Hi freedotift! Are you the author? I see on another site that you are Rob C and the author of this book is also a Rob C.
I hope not because that would be so tacky if true.
Here's the post on his search for a good book on Iraq it is certainly written like he is
not the author.
http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,7905.msg162131.html#msg162131I served in Iraq a few years ago and since then I've tried to find my generation's Vonnegut or Heller or Mailer or O'Brien. I'm not saying I'm looking for anyone of that quality, but for all the books on Iraq, I haven't been able to find any novels--ie not memoirs--other than the above. Part of me thinks maybe it's because the war is still going on, but it's a long war, and another part of me thinks that the publishing industry is just stuck on selling memoirs and not fiction.
Regardless! Cast your vote here for your favorites from above. They're the closest I've been able to find to a good Iraq war novel thus far. Each is reviewed briefly below.
1) Sirens of Baghdad: Yasmina Khadra takes the opposing viewpoint in this story--that of an Iraqi bedouin turned terrorist. The plot spans a good portion of the Middle East and provides a well-crafted insight into the thought processes of a terrorist, something tough for my western mind to wrap around but made easy by Kadhra's crafted writing. In the end, I'd put this more as a political thriller (albeit a page-turner) than war fiction. ($11.16)
2) My War: I'm cheating here. This is actually a memoir originally written as a blog by a deployed soldier (Colby Buzzell), but it's spot on and almost surreal in its honesty (if such a thing can happen). Video games and rock music while going out on missions is just a weird mesh, but it describes Iraq in a more honest way than I've seen. A lot of authors try to invoke WWII-like images, and this guy does a good job of describing this generation's version of war. (not on Kindle but good! $14.18)
3) C-H-U: This is a Kindle-only book and I picked it out because of its cheaper price. I didn't expect much based on the cover (that's how I judge, but I'm trying to change that with message boards!), but it's the only piece of 'real' fiction that I've found that's actually about the Iraq war. It's about five separate characters and the chain reaction that occurs after a soldier dies, and is pretty lucid and visceral, a lot of internal dialogue and oddly sexual moments. It is way different than Buzzell's My War but I think that's the case because the war has been in two separate phases (invasion versus occupation) and Rob Crotty was part of the "surge" according to his profile on Amazon. A worthwhile read for the price ($7.19).
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