David & Lee Roy: A Vietnam Story

As they approached the end of high school in Lubbock, Texas, David Nelson and Lee Roy Herron would find themselves having to make the same decision thousands of other young men their age were making all around the country.  The Vietnam War was raging and their peers were dying there by the dozens every week.  Would David and Lee Roy enlist; wait to be drafted; find a way to avoid the conflict as long as possible, gambling that the war would end before their draft deferments did; or would they run?  The boys, best friends as long as either could remember, took the honorable road of signing up for Marine Corps officer training with active duty to follow their graduation from Lubbock’s Texas Tech University.

Fateful decisions were made at Texas Tech.  David opted, with the blessing of the Marines, to delay active duty while he attended law school at Southern Methodist University.  Lee Roy, to the surprise of no one who knew him, decided to live his boyhood dream of fighting for his country, and was assigned the role of combat infantry leader upon completion of a Vietnamese language school.  David, from the moment he decided on law school, worried that he had let his old friend down and began to withdraw from contact with Lee Roy.  He tried to convince himself that he skipped Lee Roy’s wedding because of law school demands, but he still felt guilty about missing the opportunity to see his old friend one last time before Lee Roy left for combat.

David Nelson

Just two months into his tour of duty in Vietnam, Lee Roy Herron died a hero, killed in battle against overwhelming odds, and David Nelson would feel guilty for the rest of his life about the different paths he and Lee Roy had taken.  A chance meeting at a Houston bookstore book-signing in 1997, during which David met Lee Roy’s old commanding officer, would finally provide the opportunity for David to meet his grief and guilt head-on.  He decided to honor Lee Roy Herron’s memory by writing a book of his own about their friendship and Lee Roy’s amazing patriotism and heroism.  The book he co-authored with Randolph Schiffer all these many years later, David & Leroy: A Vietnam Story, is a heartfelt tribute from one soldier to another – written after decades during which David Nelson, both consciously and subconsciously, continued to battle the guilt he probably still feels some of today.

It is certain that the story of David Nelson and Lee Roy Herron is not a unique one.  Similar decisions were made by hundreds of thousands of young men during the Vietnam War era and it was not uncommon for best friends to take opposite paths.  David Nelson and his co-author have written a book that will likely offer comfort, of a sort, to many who came of age in the 1960s.  What confusing times those were for all of us.

Rated at: 4.0

The Leopard

As Jo Nesbo’s The Leopard opens, Harry Hole is living deep inside the bowels of Hong Kong and trying to avoid the gangland creditors who badly want to catch up with him.  In the meantime, Harry is well on his way to committing suicide by alcohol and opium abuse.  But, just in the nick of time for Harry, Norway has a new serial killer on her hands, one that will rival even Harry’s previous adversary, The Snowman, for creative killing.  His old department needs Harry’s talents - and he has to be found and convinced to do battle with Norway’s latest incarnation of pure evilness.

The Leopard is a grim, disturbing book that sometimes goes over the top before Nesbo decides to dial it back to a more believable level, but the picture he paints of a worldwide underground of pure evilness is unforgettable.  The uncorrected proof I read was 513 pages long, plenty of time for Nesbo to expose the underbellies of Hong Kong, Norway, and Africa, and he does so with great gusto.  As the body count rises, the book’s plot becomes more and more complicated, and the investigation becomes more and more personal for Harry. 

Readers unsure as to whether they are ready for the level of violence and brutality of The Leopard should read its first chapter before investing in a copy of their own.  This little four-page chapter forewarns the potential reader by perfectly setting the tone for the rest of the book.  In addition, the beginning of the second chapter offers insight into the mind of this particular killer when Nesbo allows him to speak in the first person:

            “For my part, I believe that the ability to kill is fundamental to any healthy person.  Our existence is a fight for gain, and whoever cannot kill his neighbor has no right to an existence.  Killing is, after all, only hastening the inevitable.  Death allows no exceptions, which is good, because life is pain and suffering.  In that sense, every murder is an act of charity.”

Jo Nesbo

I do have one suggestion for readers unfamiliar with Nordic proper names.  The Leopard is a long, complicated novel that makes reference to dozens of character and place names.  Many, if not most, North American readers will quickly become confused by the names thrown at them (they simply do not stick) – and, when those names show up later in the book, these readers will find it near impossible to place them in their proper context to what has previously occurred.  I have to admit to even being confused as to the gender of some of the names I faced.  My suggestion: start a simple little list or chart of character names that can be referred back to as you read the book.  I do wish I had followed my own advice.  Next time.

Rated at: 3.5

Merry Christmas, Book Lovers

Even Santa enjoys a good book now and then.

Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful Christmas weekend with family and friends.  Stay safe and warm.  The weather here in the Houston area is fairly miserable already - and we are expecting some rain for much of Christmas Eve and Christmas day combined with temperatures in the forties and a bit of wind.  I hope you get (and give) lots of books and bookstore gift cards for Christmas because, of course, we all need more books.

The Thief

The Thief (scheduled for a March 2012 release) is Japanese author Fuminori Nakamura’s first novel to be published in English.  Judging from the quality of The Thief, I believe it is safe to say that it will not be his last.  The young author, already a winner of multiple literary prizes in his native Japan, seems destined soon for wider recognition of his talents.

“The Thief” in this story is such an accomplished pickpocket that he sometimes goes on automatic pilot, even to the point that he cannot remember the source of the wallet full of money he later discovers in his own pocket.  He was trained by one of the best in the business, an older man named Ishikawa, and the skills he learned provide him with a good living.     

Now, Ishikawa reappears and offers our Thief the chance at some easy money to be earned as part of a gang contracted to perform a “sure thing” breaking and entering job.  All the gang has to do is break into a man’s home, tie him up, and steal everything in his safe – everything.  But, of course, when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.  When the surprisingly prominent target ends up dead, all the Thief really understands about the crime is that he will be lucky to survive his participation in it.  

Fuminori Nakamura’s Thief is a complicated man, one not at all bothered by how he makes his living but, especially when it comes to children, still a softie at heart.  Because it is so easy for him to acquire cash, the Thief even allows himself a touch of Robin Hoodish behavior on occasion - as in when he gives away a whole day’s take on the streets to stop a young boy’s mother from forcing him repeatedly to shoplift the food and supplies she wants. 

The Thief exposes a bit of Japan’s underbelly that will surprise many readers, but that is one of the benefits of reading translated crime fiction.  The genre, even one like The Thief that is long on noir, reveals much about a country’s personality and culture that otherwise remains hidden from the casual observer.  This is a worthy addition to any crime fiction lover’s bookshelves.  Enjoy. 

Rated at: 4.0

Best of 2011 - Final List

It's time for the unveiling of my Top 10 fiction and nonfiction lists for 2011.  I am especially happy with this year's lists, and just reading through them brings back great reading memories about the discovery of new authors, the return of some old reliables, and the great fun I've had here on Book Chase in the last twelve months.  So, here goes with the lists:

2011 Top 10 - Fiction

1.  Nemesis - Philip Roth (October, 2010, novel set in 1950s New York)

2.  Saturday - Ian McEwan (2006 novel set in London)

3.   Remember Ben Clayton - Stephen Harrigan (novel set in 1920s Texas)

4.  The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach (coming of age baseball novel)

5.  The Sisters Brothers  - Patrick deWitt (western noir novel)

6.  Love at Absolute Zero - Christopher Meeks (comic novel about science and love)

 7.  Doc - Mary Doria Russell (realistic western about Holliday and the Earps)

8.  Lost Memory of Skin - Russell Banks (novel about registered sex offenders in Miami)

9.  The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides (college novel set in 1980s)

10. The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb - Melanie Benjamin (novel about little people and P.T. Barnum)

I just realized, while putting this list together, that my reading taste seems to be evolving because there is no detective or crime fiction on the list despite how many books of that type I still read.  Too, I'm slowly moving away from listing books published in prior years - only two on the fiction list for 2011 - but I think that books published late in the year are often considered for the next year's list, so I have only one "ringer" on the list this year,

2011 Top 10 - Nonfiction

1.  If Trouble Don't Kill Me - Ralph Berrier (August, 2010, dual biography of two musician brothers from rural Virginia)

2.  Wolf : The Lives of Jack London - James L. Haley (Jack London biography)

3.  Hitch-22: A Memoir - Christopher Hitchens (memoir republished in 2011)

4.  A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents - and Ourselves -  Jane Gross (a brilliant how-to manual)

5.  Tiny Terror: Why Truman Capote (Almost) Wrote Answered Prayers - Todd Schultz (biographical analysis of Capote's mind)

6.  Chinaberry Sidewalks - Rodney Crowell (loving biography of the country singer's parents)

7.  We Were Not Orphans: Stories from the Waco State Home - Sherry Matthews (adults remember their childhood years in Texas state home)

8.  Grant's Final Victory: Ulysses S. Grant's Heroic Last Year - Charles Bracelen (Grant's race against cancer to finish his memoirs)

9.  He Stopped Loving Her Today - Jack Isenhour (creation of the greatest country song ever recorded)

10. What It Is Like to Go to War - Karl Marlantes (Vietnam war memoir) 

And, that's it, a fond farewell to 2011, and an enthusiastic welcome to 2012 (the last year I plan to hold a full-time job, by the way, so it's bound to be a memorable one for me).  

We the Animals

I first became aware of We the Animals, Justin Torres’s debut novel, late last October when I attended a session presented at the 2011 Texas Book Festival by Torres and two other first-time novelists, Chad Harbach (The Art of Fielding) and Amy Waldman (The Submission).  I was impressed enough with each of them to walk away from the session wanting to read all three of the books presented that day.  We the Animals completes that reading cycle for me.  Different as they are, all three novels turned out to be interesting, worthwhile reads that I would probably have otherwise missed, so I am grateful for having had the opportunity to hear their authors speak about them that day.

If I remember correctly, Torres stated in Austin that We the Animals began as a group of individual short pieces, and that it was only later that he realized that he had the makings of a novel on his hands.  By stringing the stories together in chronological order, he has produced that novel (although its brevity makes it as much akin to a novella as to a novel, I think). 

Justin Torres

We the Animals is the story of three brothers who grow up in upstate New York alongside their white mother and Puerto Rican father, two people who have plenty of growing up of their own to do.  The boys’ Brooklyn-born mother became pregnant for the first time at age 14 and her baby’s father was not much older.  As the novel unfolds, it can be difficult to remember that Ma and Paps are still in their twenties as they try to cope with poverty and the challenge of raising three young boys together.  The couple’s passionate relationship creates a family dynamic that will severely test the strength and character of their children.  Fortunately for the boys, they bond in a way that forges a unit stronger than the sum of its individual parts.  

The stories told in We the Animals vary from laugh-out-loud funny ones to tear-jerking sad ones, but taken as a whole, they paint the picture of three boys who somehow thrive despite the hands-off approach by which they are mostly being raised.  They have each other.  They adore their mother and, despite often fearing him, they love their father.  One feels good about their chances - and then comes the book’s jarring last chapter, a piece of the story that changes everything before it.

Rated at: 4.0