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Julie G's Reviews > Dispatches
Dispatches
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by
Julie G's review
bookshelves: good-morning-vietnam, war-is-hell, 70-from-the-1970s, buddy-reads, you-ll-need-an-antidepressant
May 11, 2022
bookshelves: good-morning-vietnam, war-is-hell, 70-from-the-1970s, buddy-reads, you-ll-need-an-antidepressant
Have you ever used the word dispatch in a sentence before?
I haven't. I've called the local police before, and I've heard the employees who handle the communication between citizens and the police refer to themselves as “dispatch operators,� and I've heard them say “I'll dispatch an officer to your location,� but I can't think of any other use I've encountered in my own life.
For war correspondents, the plural noun “dispatches� is a well used one, meaning, basically: reports. Reports, typically brief in size, sent from the field to the people in power back home, to inform.
When I think of this word, I can't help but picture someone typing out a telegram to someone: “Heavy casualties. Need more young bodies. Stop.�
Whoa. That brings up two more words. How many of us have actually used the word telegram in a sentence recently (unless we're historians)?
And, one more: casualties. It has at the root of the word “casual,� but what could be less casual than asking young people to die for the sake of stupid wars?
And they're all stupid. Well, most of them. Stupid, stupid, stupid. War is so fucking stupid, I can't stand it.
I don't mean to insult anyone who has served in the military or is serving now. I mean to insult every leader who has ever flippantly involved their country, or their youth, in an unnecessary war. If you're reading this right now, you know: it's happening right now, again.
So.fucking.stupid. How's that for a telegram?
Do I seem angry, throwing around a couple of “F bombs� this morning in my reading response to this non-fiction account of the Vietnam “conflict?� I hope so. Do you want to know why? Because what happened in Vietnam didn't stay in Vietnam.
Michael Herr, the unlikely “war correspondent� brought home several souvenirs from Vietnam: insomnia, depression, anxiety, drug use, to name a few. And he was one of the lucky ones.
This book isn't an easy read (or a quick read). It's kind of a hot mess, to be honest. A hot mess that offers some brilliant, honest descriptions of what was happening in Vietnam. Mr. Herr is also unbelievably good at giving quick character sketches of the people around him: He was a small man with vague, watery eyes, slightly reminiscent of a rodent in a fable, with one striking feature: a full, scrupulously attended regimental mustache.
The most colorful dispatches I found here:
The players:
grunts
spades
Spooks
dinks
gooks
The details, the setting:
paved swamp
a scorched-earth policy
a John Wayne wetdream
war under water
the Flood had not lasted this long
The conclusion:
Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, we've all been there.
(War is hell, y'all, and we should never fucking forget it).
I haven't. I've called the local police before, and I've heard the employees who handle the communication between citizens and the police refer to themselves as “dispatch operators,� and I've heard them say “I'll dispatch an officer to your location,� but I can't think of any other use I've encountered in my own life.
For war correspondents, the plural noun “dispatches� is a well used one, meaning, basically: reports. Reports, typically brief in size, sent from the field to the people in power back home, to inform.
When I think of this word, I can't help but picture someone typing out a telegram to someone: “Heavy casualties. Need more young bodies. Stop.�
Whoa. That brings up two more words. How many of us have actually used the word telegram in a sentence recently (unless we're historians)?
And, one more: casualties. It has at the root of the word “casual,� but what could be less casual than asking young people to die for the sake of stupid wars?
And they're all stupid. Well, most of them. Stupid, stupid, stupid. War is so fucking stupid, I can't stand it.
I don't mean to insult anyone who has served in the military or is serving now. I mean to insult every leader who has ever flippantly involved their country, or their youth, in an unnecessary war. If you're reading this right now, you know: it's happening right now, again.
So.fucking.stupid. How's that for a telegram?
Do I seem angry, throwing around a couple of “F bombs� this morning in my reading response to this non-fiction account of the Vietnam “conflict?� I hope so. Do you want to know why? Because what happened in Vietnam didn't stay in Vietnam.
Michael Herr, the unlikely “war correspondent� brought home several souvenirs from Vietnam: insomnia, depression, anxiety, drug use, to name a few. And he was one of the lucky ones.
This book isn't an easy read (or a quick read). It's kind of a hot mess, to be honest. A hot mess that offers some brilliant, honest descriptions of what was happening in Vietnam. Mr. Herr is also unbelievably good at giving quick character sketches of the people around him: He was a small man with vague, watery eyes, slightly reminiscent of a rodent in a fable, with one striking feature: a full, scrupulously attended regimental mustache.
The most colorful dispatches I found here:
The players:
grunts
spades
Spooks
dinks
gooks
The details, the setting:
paved swamp
a scorched-earth policy
a John Wayne wetdream
war under water
the Flood had not lasted this long
The conclusion:
Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, we've all been there.
(War is hell, y'all, and we should never fucking forget it).
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Reading Progress
March 18, 2021
– Shelved
April 23, 2022
–
Started Reading
April 23, 2022
–
2.31%
". . . I think he slept with his eyes open, and I was afraid of him anyway. All I ever managed was one quick look in, and that was like looking at the floor of an ocean."
page
6
April 28, 2022
–
11.15%
"Everywhere you went people said, "Well, I hope you get a story," and everywhere you went you did."
page
29
April 28, 2022
–
16.54%
"Sitting in Saigon was like sitting inside the folded petals of a poisonous flower. . ."
page
43
April 30, 2022
–
22.69%
"Some people just wanted to blow it all to hell, animal vegetable and mineral."
page
59
May 2, 2022
–
25.38%
"A lot of what people called courage was only undifferentiated energy cut loose by the intensity of the moment, mind loss that sent the actor on an incredible run; if he survived it he had the chance later to decide whether he'd really been brave or just overcome with life, even ecstasy."
page
66
May 5, 2022
–
42.31%
"People would just get ripped up in the worst ways there, and things were always on fire."
page
110
May 5, 2022
–
44.62%
""The lieutenant ever hear 'bout this, he know what to do," Day Tripper said.
"Fuck the lieutenant," Mayhew said. "You remember from before he ain't wrapped too tight."
"Well, he wrapped tight enough to tear you a new asshole."
"Now what's he gonna do to me? Send me to Vietnam?""
page
116
"Fuck the lieutenant," Mayhew said. "You remember from before he ain't wrapped too tight."
"Well, he wrapped tight enough to tear you a new asshole."
"Now what's he gonna do to me? Send me to Vietnam?""
May 7, 2022
–
55.38%
"Interviews with the commander of the 26th Marine Regiment, Colonel David Lownds, seemed to reveal a man who was utterly insensible to the gravity of his position, but Lownds was a deceptively complicated man with a gift (as one of his staff officers put it) for "jerking off the press.""
page
144
May 8, 2022
–
55.38%
"He was a small man with vague, watery eyes, slightly reminiscent of a rodent in a fable, with one striking feature: a full, scrupulously attended regimental mustache."
page
144
May 8, 2022
–
56.54%
"The general's aide was a brisk dude of a first lieutenant, scrubbed and shaved and polished to a dull glow, and he stared at us in disbelief."
page
147
May 8, 2022
–
58.85%
"We never announced a scorched-earth policy; we never announced any policy at all, apart from finding and destroying the enemy, and we proceeded in the most obvious way."
page
153
May 9, 2022
–
68.85%
""Say, how'd you get to be a co-respondent an' come ovah to this raggedy-ass motherfucker?""
page
179
May 9, 2022
–
71.15%
"What got to them sooner or later was an inability to reconcile their love of service with their contempt for the war, and a lot of them finally had to resign their commissions, leave the profession."
page
185
May 11, 2022
–
80.77%
"A lot of things had to be unlearned before you could learn anything at all. . ."
page
210
May 11, 2022
–
93.46%
"We came to fear something more complicated than death, an annihilation less final but more complete, and we got out."
page
243
May 11, 2022
–
96.15%
"Asian time, American space, not clear whether Vietnam was east or west of center, behind me or somehow still ahead. "Far's I'm concerned, this one's over the day I get home," a grunt had told us a few weeks before, August 1968, we'd been sitting around after an operation talking about the end of the war. "Don't hold your breath," Dana said."
page
250
May 11, 2022
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 66 (66 new)
message 1:
by
Diane
(new)
May 11, 2022 08:06AM
This book is on a lot of must read lists, but I haven't been able to bring myself to open it.
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Hi Diane,I'm assuming you've read Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried? In my opinion, it's a much more cohesive book and an "easier" read, though this one is non-fiction and offers a grittier perspective that is important, too.
I never read The Things They Carried, mainly because I read In the Lake of the Woods. Any author who weaves an intricate mystery and leaves the reader hanging without a resolution is off my list forever.
Consider me begging you to reconsider. As far as I'm concerned, O'Brien wrote In The Lake of the Woods while depressed or under the influence of drugs. We all make mistakes. It is nothing to The Things They Carried.
I'll think about it. It's required summer reading in Charleston County.
I actually had to go back and look at the blurb for In the Lake of the Woods to see if it had been categorized a mystery. I guess it had by some readers. It is not that at all. I can see how it would be disappointing if one thought they were getting a mystery. It is entirely possible that nothing at all had happened to Kathy. The book is not about her. I had that problem with a book recently that was advertised as a book about growing up with a father in prison, and it was not that at all. Maybe it was good, but it was disappointing because it was not the book I signed up for. The Things they Carried is one of my top 10 of all time. I would also recommend Matterhorn if books set in the Vietnam war are of interest. It is gutting and so deeply honest. This book has been on my TBR for years. I really need to get to it. Lisa was reading this too, and I pledged to move it up when she told me that. It is somewhere on a shelf in this house.... Thanks for the compelling review.
Personally, I think it's his magnum opus, though I also enjoyed Going After Cacciato. Cacciato explores magical realism, and I think Lake does a bit, too. They're all a little "surreal," and I suspect that his style may be part of his coping mechanism.
Hi Bonnie,Thank you.
Personally, I don't think of Lake as a mystery either, and, I think you're right; it may be disappointing if a reader had that expectation. I can't remember if it was billed that way or not, but I suspect it was.
I think it's a story about a man who has gone insane, and that's why we're not given a proper ending. (The publishers probably put a more appealing spin on it at the time).
This was actually a buddy read with Lisa, which is why we were reading it at the same time. I am so grateful I had a reading partner for this one. I wanted to throw in the towel quite a few times. It's very difficult material to get through.
Julie wrote: "Hi Bonnie,Thank you.
Personally, I don't think of Lake as a mystery either, and, I think you're right; it may be disappointing if a reader had that expectation. I can't remember if it was billed t..."
We had the same view of Lake for sure, and of The Things They Carried -- magnum opus indeed! Matterhorn was hell to get through. It is ostensibly fiction, but I am fairly certain it is not fiction at all. It is brutal, but if those soldiers lived it I feel like I need to bear witness. One can't have a reasoned stance about going into war when all one knows is what they saw in Top Gun and The Green Berets. How can you do a cost-benefit analysis when you know nothing of the costs.
Love this review, Julie, and all those "fucks" are more than appropriate when talking about one of the dirtiest words of all, that three letter one that starts with a w.
So true, Bonnie.These lines were on one of the last pages of the book, and I think they disturbed me the most (and a lot of this material was disturbing):
Asian time, American space, not clear whether Vietnam was east or west of center, behind me or somehow still ahead. "Far's I'm concerned, this one's over the day I get home," a grunt had told us a few weeks before, August 1968, we'd been sitting around after an operation talking about the end of the war. "Don't hold your breath," Dana said."
Julie wrote: "Asian time, American space, not clear whether Vietnam was east or west of center, behind me or somehow still ahead. "Far's I'm concerned, this one's over the day I get home," a grunt had told us a few weeks before, August 1968, we'd been sitting around after an operation talking about the end of the war. "Don't hold your breath," Dana said.".."I really do need to read this. Great pull quote.
Compelling review, Julie. I have no trouble believing this was a disturbing read. We have a copy in our bookshelves here at home for a time when I want to revisit the Vietnam era. Despite your review, this may not happen anytime soon.
My father still gets a tear in his eye when the subject of Vietnam is brought up. I'm quite certain (though he never used it himself when we were kids) that he would agree on the necessity of the f-bombs when talking about this war. A passionate review, Julie! :)
Sounds like an evocative read, Julie! Great review; I really felt your fucking passion!... Whoa, apologies, it's catchy. Seriously though, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more appropriate occasion for dropping a few f bombs :)
You are straying from fiction again, Julie....and I am glad you did.
Thanks, Jenna. Yes, I agree; "f bombs" are appropriate when the topic is war.(And, if anyone is bothered by "f bombs" in general, this is not the book for them!).
"The lieutenant ever hear 'bout this, he know what to do," Day Tripper said.
"Fuck the lieutenant," Mayhew said. "You remember from before he ain't wrapped too tight."
"Well, he wrapped tight enough to tear you a new asshole."
"Now what's he gonna do to me? Send me to Vietnam?"
ZT,I get it. Believe me, I do.
FYI--I recently read an outstanding illustrated memoir that is told from "the other side." The author is a Vietnamese-American, born during the war. Her family came here as refugees. If you, or anyone reading this is interested:
The Best We Could Do
Don't think I can handle the book, but I love your appropriate response to this subject, Julie.
Insightful review, Julie! I love the words you brought up and perhaps their infrequent usage now.
"I dispatched the pheasant with a single shot from my 12 gauge."
All wars are hell, but WWII was a just cause and patriotic.
"I dispatched the pheasant with a single shot from my 12 gauge."
All wars are hell, but WWII was a just cause and patriotic.
One of the best non fiction books I've read this year. I wonder if there is a special 'woke' version of the book? One which omits words like spooks & gooks in case they cause too much distress. Hell, most of the dispatches would have to be left out!
Terrific review Julie. Dispatched to my TBR list 💖
Ah Julie, you've captured my sentiments exactly!And for the record, I worked as a clerk for a repair service while finishing high school and we had a dispatcher to route calls, etc. So I have used the word.
You actually have a 'war is hell' shelf! I normally avoid reading war books to avoid getting into this state helpless in the face of human stupidity that you are facing. Awesome review:)
Vietnam changed every man who served there, and every person who was waiting for them to come back and got a different person than they had waited for. Books about the war call to me and yet I find them very difficult to start...I push them off. I agree that The Things They Carried is a "must read", especially for anyone of my generation.Maybe all wars have the same effect. I keep reading about them, trying to discover what it is that makes some leaders want to go to war, to almost lust for it. I think it is partially because they can have the "glory" without the sacrifice...someone else makes that.
Fantastic review Julie! Totally agree, more f-bombs please, ha.
Julie - outstanding review! I just finished another war-is-hell book. I guess as long as we keep having wars, we'll keep having the books. Ugh. Bleak thought.
When will we learn?? This sounds like a really tough read, and I thank you for sharing your experience with us.
I don't have anything useful to say about your review except that I'm glad I read it, and glad I'm fortunate enough not to have been conscripted to fight in Vietnam or anywhere else.
Powerful review, Julie . I have read The Things They Carried and when I’m ready may read this.
Candi,We are the same age, so I am wondering if you had the same experience that I did in school. . . that whenever we'd study history. . . we'd get up to WWII, study it, then BAM, we'd be "all out of time." How could that be? How was that always the case? I actually graduated high school not knowing a damn thing about the Vietnam War and it wasn't until I intentionally took a class on it in college that I learned anything about it. I wonder if the Korean and Vietnam Wars were intentionally omitted from the curriculum back then because they were such inflammatory topics??
Julie wrote: "Candi,We are the same age, so I am wondering if you had the same experience that I did in school. . . that whenever we'd study history. . . we'd get up to WWII, study it, then BAM, we'd be "all ou..."
My junior year of high school our history teacher started the course with events in 1900. Once we got to the early 1970's he went back to the beginning. He felt that we got plenty on the founding fathers and not enough on more recent history. He took a lot of flack for it and managed to hold his ground at least for the 3 years I was in the school.
Because of this gifted and passionate teacher I got a better grounding than many students on not only Korea and Vietnam, but also the Civil Rights movement.
Lisa,Thank you for sharing this. It confirms my suspicions that these wars were still considered taboo topics in the 1980s (and possibly beyond that time). Thank you for mentioning the Civil Rights movement, too. I never learned one thing about it in school.
Julie wrote: "Lisa,Thank you for sharing this. It confirms my suspicions that these wars were still considered taboo topics in the 1980s (and possibly beyond that time). Thank you for mentioning the Civil Right..."
Julie, I think the upset was more over his untraditional order, not following the customary way of teaching the course completely chronologically, rather than the subject matter.
What was kept from us was that there were internment camps in New York for the Jews that came over from Europe and the internment camps that were set up for Japanese Americans, both during WWII.
Julie wrote: "Candi,We are the same age, so I am wondering if you had the same experience that I did in school. . . that whenever we'd study history. . . we'd get up to WWII, study it, then BAM, we'd be "all ou..."
Julie, I don't at all recall covering either the Korean or Vietnam Wars in school. I'm quite certain it was intentional. Now, the more I read, the more I realize there were many topics completely omitted from school curriculums!
Brilliant review, as always. Can’t stay but wanted to stop by and say hi! Hope you’re doing well!
Thank you, Jonathan. I like reserving my F bombs for worthy causes.
War is Hell, as you say. As many have said. So many books offer this perspective, but I thought this book was particularly effective in its coverage, and I appreciate that it affected you too.
Lisa! I just found this old photo of Michael Herr. Have you seen this one yet?
Thank you, H. Do you know what's weird?? I'm on my third non-fiction book in a row! (So unlike me, but I'm enjoying them).
Thanks, Kathleen. It's a tough topic for me to promote.
Jon Boy,The teacher in me is thrilled by your creative sentence using the word "dispatched." (The vegetarian in me can't help but shudder).
Yes, I think that most world citizens would agree that the American involvement in WWII was one of our most necessary and righteous causes, for sure. Unfortunately, it still messed up a lot of the men who fought in it, including my grandfather. War is hell, regardless, but at least a just cause can ease the blow.
Julie wrote: "Lisa! I just found this old photo of Michael Herr. Have you seen this one yet?"
Thank you. I have researched him a bit after reading the book and in his pictures later in life he still looks a bit haunted.
I hate knowing what that experience did to him.
Julie wrote: "I hate knowing what that experience did to him."To him and most of the young men also there.
If you like military non-fiction, I'd recommed checking out Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden, Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor by Clinton Romesha, Unspoken Abandonment: Sometimes the hardest part of going to war is coming home by Bryan A. Wood and Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds by Rusty Bradley.
Steven,Your comment made me laugh. No--there's no politically correct version of this story, unless someone wants to write a fantasy version where the "gooks" and "dinks" were given human identities and not chopped up and skinned and staged as macabre performers in some dark comedy. How the citizens of Vietnam ever found peace after this "Conflict" is beyond me.
Yea, Margaret! (Ten extra points for using "dispatched" in a sentence).
