THE HUMAN BODY, by Italian author Paolo Giordano, is one of the best damn novels I've read yet about the war in Afghanistan. The English translation, by Anne Milano Appel, gives you a unique look at that war from a different standpoint. The unit portrayed here is a platoon of an Alpine regiment from the Italian Army, part of the coalition force. A part of Charlie Company, the men are stationed at FOB Ice, an exposed and remote "sandpit" southwest of Herat in western Afghanistan. There are many ways the book's title might be interpreted, but, after reading it, I think I would simply say that the human body and war are not a good mix.

The Italian soldiers' realistic opinion on the war itself is not very different from others. Cederna, a career man, and something of a sociopath, feels that -

"... if the politicos decide to withdraw the troops ... Afghanistan will fall back into the hands of the Taliban immediately."

Of course we now know that he was right, but this book was published nearly ten years ago, in 2012.

And here's an excerpt from a briefing given to new arrivals on their mission -

"We're in a country of filthy, corrupt people. There's nothing to improve here. When we've straightened a few things out and go home, everything will go back to being the same mess it was before. All you should care about is going home. Make it home and your mission will have been a success - the hell with Afghanistan ... we're soldiers, we do what has to be done. Don't waste my time with dumb mass questions."

And again, about the book's title. When one of the youngest members of the platoon, the virginal twenty year-old Ietri, witnesses an armored vehicle filled with his friends blown apart by an IED, he muses, in shock, that some of the falling fragments -

"... aren't mechanical but anatomical. For example, there's a boot still attached to its sole, upright, with something sticking out of it. He's not sure what the others are. So that's how a human body is blown apart, he thinks."

And there is the medical officer, Lieutenant Eggito, traumatized not just by the war, but by survivor's guilt and an untenable situation back home, who secretly self-medicates with pilfered o daily doses of antidepressants, wondering -

"Why do wars break out? How does one become a soldier? What is family?"

There is much to ponder in this novel of multiple, fully realized, three-dimensional characters, some good, some bad, all doing whatever it takes to survive.

I began by saying this is one of the best novels yet to come our of obe of the "forever wars." Another equally good one was THE WATCH, by Indian author Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya. Neither author has ever served in the military. Puzzling, and something to think about. Paolo Giordano, barely forty, is a marvelous young talent whose work has been translated into more then thirty languages. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Bravo, Paolo. Bravo!

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )

(English below)

Eerst:" bah, ga ik wel verder lezen?", ik heb moeite met het instituut leger. Maar na verloop van tijd gaat het gelukkig vooral om de individuen en de groep (psychologie en sociologie). (Ook door het beschrijvende/niet oordelende karakter kan ik het hebben.).
Wat gebeurt er met persoonlijke illusies, verschillende types/karakters in zo'n gespannen verveelsituatie met vooral jonge mannen, ver van het thuis'front' ,in een woestijn in een hierachie. ( twee vrouwen). De onmogelijkheid om het goed te doen(als dat al gewild wordt). Veelal eenzame individuen met verschillende normen en karakters. Ieder met een eigen overlevingstactiek.
Dit exponeert en muteert als er actie moet worden ondernomen. De realitiet van een guerilla(?)-oorlog.
En thuis in Italië tekent zich af welke impact de aanval op ieder heeft gehad.

Goed dat er sprongetjes in tijd gemaakt worden. Compact en soms fragmentarisch verteld. Dat is een plus.
Het contact met thuisfront(voor tijdens en na de missie) maakt het afwisslender. geeft het een extra laag.

Een wat hoekige stijl,of eigenlijk zijn het meer losse zinnetjes die zich om elkaar heen slingeren. went snel. Is goed.
Een alleswetende verteller voor wat betreft de personages. Het is een raamvertelling. Drie delen verdeeld in kleine hoofdstukken, de meeste met titel!
Een nieuwe wereld voor mij, die voor het verhaal duidelijk genoeg is. De schrijver is er zelf geweest, zal wel kloppen volgens zijn ervaring.
Door het gebruik van voornamen en achternamen door elkaar raak ik soms kwijt over wie het gaat..Dat is niet erg, neem de namenlijst erbij, of herlees het.

'English'..:
First: "Bah, will I read on?" I have trouble with the Institute Army. But soon, it's happily especially about the individuals and the group . (Also by describing / non judgmental character helps I can handle this story.).
What happens to personal illusions, different types / characters in such a tense boredom, almost young men, far from home, isolated in a desert, in a hierarchy. ( two women). The impossibility of doing well (if desired). Mostly lonely individuals with different norms and characters. Everyone with their own survival tactics.
This exposes and mutes when military action needs to be taken. The reality of a guerrilla(?) war.
And at home in Italy, it is clear what impact the attack has on the main characters.

Writing:
Good jumps are made in time. Compact and sometimes fragmented. That's a plus.
The contact with the home front (before , during and after the mission) makes it varied. Gives an extra layer.
A somewhat angular style, or actually, are the more loose sentences that wander around each other. Get used to quickly, it's Good.
An omniscient narrator as regards the characters. It's a frame story. Three parts divided into small chapters, mostly with a title!
A new world for me, which is clearly enough described for the story. The writer has been there himself, that world will be correct, according to his experience.
Because of the use of first names and surnames, I sometimes get lost on who is who. That doesn't matter, take the names list, or read it again.

I agree with
The two first paragraphs jmchshannon .
Peter Noordzij: "Paulo Giordani has tried to make the atmosphere in the human body, he has succeeded. The human body can manage a lot, but the human mind can not handle that violence. ( )

I would enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone curious about the life of a soldier. We're given a look inside an Italian military unit assigned to a hostile area. More than that, we are given a look into their lives outside the military as well. You come to care about them and what happens to them. But, fair warning, this a little of a slow starter... don't get discouraged and stop reading! ( )

The Human Body is not a war novel. It neither glorifies nor disparages the Afghanistan conflict. Rather, it is a novel about people – people who just so happen to be in Afghanistan trained as soldiers and prepared to combat insurgents. It is about their lives before, during, and after their tour of duty. It is about the ways they combat the boredom, the danger, and the scars left by what they face. Mostly, it is about the ongoing battle of being human and surviving not just a war zone but also family, friends, and oneself.

It must be said that The Human Body is extremely well-written. Its sentences are crisp and efficient without sacrificing meaning, emotion, or description. There is a poetic quality to the narrative which readers will find soothing. This quality manages to make even the most gruesome scenes beautiful. The Afghan countryside takes on a tragic note as its practically indescribable grandeur hosts scenes of utmost horror.

In spite of all of this, the story is lacking. The narrative jumps from third person to first person and back again without warning. One chapter may be Egitto’s story told through third-person omniscience, but the next time readers see Egitto, it is via first person narration. It is a most unusual experience and one that can be quite jarring for readers.

While the characters themselves are interesting and varied, there are so many of them that not only is it challenging to keep them all straight, most of them remain flat and one-dimensional. There is little to no character development for most of the characters within the story. This lack of development undermines the character-driven plot of the novel.

One gets the distinct impression that in The Human Body, Paolo Giordano was a bit too ambitious in scope or did not write a long enough novel to achieve what he was trying to achieve. The cast of characters is just too big to be able develop them fully so that they not only help drive the plot but also so that readers can bond with them. There is also an unsettling feeling that one should have more than a rudimentary knowledge of the military, any military before starting the novel. So little of military life gets an explanation that those readers with no familiarity with or exposure to the unique acronyms and lifestyle of professional soldiers will be lost. It is a shame, really, because the potential greatness of The Human Body is so very near to the surface. All of the elements for this to be an amazing novel are there; they just need more page space to take root and to blossom – something they did not get.

We worden overspoeld met films en boeken over oorlogen. Meer nog dan in de Vietnam oorlog gaat de moderne oorlog over de strijd van getrainde soldaten tegen een onzichtbare vijand, een burger, een kind, een dorpeling in een achtergebleven land. Het is vooral die angst, die weerzin die er voor zorgt dat soldaten na hun tijd in Afghanistan niet meer dezelfde zijn.

Paulo Giordani heeft in Het menselijk lichaam geprobeerd die sfeer te treffen en dat is hem goed gelukt. Het menselijk lichaam kan heel wat hebben maar de menselijke geest kan dat geweld niet aan.

Wat bijzonder indruk op mij maakt is de bijna onafwendbare ondergang van de soldaten. Ze weten wat er gaat komen, ze zijn ervoor opgeleid, maar toch overvalt het hen. Bij een de-briefing weten ze precies de symptomen op te noemen van een Post Traumatisch Stress Syndroom: “Maar dat heb ik niet” roepen ze want wat ze niet leren, niet kúnnen leren, is welke blijvende wonden hun ziel oploopt. Geen training kan ze daarop voorbereiden. ( )