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Loading... From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lavaby Jay Kopelman
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I must be the only person in American who didn't know anything about this story before I read the book. The book deals with the grim facts of a war that we should no longer be fighting and the way a dog helps a hardened Marine get through the day. The story needed a good editor as it contained so many grammer issues that I had to reread sentences (and I am not usually one to notice such a thing!) Also, the author assumes that the reader knows the story in advance of reading the book so he skims over certain parts. Overall, not a big hit with me but the other people in the book group thought it was a good depication of wartime. (  )mfbarry | May 14, 2009 |   How a US marine fighting in Iraq managed to rescue and adopt an Iraqi dog. Fascinating look both at war torn Iraq and the life of a men fighting in a war. (  )dcoward | Aug 13, 2008 | The dog story itself is not really long enough for a book, so the authors allow themselves to ramble off on tangents. My copy was an audio book, so I found the recitiations of car bombings etc. a little tedious, since I couldn't just skip over those parts, but I didn't find the non-dog discussions too tedious, and after all, if Kopelman didn't find the dog in the middle of a war there would be no story. ( )jrbeach | May 30, 2008 | I have a bit of an issue with dog books. They're hard for me to resist (especially ones with cute photos like this) but they are rarely well written and the dog almost always dies at the end. Concerning this one, I won't say whether the dog dies or not ,but it is what should be a truly uplifting story about a stray who was rescued from the heart of the fighting in Baghdad and brought back to America to live with its new owner. Unfortunately, the whole thing was ruined for me by the second-rate writing. The book is ghostwritten and the author has tried to recapture the spoken style of Kopelman (the dog's rescuer and the narrator). I have nothing against books written in the vernacular (although see my review for 'Being Emily') but, in this case, it just comes across to me as being an excuse for the writer not to have to give much thought to the language she uses and I found myself drifting off halfway through as one does when listening to a bore at a party. The story seemed to me to be less about the dog than a general military diary - one that has some very moving parts and is certainly not without merit, but not what I bought the book for. I have read a lot of these dog books - some good, some bad - but I am still struggling to find one that moves me in the way Sheila Hocken's 'Emma and I' did. When I find one I'll let you all know. Booksloth | May 5, 2008 | This was a wonderful story. Funny, poignant and harrowing. How the Marines saved this little puppy when they were breaking the rules was a testament to the good men that they are. He is now living happily with his LC in San Diego. I recommend this to everyone. (  )Rhohanin61 | Mar 17, 2008 | 0.038 seconds to build listing
Amazon.com (ISBN 0786295228, Hardcover)In From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava, Jay Kopelman tells a story that is both tender and thought-provoking--candidly portraying the ugly conditions in wartime Iraq, while also describing his (and his fellow Marines') growing attachment to a scruffy stray puppy.
Questions for Jay Kopelman Amazon.com: Before you met Lava and had this experience smuggling him out of Iraq, did you ever have ambitions to write a book? Jay Kopelman: Yes, I'd considered writing a book previously and have started--but not finished--a novel. Not surprisingly, it's a military murder mystery. And I'm still hoping to get it published. I've also been offered a deal by my publisher to write another book. So I guess I'm now officially an author. Amazon.com: How has the military responded to it given that you broke a number of rules during your adventure with Lava? Jay Kopelman: I've actually not had any real feedback from the military establishment. In fact, mostly I only get the good-natured ribbing from my contemporaries about how much money I'll make or about who will play me in the movie. When the story first broke a year and a half ago, one of the generals jokingly asked me for an autograph, and I've given the previous commanding general for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force a signed galley. So, thus far, there’s been nothing "official" to which I've had to respond. We'll see what happens now that the book is released and there's going to be a media blitz surrounding the book. What you have to remember, though, is that I really didn't use military assets to get Lava home. Nor did I ever endanger anyone in the military while doing so. Amazon.com: In the book, you say that you would like it if it can bring hope to people who've lost loved ones in Iraq by showing them how something positive can come out of a brutal situation. Have you heard from people that your book has made them feel better? Jay Kopelman: I've not yet heard from anyone who’s lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan, but I have heard from a counselor who works with the returning Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, who said she finds the story so very positive and helpful. She's planning to come to the book signing there. I also got an e-mail from a Marine who said that while her unit was in Iraq, they adopted a puppy and tried to bring it home, but he was ultimately put down. She says that the Marines "remember how Charlie the dog helped us. Charlie will always be loved. During a time when we were far from home that dog made us smile." So, I suppose Lava's story does help people remember and gives them hope. I’ve also heard from people who appreciate my candor describing the conditions in Iraq.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:00 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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