Book-It 'o11! Book #44
The Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one and two, just in case you're curious.) This was a secondhand find.
Title: The War Within: One More Step at a Time by G. B. Trudeau
Details: Copyright 2006, Andrews McMeel Publishing
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "The initial stages of B.D.'s recovery from losing a leg in Iraq were dramatically portrayed in The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time, but his healing journey was far from over. As this powerful sequel shows, the "war within" can be a long and lonely struggle, hardly the life of a "glamorous amputee" imagined by his daughter's jealous classmate. With his coaching job at Walden re-secured and the marathon PT sessions paying off, B.D.'s return to normalcy seems to be progressing well. But those who love him see alarming signs of trouble, namely anger and alcohol.
First there's the punching of an MP. Then there's the daily breakfast of beer, a subject not open for discussion even with a best-intentioned friend like Mike Doonesbury. And "the screaming at night isn't very Christmassy," Boopsie notes. As B.D. admits to his doctor, "I'd rather sleep with my weapon than my wife! How messed up is that?" Messed up enough that our wounded warrior forces himself to begin circling the local Vet Center, where he is gently and skillfully reeled in by a remarkable counselor and fellow Vietnam Vet named Elias. Their sessions together form an extraordinary and moving chronicle of catharsis and coming-to-terms. The words "Welcome home, soldier," are powerful and transformative, and B.D. is fortunate in finally getting to a place where he can hear them."
Why I Wanted to Read It: This was recommended to me by a fan of Bill Mauldin's work after he found out I'd been reading it. I've read bits of Doonesbury before and enjoyed it (although nowhere near as much as the work it heavily influenced, Bloom County) so I took him up on his recommendation.
How I Liked It: Doonesbury is serialized and I'd missed the previous book in this particular story arc (which is offered separately from the daily comic strip), but the characters and situation are easy enough to pick up.
I'd felt Doonesbury's humor was a little too dry and not much of a pay off in the past (Bloom County and most of Berke Breathed's work would have a dryness that Breathed admitted he'd appropriated from Doonesbury, but a secondary joke of absurdity that was usually laugh out loud funny). This style turns out to serve this storyline very well (it's dodgy, as one can imagine, to make PTSD and the horrors of war funny) and keeps the jokes funny but not to the extent of the gravity of the subjects they portray.
Trudeau had done his research, pledges several of the higher-ups, and it shows. The jokes bear a bitter ring of authenticity that as a result, spare the audience an awkwardly shallow storyline. Trudeau keeps the darkness of experience in his jokes and they are far better for it. Like Mauldin, his work offers rarely-glimpsed but very real sides of war. PTSD has made progress to the general public as it's often portrayed in its horror, particularly when dealing with war vets. But Trudeau captures the everyday aspects not only of the disorder but of brutally adjusting to civilian life altogether. Trudeau manages to employ wry humor in the situation yet never be disrespectful while simultaneously managing to make accessible the seemingly inaccessible: truly lasting battle scars.
The book (and no doubt the series) serves as an excellent education in a truth so horribly common but so rarely and properly acknowledged.
Notable: A foreword is offered by General Richard B. Myers, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Interestingly (at least to me, a reader of many, many, many forwards to comic collections), he is rightly concerned more with educating about and acknowledging those serving and those that have served rather than offering up the near-hagiography to the author that usually makes up a foreword. What praise he does have for Trudeau is mostly offered to assure that the experiences described in the book are indeed portrayed accurately and thus a great reference to draw upon. Yet another reason cementing this book's importance in making the war (and all wars) real and hopefully eliminating some of the disconnect the general public has with it.
Title: The War Within: One More Step at a Time by G. B. Trudeau
Details: Copyright 2006, Andrews McMeel Publishing
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "The initial stages of B.D.'s recovery from losing a leg in Iraq were dramatically portrayed in The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time, but his healing journey was far from over. As this powerful sequel shows, the "war within" can be a long and lonely struggle, hardly the life of a "glamorous amputee" imagined by his daughter's jealous classmate. With his coaching job at Walden re-secured and the marathon PT sessions paying off, B.D.'s return to normalcy seems to be progressing well. But those who love him see alarming signs of trouble, namely anger and alcohol.
First there's the punching of an MP. Then there's the daily breakfast of beer, a subject not open for discussion even with a best-intentioned friend like Mike Doonesbury. And "the screaming at night isn't very Christmassy," Boopsie notes. As B.D. admits to his doctor, "I'd rather sleep with my weapon than my wife! How messed up is that?" Messed up enough that our wounded warrior forces himself to begin circling the local Vet Center, where he is gently and skillfully reeled in by a remarkable counselor and fellow Vietnam Vet named Elias. Their sessions together form an extraordinary and moving chronicle of catharsis and coming-to-terms. The words "Welcome home, soldier," are powerful and transformative, and B.D. is fortunate in finally getting to a place where he can hear them."
Why I Wanted to Read It: This was recommended to me by a fan of Bill Mauldin's work after he found out I'd been reading it. I've read bits of Doonesbury before and enjoyed it (although nowhere near as much as the work it heavily influenced, Bloom County) so I took him up on his recommendation.
How I Liked It: Doonesbury is serialized and I'd missed the previous book in this particular story arc (which is offered separately from the daily comic strip), but the characters and situation are easy enough to pick up.
I'd felt Doonesbury's humor was a little too dry and not much of a pay off in the past (Bloom County and most of Berke Breathed's work would have a dryness that Breathed admitted he'd appropriated from Doonesbury, but a secondary joke of absurdity that was usually laugh out loud funny). This style turns out to serve this storyline very well (it's dodgy, as one can imagine, to make PTSD and the horrors of war funny) and keeps the jokes funny but not to the extent of the gravity of the subjects they portray.
Trudeau had done his research, pledges several of the higher-ups, and it shows. The jokes bear a bitter ring of authenticity that as a result, spare the audience an awkwardly shallow storyline. Trudeau keeps the darkness of experience in his jokes and they are far better for it. Like Mauldin, his work offers rarely-glimpsed but very real sides of war. PTSD has made progress to the general public as it's often portrayed in its horror, particularly when dealing with war vets. But Trudeau captures the everyday aspects not only of the disorder but of brutally adjusting to civilian life altogether. Trudeau manages to employ wry humor in the situation yet never be disrespectful while simultaneously managing to make accessible the seemingly inaccessible: truly lasting battle scars.
The book (and no doubt the series) serves as an excellent education in a truth so horribly common but so rarely and properly acknowledged.
Notable: A foreword is offered by General Richard B. Myers, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Interestingly (at least to me, a reader of many, many, many forwards to comic collections), he is rightly concerned more with educating about and acknowledging those serving and those that have served rather than offering up the near-hagiography to the author that usually makes up a foreword. What praise he does have for Trudeau is mostly offered to assure that the experiences described in the book are indeed portrayed accurately and thus a great reference to draw upon. Yet another reason cementing this book's importance in making the war (and all wars) real and hopefully eliminating some of the disconnect the general public has with it.