The Alphabet of Vietnam

This is not an A, B, C of a concept, a war, or a time of American history. This is a hard as nails, jagged as broken mirror of the evil we avoid, live with, and sometimes willingingly/unwillingly participate. Presented in several voices, I occasionally faltered as to whose time and experience I was reading, but I could not stop reading. No matter how insanely harsh or sublimely sweet, I had to know where we would all wind up. Jack has inherited his brother Joe’s personal box of war rantings, letters and self loathing and is compelled to upset every principle he has ever previously understood as good and true to seek an ultimate understanding that can never be obtained but will jumpstart his stalled out life. ( )

Through the first person narrator and the story, the author discusses the Vietnam War, its dire consequences to both the Vietnamese people and to the American soldiers who were there. The book mentions the atrocities in My Lai and the guilt and despair of some returning soldiers because of what they might have witnessed and perhaps even done during the war.The book is told from an American's point of view. The story is also a story of love as well as of the war and it brings up a lot of questions about the past. ( )

I don't know exactly why I requested this book. I don't feel a lot about Asia and even less about the war that was in Vietnam. Most likely I've seen more than enough movies about it when I was younger.

Still I was curious for this book. It is about Jacks brother Joe. Joe died and although it looked like an accident, it is not the case as Jack receives a package with Joes dairies. Based on what he read he leaves to find the cabin where Joe stayed the last couple of years, together with Wash. Hes has to save a pregnant woman there. Jack also visits Vietnam, hoping to find and feel the spot where Joe suffered during the war.
All the story lines are bunched together and it took me some time to understand which story I was reading about. But thas was only at the beginning of the book.

The events in the book and its language are quite coarse. Not everyone will appreciate this. On the other hand, it makes clear how devastating that war can be for the soldiers who must fight it.

Eventually I found it an impressive story, although sometimes I just could bear a few pages. The variation in storyline however makes that there's something funny in there as well at times.
This book is really not for everyone but I gave me some insights in world where I might prefer not to know that also exists.

http://boekenwijs.blogspot.com/2012/05/alpabet-of-vietnam.html ( )

This was a fairly depressing story. The overall premise of a letter from a recently deceased brother leading the central character to attempt to rescue a girl from a remote back woods cabin sounded entertaining. However, and as many of the other reviewers mentioned, this book has far too much graphic violence to fall into the 'entertaining' category.

The author does a good job of weaving several different strands of the story: the present; a recent trip to Vietnam; the rescue itself; and Joe's writings from his journal. As a result the story unfolds in an interesting way and the violence that has its roots in the Vietnam war is juxtaposed neatly with the modern Vietnam of Jack's travels and a Vietnam very few Westerners would recognise from the poetry that Jack discovers while he is there.

If you are not bothered by the violence then this is an interesting read, but not for the squeamish. ( )

I won this book on Early Reviewers and its taken me a little while to actually start, but once I did, I was done in a matter of a few days. Very interesting, quick pace read. Very violent, some parts made me a bit squeamish, but not necessarily a turn off. The book was well written, and I have already let a friend of mine borrow my copy. ( )