The Brothers K by David James Duncan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Brothers K
Book Review: rollicking epic
Summary: 5 Stars
Duncan has written one of the GREAT American novels. It's so good I hope Hollywood never mucks with it.Book Review: starts well, ends without climax.
Summary: 1 Stars
This "epic" was interesting at first because it roughly covers those times that I grew up. Its the "Christmas Story" film for English Literature Lovers who read and love these kind of novels. Originally given to me due the giver knew I liked biography, I find it hard to place this in any genre. It doesn't really have a plot, although some find that wonderful, it bounds from one scene to another. This can be a usefull tool, but I felt the author took a few minutes from writing for a tofo burger, and forgot where he ended his last page.
Worst of all, as a historian, and also someone who lived through the Viet Nam War, and what really happened to deserters and draft dodgers, I find novels celebrating their celebrity someone sickning. After the Viet Nam War, the Federal Judge in the Western District had advised ALL law enforecment in The Federal District of NY, that he would not prosecute any Selective Service Cases. Since Buffalo, is close to Canada, thousand of Seclective Service Violtators would be arrested at the border, as their laws required, and US law enforement, primarily the FBI would be called to go throught the formality (and waste of the taxpayer)to get the United States Attorney to decline prosecution. I can't formally state that was true of all districts, but I know it was in WNY. That means they could live, work, basically go to and from anywhere in the US without worring about going to jail. The number of Selective Service Violators who went to jail, I could count on my thumbs, unless they were wanted for riot, murder, arson etc. associated with their desent.
The authors description of the "Stalinist" behavior of the US should have tried publishing his novel in Russia. They don't trust desenters, or any kind. In view of the facts that have occured since the War, I am still waiting for the recognition that the US was at least not anymore as ugly as any other country that fell into an unpopular and perhaps unecessary war. I was not a volunteer, but I went, in place of someone who went to Canada or Sweden. I may tell my grandkids, including my grandaughters to move somewhere to avoid the current bad guys. I know I sure as hell could not count on those who ran. I will let this country find out that as bad as it is, its better than most, certainly better than our enemies were during the Viet Nam War. One more item. The war was basically started during the Kennedy Administration. Why doesn't anyone blame him? LBJ was President when I was sent. But Nixon, gets blamed by the writer and lovers of this book. If you were in the service at the time, you would know that Nixon began to end what Kennedy and LBJ had started.
Book Review: western lit
Summary: 5 Stars
"Prem se bhiksha dijiye." David James Duncan ends his novel The Brothers K with these Arabic words. Translated into English, the phrase means "what you give, with love I accept." Everett, the power-crazed agnostic, struggles to accept the situations life presents him, particularly the loss of his college fame and his love, Natasha. Irwin, however, is the embodiment of this attitude, and accepts what life gives him including an untimely tour of duty in Vietnam and a visit to the asylum. These brothers have vastly different approaches to life, but by the end of The Brothers K they have both learned to accept with love what life has given them.