If I had realized that Like the Appearance of Horses was the third book of a trilogy, I likely would not have asked ER for it. I'm happy for my ignorance because I would have missed beautiful, beautiful writing. On the other hand, this is the saddest - or maybe I mean most elegiac - book I've read in years. I took a year to read its 286 pages because I was too emotionally wrung out to read it straight through.
Krivak chronicles four generations of the young men of the Vinich/Konar family who went for soldiers from WWI through duty in Afghanistan. We see what they saw and watch them decide what duty compelled them to do. They returned home damaged. Their love for family and their place led them to heal more or less. To send our sons to fight is a horrible, horrible thing.
For Jozef, Becks, and Sam what redemption comes, comes from love. Redemption for the reader comes in images like the young widow rocking her nursing infant and wondering whether he can taste her bitterness in her milk or in phrases like, "...cottonwoods so old they looked like their limbs ached." Hannah of the second generation has the final word, "Yes, he fought in a war and she doesn't know why. She only knows that he did things he would not speak of, and it took time for him to forgive himself, just as his father had, and her father had. Just as she had."
I will find the first two books of the trilogy, The Sojourn and The Signal Flame, but not now. Not now. ( )

This third book in the Dardan Trilogy completes the impact of a century of war on the Vinich/Konar family. Having read and loved the previous two novels, this one was a bit of disappointment to me. The writing was not very reader friendly, the writing is spare to the point of being cryptic with insertions of overly long sentences. I often found myself trying to figure out who or what was the subject at that point in the story. Fortunately the author includes a genealogy at the back of the book, which I had to refer to frequently to figure out who was who and their relationships to one another. Adding to the confusion is the lack of dialogue punctuation.
It took me longer than usual to read this 281 page novel, because I was constantly flipping back and forth trying to figure out what the author was trying to say, despite the fact that I had read the The Sojourn and The Signal Flame.
I wanted to love this book, but found it lacking in so many ways. ( )

This novel completes—and adds a great deal of depth to—Andrew Krivak’s stunning and award-winning Dardan Trilogy. Covering the life of Jozef Vinich and his two grandsons, Bo and Sam Konar, these three books—"The Sojourn" (2011), "The Signal Flame" (2017), and "Like the Appearance of Horses" (2023)—state their themes with frankness and power, cover their very memorable characters with charity and clarity both, and exhibit a rare, an ineffable, art, worth every moment you would devote to them. Andrew Krivak deserves the awards which have greeted his marvelous writing.

"Like the Appearance of Horses" takes its title from the second chapter of the Book of Joel, in a passage describing the unstoppable rush of an army that lays waste to the land. This quote enunciates the principal theme of the three books supremely well. War unites this family in heroism, devastating loss, and in tempering the character of all whom it touches.

This novel belongs chiefly to Sam Konar, Jozef Vinich’s second grandson, who, after a series of misadventures (chiefly, engaging in one too many drag races in his hemi head hot rod) is directed by the authorities that his only alternative is to enlist (in the mid-60s) in the Armed Forces.

What follows fills much of the book. Sam does two tours in Vietnam from ‘66 to ’72, near the end of which he is captured and winds up in the notorious North Vietnamese prison dubbed the Hanoi Hilton. There he is forcibly turned into a heroin addict by a creepy NVA prison guard, and must live by his wits—and extemporize from heroin fix to heroin fix—as he gains his freedom and returns Stateside. Throughout this ordeal, Sam retains his principles, even with their altered focus, and eventually reunites with his battalion commander from when he was in country.

In some ways Sam hoes the most difficult row of any of Krivak’s characters. Within the narrative, his experience wraps up the soldiering history of the Vinich and Konar men. Krivak treats Sam’s heroic re-emergence from addiction and imprisonment with blunt realism and steady sympathy. It is a harrowing, but rewarding, element of the novel, perhaps the book’s most important.

The Dardan trilogy will stay with me forever. Its beautiful prose, its comprehensive insider’s treatment of the natural world, and its oh-so-compelling characters make it a unique achievement. Take these books up and let yourself be carried along by a master.

https://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2023/07/like-appearance-of-horses-by-andrew.... ( )

I was not able to get into this book at all. The writing just did not appeal to me. ( )

This is a sweeping multigenerational novel that explores the impact of wars on the men who fought them and their loved ones on the homefront. With lyrical prose and a deep understanding of human emotions, Krivak takes his readers across the tumultuous landscape of a century marred by never ending wars. The novel follows three protagonists as they navigate wars — WWI, WWII, and Vietnam. This book is, however, more than a series of war stories. The obvious heroism of Josef, Becks, and Samuel notwithstanding, the novel derives its power from how Krivak handles their individual humanity and grace during the inevitable emotional healing in the aftermath.

By following a format of linked, but distinct stories, Krivak shows how each man was changed by his experience and how connections to the land and loved ones proves essential to recovery. One thing that seems strange about these men, however, is their ambivalence about forever war. Certainly, one can extrapolate this mystery to the population at large. Why does mankind willingly accept the inevitability of participating in brutal and inhumane conflicts? Human nature, revenge, greed, power, and just plain thoughtlessness all seem to play their parts. However, these men are clearly peaceful and not all that patriotic. Despite a familial history, they do not have strong military traditions. Krivak puts a fine point on this conundrum by having Samuel’s son attend a military academy, join the Marines, and eventually go to war himself. In the light of Samuel’s wartime experience in Vietnam and his own harrowing recovery ordeal, this indeed seems incongruous. One can only wonder how none of this would have negatively impacted his son. On hearing that her grandson would be going off to war in Afghanistan, Hannah, aptly observes, “Another one the boy has gone to. Isn’t there always a war?”

While "The Appearance of Horses" is a compelling and beautifully written novel, the pace can be slow at times, emphasizing the introspective nature of the narrative. This may not appeal to those seeking a wartime thriller. However, Krivak has written a poignant and thought-provoking narrative about the enduring impacts of war on those who serve and their families. This book, along with the other two novels in his Darden Trilogy, are clear demonstrations of a masterful storyteller, who can create a captivating reading experience with evocative prose. ( )