Saturday, December 01, 2007

Retreat reading. . .



Want a feel for and a visual narrative on everything Vietnam?

Read Nelson Demille's Up Country.

I read it during my recent "retreat time" away from the city.

Demille's main character, Paul Brenner, a retiree from the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, accepts an unusual assignment that takes him back to Vietnam for the first time in over 30 years.

His purpose: to investigate a murder allegedly committed by a U. S. Army Captain during the midst of a bloody siege. The identity of this officer turns out to be quite a surprise.

It's a great read, especially if you're looking for insights into the Vietnam War and its horror and humanity.

The last paragraph of the book says a lot that draws me back to the city:

"The journey home is never a direct route; it is, in fact, always circuitous, and somewhere along the way, we discover that the journey is more significant than the destination, and that the people we meet along the way will be the traveling companions of our memories forever."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love DeMille, and Up Country was particularly good... I got it from my father-in-law. He'd received it as a gift and had too many bad memories to read it. Adds a whole 'nother element to the story.