Book Journal 2016: 1
Consequence: A Memoir, by Eric Fair
Quick summary: a memoir by a man who, among other things, worked as a civillian contractor at Abu Ghraib.
This is an incredibly difficult book to read. Not just because of the content, but also because of the writing style - a series of short, blunt sentences entirely in the present tense, which drive every word like a hammer blow. It is the perfect medium for the story, because the reader has no chance to lose themselves in the words, which also makes it hard.
The book reads like a confession which seeks no forgiveness. It reads in the tone of someone who believes they cannot atone for what they have done, but whose remaining fragments of self-preservation drive them to take what steps down that road they can, because that is the only thing that keeps them human.
This is an important story, as an account of how a not-intrinsically-evil person was numbed and twisted by the US Military and its operations in Iraq, as well as the suffering that occurred when the numbness went away (yet the effects of the twisting remain). War has been doing this to people, in varying forms, as long as there has been war, so I expect it will have few new ideas or experiences for anyone who has interacted with human beings identified as “the enemy”, but for the rest of us I think it can help give some answers to questions, ones starting with “why” and “how.” And as always, for those who may already know the land this book covers it can still be good to know you are not alone.
Quick summary: a memoir by a man who, among other things, worked as a civillian contractor at Abu Ghraib.
This is an incredibly difficult book to read. Not just because of the content, but also because of the writing style - a series of short, blunt sentences entirely in the present tense, which drive every word like a hammer blow. It is the perfect medium for the story, because the reader has no chance to lose themselves in the words, which also makes it hard.
The book reads like a confession which seeks no forgiveness. It reads in the tone of someone who believes they cannot atone for what they have done, but whose remaining fragments of self-preservation drive them to take what steps down that road they can, because that is the only thing that keeps them human.
This is an important story, as an account of how a not-intrinsically-evil person was numbed and twisted by the US Military and its operations in Iraq, as well as the suffering that occurred when the numbness went away (yet the effects of the twisting remain). War has been doing this to people, in varying forms, as long as there has been war, so I expect it will have few new ideas or experiences for anyone who has interacted with human beings identified as “the enemy”, but for the rest of us I think it can help give some answers to questions, ones starting with “why” and “how.” And as always, for those who may already know the land this book covers it can still be good to know you are not alone.