-to-street fighting with a battalion of marines. We meet Iraqi insurgents, an American captain who loses a quarter of his men in eight days, and a young soldier from Georgia on a rooftop at midnight reminiscing about his girlfriend back home. A car bomb explodes, bullets fly, and a mother cradles her blinded son.
Like no other book, The Forever War allows us a visceral understanding of today’s battlefields and of the experiences of the people on the ground, warriors and innocents alike. It is a brilliant, fearless work, not just about America’s wars after 9/11, but ultimately about the nature of war itself.
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| | Top Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Depressing, gritty, and enlightening
Comment: As a soldier (have not yet been to Iraq or Afghanistan) and researcher of the Middle East and radical Islam, I wanted to read this book to get an on the ground view of what those wars were like, what the people caught in the middle were like, and how things have changed for the better/worse. This book was fascinating, beautifully written, and extremely informative. The book gives gritty detail of what the war in Iraq was like during the invasion and insurgency, what the Taliban were like before 9/11 and how Afghanistan has changed. I gained valuable insight in the minds of the average Iraqi and Afghan, plus the motivations of many young Arabs who flock to these countries to fight the West. This book ends on a very depressing note with the author's departure from Iraq in 2006 (the height of violence). Things have gotten substantially better in Iraq since then. I saw an interview where the author acknowledges this, but warns how fragile it all is. If you want personal insight into what it was like the ground, without the author's opinions on the war, this is a great book.
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Gutwrenching...
Comment: "The Forever War" reads more like a memoir than dry reportage. Dexter's record of his time spent in Afghanistan and Iraq from 1998 to 2006 is non-judgemental. He allows experiences and conversations with soldiers, insurgents, and civilians to speak for themselves, revealing humanity in all its contrasts and contradictions. You, the reader, are left to make sense of chaos. Filkins eye for detail and poignant moments speak volumes, taking war reporting to its highest level. Critics were right to give this one high marks.
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Engrossing and Informing
Comment: I found the audiobook to be thoroughly absorbing all the way up to the last chapter and epilogue, and which point perhaps there was little left to be said. The author paints more of a collage - a pastiche of loosely-connected experiences from his journalistic notebooks-- than a tightly-connected narrative.
Others may prefer a more historical narrative, but I think Filkins' approach adds to the overall effect, leaving him (and us) emotionally exhausted in the end. This guy was extremely brave (or perhaps other adjectives could also be inserted) to insert himself in the situations he put himself into. You'll find this an engrossing and captivating read if like me you've been only remotely aware of what's been going on in Afghanistan and Iraq by way of daily news headlines.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Best work on the subject
Comment: Dexter Filkins' work is arguably one of the best works of journalism on the subject of nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan. Filkins demonstrates a clear understanding of the difficulties involved with such a feat. Additionally, he underscores why there is little left to accomplish in Iraq and Afghanistan by the U.S. "Winning" in any meaningful sense of the word is basically a fantasy.
Filkins does not treat the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan with kid gloves; he does not hesitate to point out the failures of Iraqis and Afghanistan to govern themselves and evolve away from violent traditions. For example, avenging the death of a loved one, or killing those who belong to a different tribe or sect.
All in all this is a worthwile read. The one criticism I have is that the transitions between Iraq and Afghanistan are not as well developed as they could be. While this does not hurt the book excessively, it can make it difficult to follow at times.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: One of the Better Books on the Iraq War and Occupation
Comment: I have read several books on the War in Iraq over the years that the conflict has been going on and this is one of the best if not the best one that I have read when it comes to dealing with the experiences of the Iraqis and the soldiers on the ground. Filkins does a good job of giving one a sense of the chaos and confusion of the war along with the violence and the sense that there is not easy solution to this. Like the title of his good implies the conflict and the stories of atrocities and misfortune does seem to go on and on but the author does a good job of personalizing each one so that it does not become a laundry list of misfortune. One even gets a slight sense of hope by the end of the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the experience of the soldiers, the Iraqis and all the people connected to them without any of the politics involved. Other than the first few chapters on Afghanistan which seem kinda tacked on this is and excellent book.
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