John M. Del Vecchio

I don't care how many years pass. The plight of Cambodia in the years following the Vietnam War is atrocious. For the Sake of All Living Things is a difficult read. It is powerful. Powerful like a 250 pound man of all muscle punching you in the gut. From scenes when the poorest of poor farmers have to pay tolls or "donations" just to travel a road to the vicious methods of torture and killing (chopsticks driven into the brain via the ears, bodies cleaved in two, children buried alive) I was wincing the entire time I read For the Sake of All Living Things. Through fear and violence the dominance of the Khmer Rouge spreads like a staining black oil throughout Cambodia, indoctrinating and training villagers to become killing machines for the Pol Pot regime. The methods of brainwashing are subtle and sly. As a historical fiction For the Sake of All Living Things reads like a nonfiction because of the appropriate terminology, government reports and various strategic maps. At times I was internally cringing to be American.
I read somewhere that For the Sake of All Living Things is actually the second book in a trilogy about the Vietnam war, Cambodia and the Pol Pot year zero cleansing, and veterans coming home.… (more)

It's easy to appreciate this novel for the anthropological level of detail. The author fought in the war and started writing it in the early 70s, soon after he returned home. It has legitimate chops. It consciously tries to show things as they were and not as they have been portrayed. Something like a hundred pages comprise the first day alone though you don't realize it's only been one day. There is so much incident, time is compressed. Then you realize.. this is going to be a long tour. No wonder they constantly spoke of how many days were left. And this was before the fighting started. Great book.… (more)

the 13th valley is one of my husband's most favourite books, so i read it at his request several years ago. it is an amazing book and del vecchio did a fantastic job creating a work that feels so authentic and heartbreaking. given his personal experiences, it is not surprising he was able to achieve this in the 13th valley. he knows of what he writes.

if you are interested in books about the vietnam war, i highly recommend this one. it's a much better book than the more popular [b:Matterhorn|6411016|Matterhorn|Karl Marlantes|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327972545s/6411016.jpg|6599953] by [a:Karl Marlantes|2904306|Karl Marlantes|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1286209558p2/2904306.jpg].… (more)